Preventing Hops blocking filer

[MikeB.]

Hi

i almost lost flow completely from my Grainfather today when trying to pump wort through the chiller.

when empty I found a huge hop build up around the filter.

How do you prevent this, was I just unlucky using pelleted hops, I was using about a 100g of hops.

Mike

 

[strange-steve]

After the boil is complete I chill to about 80c then give it a good stir to get a decent whirlpool going then let it settle for 5 or 10 mins. I found this helped reduce the clogging.

 

[MikeB.]

Hi, thanks for the advice, worked like a charm

 

[hoppyscotty]

Also the false bottom off a Brewzilla also fits a Grandfather I think so can act as an additional filter. On the brewzilla there is no filter on the pump inlet so hop filtering is entirely done by the false bottom and I've had no issues as yet on my brewzilla.

 

[peebee]

Hi

i almost lost flow completely from my Grainfather today when trying to pump wort through the chiller.

when empty I found a huge hop build up around the filter.

How do you prevent this, was I just unlucky using pelleted hops, I was using about a 100g of hops.

Mike

When hop pellets began appearing in home-brew shops the advice was don't bother unless you can effectively whirlpool. But recently everyone forgets this. I've tried to use "hop spiders", but the broken up pellets block these up too. "Hop spiders" just become suspended containers full of beer wort.

Whirlpooling is the way, as you have found, otherwise use whole hops.

 

[MikeB.]

Also the false bottom off a Brewzilla also fits a Grandfather I think so can act as an additional filter. On the brewzilla there is no filter on the pump inlet so hop filtering is entirely done by the false bottom and I've had no issues as yet on my brewzilla.

I’ve taken the plunge and ordered one, although the only one I could find to fit is coming from Sweden....

 

[MikeB.]

When hop pellets began appearing in home-brew shops the advice was don't bother unless you can effectively whirlpool. But recently everyone forgets this. I've tried to use "hop spiders", but the broken up pellets block these up too. "Hop spiders" just become suspended containers full of beer wort.

Whirlpooling is the way, as you have found, otherwise use whole hops.

Good advice, tried this the other day, and much better results

 

[hoppyscotty]

I’ve taken the plunge and ordered one, although the only one I could find to fit is coming from Sweden....

Experience with my Brewzilla when using alot of hops is you get a nice thick layer of hop matter on the false bottom, but despite that I've never had any issues with it blocking the wort and starving the pump. However I do still get a small amount of hop matter getting through so still have to give the pump a good flush out when cleaning up to make sure it's clean. However on the Grainfather you will still have the 2nd line of defence with your main filter. Maybe a good whirlpool as well might re-distribute the hop matter on the false bottom.

I think this is because the Brewzilla doesn't use a rubber gasket around the edge of either the false bottom to seal it against the side of the kettle do get some 'leakage' of hop matter getting past the false bottom. I might get hold of a length of rubber gasket to see if I can make a good seal, and I've already ordered some mesh sink strainers to use upturned over the pump inlet to see if that helps stop any wayward hop matter being sucked in the pump.

To mid mind It is definitely much easier and I suspect better from a flavour perspective to chuck the hops into the boil rather than using a hop sock or spider even if clear up is a bit messier.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Experience with my Brewzilla when using alot of hops is you get a nice thick layer of hop matter on the false bottom, but despite that I've never had any issues with it blocking the wort and starving the pump. However I do still get a small amount of hop matter getting through so still have to give the pump a good flush out when cleaning up to make sure it's clean. However on the Grainfather you will still have the 2nd line of defence with your main filter. Maybe a good whirlpool as well might re-distribute the hop matter on the false bottom.

I think this is because the Brewzilla doesn't use a rubber gasket around the edge of either the false bottom to seal it against the side of the kettle do get some 'leakage' of hop matter getting past the false bottom. I might get hold of a length of rubber gasket to see if I can make a good seal, and I've already ordered some mesh sink strainers to use upturned over the pump inlet to see if that helps stop any wayward hop matter being sucked in the pump.

To mid mind It is definitely much easier and I suspect better from a flavour perspective to chuck the hops into the boil rather than using a hop sock or spider even if clear up is a bit messier.

Could a possible alternative to a rubber gasket be to cut along the side of a length of silicone hose and thread it over the edge?

 

[hoppyscotty]

Could a possible alternative to a rubber gasket be to cut along the side of a length of silicone hose and thread it over the edge?

Well to be fair it's not been a problem at all yet, the false bottom is very effective with only a small amount of hops getting through the small gaps around the edge of the false bottom so more of an 'even better if' thing. We'll see when I brew a beer with loads of hop additions - planning a Punk IPA clone at some point which has loads of hop additions. I'm sure if I looked on eBay there would be a load of options for shaped silicone rubber seals to choose from.

 

[foxy]

Well to be fair it's not been a problem at all yet, the false bottom is very effective with only a small amount of hops getting through the small gaps around the edge of the false bottom so more of an 'even better if' thing. We'll see when I brew a beer with loads of hop additions - planning a Punk IPA clone at some point which has loads of hop additions. I'm sure if I looked on eBay there would be a load of options for shaped silicone rubber seals to choose from.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/400...3Zh4KVc9RHhwyQ3-nuwaAuDbEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[foxy]

Well to be fair it's not been a problem at all yet, the false bottom is very effective with only a small amount of hops getting through the small gaps around the edge of the false bottom so more of an 'even better if' thing. We'll see when I brew a beer with loads of hop additions - planning a Punk IPA clone at some point which has loads of hop additions. I'm sure if I looked on eBay there would be a load of options for shaped silicone rubber seals to choose from.

To be honest trying to fit the silicone around the edge ( I did try it using a pressure cooker sealer, you can get them on eBay in different sizes) is a PITA, get some silicone tubing and a piece of stainless rod say 4mm dia and make a big cir clip to block off any gaps around the edge of a grain basket/false bottom.