Brew-boy
Well-Known Member
I have a kettle with a stainless ball valve but no matter what I try I still get lots of trub into the frementor. What do you guys do who have ball valves on your kettles? Do you all use the Hop Stopper type device?
Straining Hop Pellets
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Lil' Sparky
Cowboys EAC
See here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=22684&highlight=hopstopper
The consensus is a hopstopper works well. You can make your own for less if you want to buy the materials and take the time.
Brewhead also uses one of these. Probably a cheaper and equally effective solution.
The consensus is a hopstopper works well. You can make your own for less if you want to buy the materials and take the time.
Brewhead also uses one of these. Probably a cheaper and equally effective solution.
Desert_Sky
Since 1998
i strain them out like this
RoaringBrewer
Well-Known Member
Hmm... That Brewhead device looks pretty sweet... And probably $50+ cheaper than the hopstopper.
I just use muslin bags to hold my hops at this point. Although some of the hops get through, I'd say it provides for 90% less trub than if I didn't bag them. Of course the $.39 per bag, per hop addition can add up if you are doing a highly hopped brew. I used 8 hop bags on my last beer; an additional $3+ to the cost of the batch, but oh well. In addition to the use of the muslin bags, my funnel has a strainer in it. It seems to get clogged quite easily b/c it is VERY fine mesh, but it manages to save even more hop particles from getting in...
I just use muslin bags to hold my hops at this point. Although some of the hops get through, I'd say it provides for 90% less trub than if I didn't bag them. Of course the $.39 per bag, per hop addition can add up if you are doing a highly hopped brew. I used 8 hop bags on my last beer; an additional $3+ to the cost of the batch, but oh well. In addition to the use of the muslin bags, my funnel has a strainer in it. It seems to get clogged quite easily b/c it is VERY fine mesh, but it manages to save even more hop particles from getting in...
cweston
Well-Known Member
There's absolutely no reason you can't wash and reuse those muslin hops bags.
I just wash them by hand in the dishwater with the other brew gear that gets hand-washed.
I just wash them by hand in the dishwater with the other brew gear that gets hand-washed.
RoaringBrewer
Well-Known Member
I suppose I could. For ("normally" - i.e. 3 hop additions on average) $1 per batch though I normally don't mind. I was just throwing the thought out there for the others who are concerned with cost per batch. Good point though, you could wash them, just seems to me like it would be more mess than the $.39 warrants...
cweston
Well-Known Member
SilkkyBrew said:
To each his/her own. There are always dishes to wash after brewing and it literally takes about 10 extra seconds to wash one of those little bags out.
I've made my own hopstopper (and sold a couple) but I'm yet to test it. I'm still waiting for my damn Nat Gas burner cuz my stove won't cut it obviously.
In the meantime I used a large nylon hop bag and might continue to do so just because it's so easy to dump out and wash. You'd have to do the same thing to a hop stopper but it requires you to remove your dip tube after every batch. I'm still on the fence about it.
Now I don't think for a minute that the kitchen strainer/sieve is going to get all the hop particles. It's way coarser of a mesh than the hop bags or hopstopper.
In the meantime I used a large nylon hop bag and might continue to do so just because it's so easy to dump out and wash. You'd have to do the same thing to a hop stopper but it requires you to remove your dip tube after every batch. I'm still on the fence about it.
Now I don't think for a minute that the kitchen strainer/sieve is going to get all the hop particles. It's way coarser of a mesh than the hop bags or hopstopper.
Beer Weevel
Well-Known Member
For all the dinking around that I would do, I figured $69.00 and I don't have to order anything or try this or that, I ordered a Hop Stopper and love it absolutly NO hops in my wort, none!!! After all guy's the perfect Hop Stopper has been invented!!!!
Monster Mash
Well-Known Member
I made my own out of copper and stainless mesh. So far I have had no problems with this setup...
Lil' Sparky said:See here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=22684&highlight=hopstopper
The consensus is a hopstopper works well. You can make your own for less if you want to buy the materials and take the time.
Brewhead also uses one of these. Probably a cheaper and equally effective solution.
what he said
i also reuse the paint strainer bags. toss em in the washing machine or dishwasher
Lil' Sparky said:Brewhead also uses one of these. Probably a cheaper and equally effective solution.
I like this idea and it looks easy enough to use and make. However, I use an immersion chiller and put it in the last 10 minutes of my boil so this probably would not work
javedian
Well-Known Member
Go check out the kitchen section at one of the big home stores. Look for a fine mesh strainer - they are not the easiest to find, as most of the larger ones have larger mesh. I use a 10" diameter all stainless strainer with very fine mesh. Throw it in the sanitizer along with a rubber spatula. After chilling, pour through, and when it starts clogging, scrape the trub & hop gunk out and continue. My last batch took about 3 dumpings. Comes in handy in the kitchen too.
67coupe390
Well-Known Member
My first few batches I didn't even strain the hops and the beer was good. Now that "I know better" I use the hop bags and its good for me. And I reuse them for a lot of batches so its cheap too.
skifast1
Well-Known Member
javedian said:
Second that - I do the exact same thing. I tried the monster funnel with the inline strainer for my very first batch but I found it clogs WAY too fast because of the small surface area.
D*Bo
Well-Known Member
I use a stainless braid in the kettle.
abracadabra
Well-Known Member
I made my own herb ball using 2 stainless steel mesh sink strainers from wally mart $1.98 ea. wired one side with a small piece of copper wire and the other with a long piece so I can hang it on the side of the boil pot.
Works great for plugs haven't tried it on pellets yet. I'd probably use the store bought herb ball for pellets as the screen is finer mesh.
Works great for plugs haven't tried it on pellets yet. I'd probably use the store bought herb ball for pellets as the screen is finer mesh.
Lil' Sparky
Cowboys EAC
... unless you use a CFC or plate chiller.AleHole said:
WOP31
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Thought that I would throw this out there, here is a good reason TO strain out pellet hops, even if you use a blow off tube and a 6 gallon fermentor. It turned my growler into a mini beer. I probably could have kept it and bottled it too!
I don't know that your blowoff had anything to do with hops. I mean, is it a little grimier than it could have been? Maybe. Blow offs happen.
WOP31
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The blow off wasn't because of the hops, but having the hops in the fermentor made it a bit messier than usual. I am used to having blow offs happen. That batch had a crazy vigorous fermentation, it was blowing off for almost a week.
Great batch though.
Cheers
Since we're throwing around pics of hopstopper ideas. I move my wort to a bucket and use a paint strainer around my racking cane to move to the carboy. These are pics of straining out dry hop junk...but the same theory applies.
My wort is as clear as...clear wort.
My wort is as clear as...clear wort.
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