[Stevie]

I use a hop blocker and have a lot of success with it.  As Denny pointed out, I typical whirlpool and then slowly drain the kettle.  You may want to try slowing your drain speed and see if that helps any.

Slow drain is by far the biggest difference maker in my opinion. It takes about five minutes for me to pull 5.5 gallons.

Getting all the break and hop material in the fermenter might not be a huge deal quality wise, but that extra 1/4 gallon makes a difference when fermenting 5.5 in a 6 gallon fermenter. There is also the added benefit of getting less garbage in my repitches.

[yso191]

Thank you for your input - both of you.  I did go very slowly.  For the reason you mentioned but also to get the temperature of the wort as close to pitching temp as possible.  I'd say it took ~15 minutes to get 4 gallons into the fermenter.

I'm open to the idea that I did something wrong - a lot of people like these, and it would be very out of character for Blichmann to make something that worked as badly as this one did.  I'll probably give it another shot just to make sure.

[jackmarshall77]

You can get some superfine biab bags that filter pellet hops pretty well.


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[Saccharomyces]

Steve, I feel your pain.  I switched to using pellets mid-2015 after using whole hops and a false bottom for over twenty years.   I like the reduced storage requirements that pellets afford a brewer, but I hate having to deal with break and hop debris.  Whirlpooling after chilling helps, but it is nowhere near as effective as a false bottom and whole cones when it comes to separating wort from kettle trash.   When using a well-fitting false bottom and whole cones, very little hop debris and break make into the kettle because the cones form a filter like they do in a in a hop back.

[Scot (one T)]

False bottom here as well.  I'll never go back.

[yso191]

I just ordered the Hopstopper that Narvin suggested.

[Philbrew]

I just ordered the Hopstopper that Narvin suggested.

What mesh size?

[narvin]

I just ordered the Hopstopper that Narvin suggested.

What mesh size?

9230T625
(Same as 9230T28)
HI-Volume Particle-Filtering SS Wire Cloth Woven, 304 SS, 30X30 Mesh,.0065" Wire Dia, 12" X24"
In stock at $6.50 Each

[blatz]

I use a hop blocker and have a lot of success with it.  As Denny pointed out, I typical whirlpool and then slowly drain the kettle.  You may want to try slowing your drain speed and see if that helps any.

Slow drain is by far the biggest difference maker in my opinion. It takes about five minutes for me to pull 5.5 gallons.

Getting all the break and hop material in the fermenter might not be a huge deal quality wise, but that extra 1/4 gallon makes a difference when fermenting 5.5 in a 6 gallon fermenter. There is also the added benefit of getting less garbage in my repitches.

+1 - I've been using a hopblocker for ~3 years now - I really like it, but you have to use it properly - throttled back when running off, and throttled back even more after pulling up the screen.  added benefit of a bit more efficient cooling for me though.

 I just made a DIPA 2 weeks ago with over 24 ounces in the kettle and had only about a quart or so of liquid plus a ton of hop/break sludge left.

[rcs2510]

FWIW, I too have had some issues with the Blichmann Hop Blocker allowing hop material to get through.  I have noticed that the action of a rolling boil will cause the Hop Blocker to "bounce" up and down allowing hops to get underneath the cylinder.  Once the boil stops, the cylinder drops back down trapping all the debris inside where it doesn't belong. Additionally, if hop material becomes lodged under the bottom rim, it's all but useless. Bottom line, I feel the Hop Blocker is too light to remain seated on the kettle floor during the turbulent boil.  I've tried attaching several stainless steel washers to the top of the unit which seems to greatly improve it's performance for me.  Not exactly the thing I feel one should have to do in order to get a Blichmann product to function properly though. 

[Stevie]

In my experience a "turbulent boil" means too hard of a boil. Try pulling back a bit. Less evaporation and less fuel used.

[blatz]

Recirculating whirlpool at the end helps.