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you said you are using Jamil's whirlpool chilling method - does the hop blocker get in the way of the IC coil?
Yeah, it also sounds like an extra piece of equipment that you don't really need. I just don;t have any problems with hops getting into the fermenter. Sure, some do. But just not enough to worry about. That said, I have a simple, home made diverter plate that keeps about 95% of the hops out of the fermenter (if not more). Way cheaper than another piece of equipment and probably just about as effective.
The diverter plate will work with leaf or pellet hops. But leaf hops would clog my pump. You'd have to find a way around that depending on your set up. I specifically use pellets and put leaf hops in a large hop bag when I brew with leaf.Here's a picture of the diverter plate I have on my big system. I need to get some pix of the hops trapped behind the plate. A couple quick WPs collects most of them behind the plate. Works awesome and is easy to make.
I've posted this before, but it works so damn well that I feel like I need to keep pimping it : ) I made a hop stopper for my new 20 gallon kettle as described in the first post of this thread:http://www.homebrewchatter.com/board/showthread.php?2550-DIY-Hop-Stopper-%28Kettle-Screen-amp-Pickup%29He only stitched up one side with stainless thread before he gave up... I didn't bother at all. If you fold the edges where two sides meet, flatten the crease with a hammer, and then do it again, it stays together just fine.I did Vinnie's pliny clone last month (17 ounces of hops in the kettle, and only 2 of them were whole leaf) and was able to pump through my plate chiller at normal speed with no issues at all.
Quote from: narvin on September 16, 2010, 08:40:42 amI've posted this before, but it works so damn well that I feel like I need to keep pimping it : ) I made a hop stopper for my new 20 gallon kettle as described in the first post of this thread:http://www.homebrewchatter.com/board/showthread.php?2550-DIY-Hop-Stopper-%28Kettle-Screen-amp-Pickup%29He only stitched up one side with stainless thread before he gave up... I didn't bother at all. If you fold the edges where two sides meet, flatten the crease with a hammer, and then do it again, it stays together just fine.I did Vinnie's pliny clone last month (17 ounces of hops in the kettle, and only 2 of them were whole leaf) and was able to pump through my plate chiller at normal speed with no issues at all.The one I made was a dud. It's my experience that they don't perform well with pellet hops and immersion chillers. Cooler wort and pellet hops plug up the HopStopper, at least in my experience.
Quote from: schristian619 on September 15, 2010, 11:32:24 amI took a piece of PVC pipe, drilled holes in it for some rubar, and use a worm clamp to hold the bag in place. I just let it sit on top of the kettle, the rubar holds it up, and the bag drops into the wort.I was _this close_ to building one of those, but I couldn't figure out how it would work with an immersion chiller. To be perfectly honest, like Jim said, I don't have an issue with pellet hops just going in to the fermenter. I use a hop bag for whole hops.
I took a piece of PVC pipe, drilled holes in it for some rubar, and use a worm clamp to hold the bag in place. I just let it sit on top of the kettle, the rubar holds it up, and the bag drops into the wort.