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Author Topic: Blichmann Hop Blocker  (Read 17882 times)

Offline dshepard

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Re: Blichmann Hop Blocker
« Reply #30 on: September 16, 2010, 01:48:12 am »
you said you are using Jamil's whirlpool chilling method - does the hop blocker get in the way of the IC coil?

No,  with the 20 gallon pot there is plenty of room. I leave the chiller in the boiler after it settles and after all the wort drains there is a nice pile of hops and trub in the middle of the coil even though it is slightly offset from center (due to the Hop Blocker).
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Offline roguejim

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Re: Blichmann Hop Blocker
« Reply #31 on: September 16, 2010, 02:31:57 am »
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.

What exactly is a diverter plate?  Is it for leaf hops?

Offline majorvices

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Re: Blichmann Hop Blocker
« Reply #32 on: September 16, 2010, 05:59:10 am »
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.






narvin

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Re: Blichmann Hop Blocker
« Reply #33 on: September 16, 2010, 08:40:42 am »
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%29

He 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.

Offline roguejim

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Re: Blichmann Hop Blocker
« Reply #34 on: September 24, 2010, 03:02:53 am »
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.







Is there any way you can show a pic of the plate out in the open?  I can't tell what the hell it is from the angle of the photos.

Offline roguejim

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Re: Blichmann Hop Blocker
« Reply #35 on: September 24, 2010, 03:09:37 am »
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%29

He 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.

Offline jeffy

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Re: Blichmann Hop Blocker
« Reply #36 on: September 24, 2010, 05:37:02 am »
I had an 8-inch piece of stainless welded at an angle in front of the out port so that when I whirlpool, everything ends up not only in the center of the kettle, but stays away from the drain.  Works well with pellets or whole hops.
Jeff Gladish, Tampa (989.3, 175.1 Apparent Rennarian)
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narvin

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Re: Blichmann Hop Blocker
« Reply #37 on: September 24, 2010, 07:23:12 am »
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%29

He 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.

Pellet hops work fine, but I've heard that the cold break can clog it.  If you're using a counterflow/plate chiller, don't recirculate (you shouldn't need to, really) and you'll be fine.  Immersion may not work, as you noted.

Offline roguejim

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Re: Blichmann Hop Blocker
« Reply #38 on: September 27, 2010, 03:54:18 am »

Offline redbeerman

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Re: Blichmann Hop Blocker
« Reply #39 on: October 02, 2010, 06:13:38 am »
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.


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.

This is what I do as well.  Most of the pellet hops stay in my kettle anyway, so it's not much of an issue with my setup.
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Jim