Creating a whirlpool for pellet hops.

[Top Cat]

Generally I brew with whole hops with a bazooka filter and never have a problem.
I’m finding some hop varieties I can only get in pellet form, and as most of us know they clog the filter.

Wanting to move more to using pellets, I managed to get in touch with Rob at the MaltMiller, who was very helpful in solving my clogging problem. I don’t want to use a filter bag as I find this restricts the benefit of the hops. I was told to do away with the bazooka, use an elbow from the outlet to draw nearer the circumference of the boiler, when the wort has reached fermentation temperature give it a bloody good stir and leave to settle for at least half an hour before transferring.

The result worked although I didn’t get a pyramid of sludge in the middle of the boiler, and probably wasted 3 or 4 pints when the level got close to the hop remains.
Do I need a special stirrer attached to a drill, or is the result I’ve had part of the course?
Incidentally I use a Burco boiler with the element showing at the bottom.

[JonB]

I've never managed to get the material to cone properly, and to be honest I don't bother. My immersion chiller tends to wreck this anyway...

I had the same issue previously in that I couldn't use pellets in my process as they were a nightmare and clogged taps, etc. but I've found a solution out of necessity as I get my hops from Crossmyloof now (due to quality issues from other suppliers) and they ONLY do pellets.

What I do now (using a similar boiler to you) is cool the wort down as best I can to fermenting temp, then get a large nylon bag (I purchased the 600x600 version found here (clicky clicky)) to act as a liner in the fermenter.

I boil/sanitise this prior to use and fix it over the rim of my fermenter, and then pick up the boiler and dump the entire contents of the kettle (wort, trub, hopes and all) into said bag. During the boil the hops are loose in the boiler for maximum benefit.

Wearing sanitised gloves I then manipulate the bag to drain as much liquid out as possible, then ring it out. The nearly-dry hop matter & crud can then go straight in the bin and cleaning is easier. The key is the fine nylon mesh that prevents the pellet matter passing through (the above definitely work, but I'm sure Malt Miller et al. can do you something similar).

I think this method definitely keeps the worst of the trub out of the fermenter, but these days I'm really not too bothered about it. My understanding is having some is useful as a source of yeast nutrient, and Brulosophy's experiments suggest there is no discernable negatives to high trub in the fermenter (if anything their experiments suggest it may be beneficial to clarity...). Explore here

It certainly keeps all the hop matter out of the fermenter.

Hope this helps.

[Top Cat]

Thanks for that JonB, I have a similar bag that I was going to use in my mashtun but never got round to it, I’ll check on the mesh and maybe give it a try. I’ve found using pellets they are much easier to dispose of, down the sink in one go!

[JonB]

No worries Top Cat,

Just make sure it is a fine enough mesh bag or the hop particles will go through; you could always test this prior with a bucket of water and some spare pellets.

(also I don't think hop pellets do your drains any favours; the odd bit from washing out your bag probably won't do any harm but I personally wouldn't flush the entire cone down the drain. Dealing with a clogged tap/filter on a boiler is a lot easier than a clogged drain...)

[Top Cat]

I’ve just checked the bag I have, unfortunately it’s designed for mashing and the base is far too course. The one you advised to look at, the mesh is around .010” in old money, I can see why it works. I take it you don’t force any wort through the bag, and thanks for the advice on disposing!

[JonB]

I have to towards the end as the mesh eventually gums up with hop matter & trub.

Can't say it's had an appreciable impact on my beer, positive or negative.

[nallum]

Have you tried a springer filter? For me, it works well with pellet hops.

[drjim]

Hop spider?

I recently started using the spider again, but I'm relaxed about hop pellets going in the fermenter.

If you don't have any big leaf hops the pellet bits don't need a filter, they settle into a lump at the bottom of the kettle, especially if you give it a good swirling. I find they help to get more of the liqour down the drain tap of my boiler, they act as a dam and you can actually move the pile about to help things drain.

[Top Cat]

Have you tried a springer filter? For me, it works well with pellet hops.

That’s a new one to me, could you enlighten me as to what it is and does?
I’ve used a hop spider before, and still have one somewhere, but I found I had to compensate for the lack of movement of the hops around the boiler. Don’t know what it’s like with pellets though.

[Top Cat]

Hop spider?

I recently started using the spider again, but I'm relaxed about hop pellets going in the fermenter.

If you don't have any big leaf hops the pellet bits don't need a filter, they settle into a lump at the bottom of the kettle, especially if you give it a good swirling. I find they help to get more of the liqour down the drain tap of my boiler, they act as a dam and you can actually move the pile about to help things drain.

That’s what I got on my first attempt with all pellets, but I was loathe to attempt moving the pellet sludge to get more into my fermentation vessel. I suppose I’m on a pellet use learner curve after starting brewing again ten years ago. I seem to think that pellets are going to be the way forward.

[IPA]

Have you tried a springer filter? For me, it works well with pellet hops.

That’s a new one to me, could you enlighten me as to what it is and does?
I’ve used a hop spider before, and still have one somewhere, but I found I had to compensate for the lack of movement of the hops around the boiler. Don’t know what it’s like with pellets though.

Here it is.
https://www.bacbrewing.com/en/81-filtering
Well worth thé money. I have been using one in my BM for years