hop strainers

[brewsters millionths]

i know, it's the short lengths from my big manifold in the other post chucked into this. i was wondering about the hole size and drilling the same size in the longer lengths to make it a big mash manifold

[brewsters millionths]

excellent, should be fine then.
do you think it's worth reducing the area covered by the manifold when using as a hop filter. as the kettle drains it draws the hops towards the drain point(s) and a smaller manifold would probably encourage a deeper hop bed around the manifold and therefore a better filter?

looking at the theory behind manifold design i think it would be better (in mash mode anyway) to leave the elbows undrilled, but to drill the t-pieces as the elbows are too close to the edges of the tun.

[Vossy1]

The main problem with large wide boilers/coppers is how to achieve a decent enough hop bed depth, to give good filtration

[brewsters millionths]

The main problem with large wide boilers/coppers is how to achieve a decent enough hop bed depth, to give good filtration

that's why I was thinking of making the hop strainer cover a smaller area and see if the hops are drawn towards it forming a deeper area around the strainer. I noticed that this small one i used (see above) in the small boiler did draw the hops towards it and had a much deeper bed of hops over the strainer

[Dan]

you could use a hop back

[brewsters millionths]

and look at it from a distance, like an outsider to gain a different perspective?

[Vossy1]

Vossy1 wrote:
The main problem with large wide boilers/coppers is how to achieve a decent enough hop bed depth, to give good filtration


More intermedeate and late hops and allow plenty of time for them to settle, at least 30mins or more, it makes a big difference. The hop in my kettle is around 2" deep for most of my brews but I can get an almost squeaky clean yeast head if i'm patient.

Naturally...adding more hops will create a deeper hop bed depth. The point I was trying to make was that some thought needs to go into the use of large wide boilers/coppers. If brewing a lightly hopped, lightly bittered brew, the option of using more hops is out.

A better optiom may be some sort of cage within the boiler to make sure the hops settle in a pre defined area, on top of your strainer.
I'm not talking about total restriction of hop movement BTW

[Dan]

What I'm suggesting is don't strain anything out in the boiler.
scoop out the hops into a tall narrow vessel fitted with a manifold or false bottom and allow the wort from the kettle to run into it.
continually collect the runnings coming out the hop back and return them to the kettle for however long it takes for the wort to become clear.

[Aleman]

A better optiom may be some sort of cage withing the boiler to make sure the hops settle in a pre defined area, on top of your strainer.
I'm not talking about total restriction of hop movement BTW

Wibblers original 2.5BBL kettle had a 14in diameter perforated 'bucket' for want of a better term that was used to contain the hops in the boiler, but they didn't tend to worry about removing the trub.

[Vossy1]

What I'm suggesting is don't strain anything out in the boiler.
scoop out the hops into a tall narrow vessel fitted with a manifold or false bottom and allow the wort from the kettle to run into it.
continually collect the runnings coming out the hop back and return them to the kettle for however long it takes for the wort to become clear.

Would you then cool straight to fv? I would imagine the cold break would quickly block a tall narrow vessel if not.

Wibblers original 2.5BBL kettle had a 14in diameter perforated 'bucket' for want of a better term that was used to contain the hops in the boiler, but they didn't tend to worry about removing the trub.

The thought had crossed my mind, and any shape of mesh bucket is relatively cheap from catering suppliers
I'm still seriously thinking about a mesh tube, perhaps 12" in diameter full height in the copper, and at the bottom a hop swatter of some ilk....we'll see

[Aleman]

I should have also added that Wibblers Kettle is Gas fired, which has a bearing on wort movement in the kettle.

[Belto]

For what it's worth
This is my hop strainer, notice the slots are underneath, sits on bottom <a href="http://s166.photobucket.com/albums/u112 ... ainer2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u112 ... ainer2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> of boiler, a hop bed forms quickly and filters excellenty. 0.5 -1 ltr wort left after draining through CFC .giving a clear wort most of the time

4th attempt at photos
Any body help?

[Vossy1]

4th attempt at photos
Any body help?

Go into your photo bucket album. Under the photo's there are a few boxes.
Copy the 'IMG CODE' box and paste it into your reply on JHBF, preview it before posting to make sure it's right

[Belto]

Done it

This is my Hop filter

My MT Filter is similar and also sucessfull


Is the sucess due to the slots being underneath?

[Vossy1]

Copper tube manifolds for mash tuns should always have their slots underneath. They are usually only shown slot side facing upwards for illustrative purposes

Nice manifolds BTW

EDIT, Not really sure about the manifold for the copper/hops. Generally hop strainers can come in all forms and there's no right or wrong, unless hops are getting through.