Hop strainer for my bottom drain boiler

[JonA]

The side drain on my boiler, which is a 100l stock pot, never worked very well and quite a lot of wort used to get left at the bottom - so I've converted the boiler to bottom drain with a tank connector.

Can someone please tell me what is the best way to add a hop strainer (I'd rather not have to make any more copper manifolds if possible).



Thanks folks

Regards, Jon

[JamesF]

I'm still pondering on this myself (though I have a side drain) and haven't come to a definitive conclusion yet.

I think perhaps the first consideration is whether you're likely to use pellet hops or not. Here's my recent thread that may give you a few ideas: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=72575

James

[JonA]

Hi James - yes that's an interesting thread. I use whole hops - never tried pellets.

Doing a bit of searching I've seen pictures of everything from lovely custom made stainless steel bottoms, to an upturned old salad strainer!

I'm leaning towards using a bit of perforated ss sheet with the sides folded over at the edges to lift it off the bottom slightly - not sure what a good hole size is for using whole hops.

[themadhippy]

I'm leaning towards using a bit of perforated ss sheet with the sides folded over at the edges to lift it off the bottom slightly

stainless nuts and bolts as stand off is another option,use domed nuts on the bottom of the bolts to be extra flash

not sure what a good hole size is for using whole hops

both mine are 3mm and work fine

[JamesF]

2mm to 3mm does seem to be favourite for the hole size.

My most important requirement after "does it work properly?" is "how easy is it to clean?" I don't want to be faffing about trying to get the strainer clean or unbolting it from the boiler if possible. Being able to get it free from under the heating elements is also important there. Using a hop spider may of course help in that respect if that's the way I end up going. Otherwise I think it's unlikely that I'd use pellet hops and if I do I'll just have to make alternative arrangements, so some sort of perforated stainless sheet does look like it would make a good solution.

James

[themadhippy]

id make the bolts long enough so it sits just above the elements.cleaning ,just pull it out and rinse

[JamesF]

I've shied away from that approach I have to admit. For no definite reason I've been concerned about insufficient flow of wort between the space under the filter and above it causing overheating beneath the filter.

James

[JonA]

stainless nuts and bolts as stand off is another option,use domed nuts on the bottom of the bolts to be extra flash

both mine are 3mm and work fine

I hadn't thought of nuts and bolts - simple and effective

3mm sounds good to me - there's quite a bit of it on ebay. 0.7mm seems a popular thickness - it hasn't got to support much I guess.

[ciderhead]

side drains, pellet hops, and a whirlpool and I haven't looked back

[Mr. Dripping]

My boiler is bottom drain and it is fitted with a false bottom.
There are several SS bolts that hold it about 1cm off the boiler floor. It slips in easily under the element, though I have seen them cut in half and hinged if the element is large.
I've overlayed some #40 SS mesh so that I can use pellets as well as whole flowers.

[Fil]

how about simply laying a sheet of #30 or #40 SS mesh on the bottom, edge it with beerline aka mashtun false bottoms. done ! simple:)
(#30 for flower hops, #40 for pellets)

however virtually zero deapspace can be accomplished with a simple side drain positioned 20-21mm off the bottom and fitted with an elbow fitting on the inside to create an internal siphon side, hovering the elbow opening 1mm off the pot bottom creates a 30+mm sq exit for the drain and a simple forward tip at the end of the drain will empty all bar a few ml..

[JonA]

That sounds like a good option too. I guess I'd been thinking about something with enough weight so it would stay in place and not get hops wedged under it, but if the mesh went right out to the sides there's nowhere for it to go.

Maybe it was just my side drain setup - I did have an internal elbow and straight manifold, but it wasn't soldered so I could clean it. My pump is not self priming so once a bit of air got in, the syphon effect stopped and so did the flow.

how about simply laying a sheet of #30 or #40 SS mesh on the bottom, edge it with beerline aka mashtun false bottoms. done ! simple:)
(#30 for flower hops, #40 for pellets)

however virtually zero deapspace can be accomplished with a simple side drain positioned 20-21mm off the bottom and fitted with an elbow fitting on the inside to create an internal siphon side, hovering the elbow opening 1mm off the pot bottom creates a 30+mm sq exit for the drain and a simple forward tip at the end of the drain will empty all bar a few ml..