Hop stopper

[JammyBStard]

I'm building a new boiler and it will be the first one I've done with a hop stopper.
I've made a manifold type thing that will sit in the bottom and was planning on cutting slots in the bottom a la Mash-Tun.

Looking at photos of other people stoppers they seem to use holes around the top and bottom of there stoppers. Is there a designe reason why holes work better than slots? and why do you go around the top? does this not leave wort in the bottom of the boiler?
I usually use a hop bag so I won't have the bed of hops sat at the bottom that i've often seen in the photos!

[GrowlingDogBeer]

Looking good there.

I'm not sure there is a real reason why holes are better than slots, apart from that they are probably smaller so would let less crud through. A hop leaf may will fit through a slit, where it shouldn't get through a hole. I only have holes in the bottom half of my hop strainer for exactly the reason you mention about leaving too much wort in the boiler and it works fine.
I always run my wort through a fine sieve on route to the FV so if any crud did escape I would catch it there.

One of the jobs of the hop bed is to filter some of the much finer crud and sediment out of the wort so once you have your hop filter finished I would be inclined to stop using the hop bag and allow the hops to settle on the bottom of the boiler before running off into the FV, this way more of the finer bits will be filtered out as well.

[beermonsta]

My hop stopper is made from a copper manifold like yours but with more piping (and more T pieces). I chose to use slotts as 1) I have access to a bandsaw at work which made cutting the slots a piece of piddle, 2) the slots are no more than half the diameter and are facing the floor and thus maximise the amound of wort drained using the syphon effect 3) they filter very effectively - I've never seen a hop leaf and very limited amounts of seeds ever pass through.
In fact I now use my march may pump to recirc the wort (instead of jugging it back in) to help compact the hop filter bed and thus remove the protein (hot & cold break material); hops; seeds and to cool quicker at flame out using my IC. This has increased the clarity of my wort so there is virtually nothing carried through to the FV.
It has never "stuck" either.
Ben

[Aleman]

Was bored yesterday so I made this Hop Stopper

First take a couple of circles of 6mm copper tube, solder the ends together to make circles, then flatten them to give a couple of flat discs through which you drill a bunch of 3mm holes through both discs



Take a couple of pieces of #30 Stainless mesh and cut a couple of discs from it that are about 1cm bigger than the copper discs. You can see I have a 'dimple' in one of the discs, that I made to fit the 3" bottom drain in the NanoCopper. By putting the mesh in the copper and pushing a whisky bottle tube of the appropriate diameter into it . . . If you don't have an appropriately sized single malt tin . .. go and buy one



In the top piece I found the centre, by folding it in half twice, then cut a cross in the middle so that a standard 15mm tank connector would fit. I reversed the Flange nut of the tank connector and used that as a sealing surface for the 12" Female right angled 15mm compression fitting to fit the easy bend copper tube into. . . . Using the flange nut I can adjust the height of the pick up and put the tank connector right to the bottom of the well if required.



AS you can see from the last image you fit the stainless mesh to the copper disc by just folding over the edge . . try not to cut yourself . . . Once you have attached each piece of mesh to its own disc you then fit them together using 3mm button headed bolts and washers.



And finally fit it in place . . . and use the easy bend tube to get the hop stopper right down on the base of the boiler.



The benefit of this one over my older hop stopper where the mesh was folded over and crimped together is that this can be taken apart to clean if anything gets stuck inside.

[Gricey]

That is fantastic! Where do I order one

[JammyBStard]

That's great Aleman; what is that "easy bend" tube you have? where did you get it

[GrowlingDogBeer]

The easy bend tube looks to me like standard 15mm copper each end with a flexi bit in between. If so you can get it in any DIY store.

[Aleman]

That's great Aleman; what is that "easy bend" tube you have? where did you get it

It is actually a 1/2" 'Flexible' Tap Connector that I got from BnQ . . . it is a rigid copper tube, that is very thin (Even using a tubing cutter to cut it to the right length can crush the tube ). The 'corrugations give it a bit more strength, but it is still very easy to bend by hand . . . just put it in place and push down on one end while supporting underneath where you want the bend to be. . . . It will collapse if you try to go too far though but for a couple of inches displacement it is handy stuff. . . . . If it is too long for your application, it can be cut (using a hacksaw and light pressure . . . otherwise it distorts) and then soldered into the fitting of your choice.

One of these days I will get someone to make me one in Stainless but for the time being it'll do

[Naich]

Nice one! Ingenious use of copper tube to make the large copper washers.