MAXIMIZE HOP FLAVOR! How to Add Hops FREELY Without CLOGGING Your System
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- Опубликовано: 12 июл 2024
- Wondering how to maximize hop flavor? Add hops freely to the kettle! Let me show you how to do that without clogging your system!
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0:00 Intro and welcome
0:28 Why ditch the hop spider?
2:46 How to add hops freely without clogging
5:50 Caveats to this method
7:01 My valve structure
8:03 Other ways to maximize hop flavor
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#whirlpool #hops #spider #beer #brewing #homebrewing #clawhammersupply #graintoglass #BIAB #allgrain 
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Have you tried using the grain basket as a giant hop spider? Curious of the results.
That's kinda what I do but with a regular bag, I keep it down with the chiller and have all the surface area of the wort basically. I end up catching a lot of the cold break like this also and it's definitely made my beers clearer with a larger yield also by having less trub.
I've tried using the basket a few times before but unfortunately they've all been failures. The wort tends to not want to pass through the mesh and its worse than using the hop spider, once my pump ran dry because there was no liquid underneath the basket.
I did that in my Grainfather once and it failed miserably. The boiling knocked loose the bottom plate and the hops went everywhere almost immediately. After that a lot of hop debris clinged on to outside of the grain basked so as the liquid volume got lower due to boil off those hops weren't actually in the wort at all.
@@TheApartmentBrewer I have a custom made mash paddle. Pop it in a cordless drill and it spins wort as well at crazy speeds. Piles up junk in the kettle very well.
Arguably one of your best videos - informative, educational and inspiring to take the next step in home brewing! Cheers, Steve, to another great brew day!
Thank you man!! It's been taking off way more than anything else
I love this idea! It's one of those things that once you explain it, it makes perfect sense. I will definitely be incorporating this to avoid clogging my plate chiller
Glad I could help!
Fully agree, I noticed that when I replaced my hop spider with a 800 micron one and also one of the reasons I've chosen G-40 as my next brewing system as it can handle 500g of hops without a hop spider (and without clogging)
Thanks so much for your vids. Long time viewer first time "commenter" been brewing for about 2 years now and you've helped me a lot. Still struggling with a sour/ cider flavour in my IPAs but I'm working it out. Thanks again
Glad I have helped out. Guessing your off flavor is going to be related to yeast pitch rate and fermentation temps, just try to ferment your IPAs cooler and give them a longer fermentation to clean up off flavors. If you are adding sugar, try to dial it back to avoid cidery flavor
To choose hopspider or not… I have chosen to use hopspider despite the advantages mentioned of not doing so. What led me that way is process control. With a hop spider, the contact time can be determined precisely both during boil and hop stand and for different additions. It is for me a way to try to achieve repeatable results and better develop the recipes over time.
Nothing wrong with that approach!
I've recently taken a hybrid approach inspired by this video. I have two hop spiders for any early hop additions (such as bittering at 60, anything around 30, etc.) that's a small amount. I figure if I can split them up into multiple spiders it's leaving "some" room for them to breath, and I'll agitate and stir them a lot. I'll pull the spiders and then proceed with late flavor/aroma additions that free swim.
Thanks for all the interesting and informative videos. Much appreciated. I have quite a basic single tank brewer. I used a hop spider but still suffered a clogged bazooka in my early brews. A friend then suggested I dispense with the spider and add leaf hops directly into the kettle. After chilling the wort with an immersion chiller the hop leaves settle out and act as a filter bed which traps the cold break and prevents the bazooka from clogging. This works very effectively and needs no extra equipment. It does rely on using leaf hops however. A small amount of pellet hops can be accommodated in the mix but in general these break up into fine particles and using too high a proportion risks clogging. If you must use pellet hops the whirlpooling is definately the way to go.
This is a good point that I forgot to touch on in this video. Thanks for pointing it out!
Brew Hardware for the win! I have the privilege of being in a homebrew club with Bobby and Larry. Bobby made some modifications to my Brau supply system that really upgraded it.
I also noticed the same inefficiency once you load up the hop spider too much, so what I do is I just add stuff to the boil, removing my system's hop screen, and then when I put the beer in the fermentor, I pump or drain the batch through a sanitized hop spider. You can also do the same prior to bottling if dry hopping.
Bobby is the man!!
Thanks for the indepth breakdown on this. I am sure it will be useful to many people.
Thanks for watching, I hope it helps people!
Great vid braj!
Thank you!
Never thought about this but it makes a lot of sense. I'll try this with my next few brews, will probably run the chilled wort through my hop spider on the way to the fermenter to catch any potential residue.
I've recently done a brew in a regular pot on my stove. During chilling of the wort, I took a sanitized pot spoon and created my own whirlpool. When I've almost completed siphoning to my fermenter, I noticed the tightest cone of trub in the middle of the pot. I never thought my manual whirlpool would've had such an effect. You don't need the fancy equipment to get great results!
That is a great option that I actually completely forgot to touch on - thanks for mentioning that!
I totally agree with you Steve. I ditched hop bags over a dozen years ago and have only used a hop spider once or twice on a Grainfather (due to built in pump clogging) for large hop additions.
I “go commando” on all my brews. Saves on hops from higher utilization, better flavor and aroma like you said.
I do a little effort to keep hops in the kettle, but I don’t care if some get into the fermenter. Oh and I use an immersion chiller so no concerns about clogging my chiller.
Cheers Larry! Glad to hear you agree, it's definitely an impactful process change!
When I use the hop spider I do my best to stir inside the spider as much as possible hoping that will help the utilization
That definitely helps!
Timely video as I’m going to be brewing a DIPA. I have been using a hop spider as well and thought about the muted hop flavors etc from the use of the spider. Although my system is different than yours the information is useful. Cheers!🍻
Glad you found the video useful!
Never knew there was a 3 way valve, very cool process thanks for sharing this man!
It's honestly a bit of a gamechanger!
Thanks for the video, I would like to try this method.
Glad I could help!
Yes, 100% correct. I gave my hop spider away almost a year ago and haven’t looked back. Whirlpooling works every time and the resulting beer is noticeably better.
It really does seem to make a huge difference!
Interesting, I'll give it a try when I'll brew a Vienna Lager this winter!
just ordered the 18 inch version to go with the 20 Gallon Clawhammer system. Thanks for the video and suggestion!
Awesome! I hope you enjoy it!
Great video. I also have a claw hammer supply unit that I have modified. The bazooka was the first to go. I built myself a whirl pool arm as well. I now use a Spike Kettle because I bought a Spike steam condensing lid and it didn't fit on the Claw hammer kettle :( . The method you are using for whirlpooling does work well as I use that method all the time. I also stopped using the basket and mash separately as I found efficiently was low. Cheers
Nice! The steam condenser is a nice investment but unfortunately doesn't fit - I was thinking about it when I built the basement brewery. Cheers!
My setup is still very basic, one thing I've done is use the hop spider just at the end of the boil when I recirculate and chill as a way to filter out a majority of the hop material.
...that's a really good idea
Some in and some out. That's my method as well. Or only when brewing heavily hopped beers. My system can handle an ounce or two but much more without clogging
Wow, this is a very good idea, thank you for sharing!
@@wd6358 4oz or less I've never had issues. I've made a mistake with other adjuncts into the boil like orange peel and now that I have a dip tube and a pump that I use, I have to be more cautious to avoid clogging. I found that out recently.
Totally agree, gave up on my spider years ago, whirlpool gets most of the stuff settled into the middle. I use an immersion chiller however, so I usually pull the chiller when I get to KO temp, then wp for an additional 10 minuets and let it rest for 10. What I've also found extremely useful is using a Bouncer Pro filter when going into the fermenter to pick up whatever did not settle or once the kettle starts to pull gunk.
Details on where 2 get bouncer pro filter ???
@@tman9338 amazon
whirlpool and counterflow is all you need 👍👍
I stopped using my hop spider after seeing you not use one. I guess I wasn't thinking when I used the whole cone hops that I grew in the boil without the spider and had some troubles. Lesson learned. Thanks for the vid. Cheers!
There is some anecdotal evidence out there that says that whole cone hops might actually eventually act as a filter bed, but I haven't tried it. Cheers!
I BIAB, basically i use an old beat up bag during the boil and keep it from floating by having the chiller in there from the beginning (Since i set the system to max to boil). That way I have contact to the whole wort and end up catching most of the cold break as well in the bag.
Since I started using this process my beers have been super clear and I have way less trub by the end of fermentation, having a larger yield also.
That's a cool idea - so you find it doesn't impact wort flow to the fermenter then? Sometimes simpler is better!
@@TheApartmentBrewer I personally never had any issues especially since I don't use any pumps (Got that CH education).
Just lift the bag at the end of chilling with an immersion chiller, do a bit of a whirlpool to get whatever is left of the cold break to stay in place. Then into the fermenter it is. Edit: I've had slow flow from the bag a few times, especially with a DIPA with lots of hop additions, i just let the bag hang and it drains in about 15 mins, only then will I open the valve to fill the fermenter.
I got the idea from this video: /watch?v=VlxO6oV2kJs
But instead of making a spreader for the bag, I just used my immersion chiller, it's pretty large width-wise so it does the same job essentially.
I've never used a hop spider and have only had hops/protein clog anything once. It was the first time after I converted my kettle to electric and added a screen on my kettle valve. It instantly plugged and has since been banished to a box somewhere out in the garage. Other than that, the only time I've plugged up the valve on my kettle or pump was when I added citrus peel to a beer. I've brewed a 12gal NEIPA with 9oz of free kettle hops and had no issues.
The whirlpool method does work and I've used it if I have extra time on brew day. The only thing I do differently is chill the wort first to prevent over isomerization of late hop additions.
Orange peel is a nasty clogging agent for sure!
Great topic, I think about this a lot. With my Grainfather, recirculating through the hop spider seems to help a bit, but the flavor still seems limited. The pump clogs easily, which is the biggest challenge.
If your pump clogs, turn it off and put an air mattress blower into the silicone tube. Unclogged instantly.
Ha, asked and answered! Thanks, Steve. Brew Hardware is currently out of stock on this item.
Happy to help! Hopefully that's not a result of this video lol. You should be able to sign up to get notified when they get back in stock.
thank you for the great observation and suggestions...makes a lot of sense! It kind of lingered around my mind until you hit me with this, and then I'm like... "Eureka"..lol
Thank you
You're welcome!
I just started to cover my bazooka with a hop sock to prevent clogging. It have a bigger surface area (I think). Works 2 time out of 3 :D
Great video! It was helpful to me, since my brewzilla pump just stuck with a lot of hops inside of it and I couldn't use the pump or a valve cause its all connected. It was extremely painful to transfer the wort from the top of the brewzilla into another kettle with all the hops and proteins...
Glad it was helpful, that's a difficult situation!
Thanks!
Thank you!!
Brilliant setup for maximum flavour!
Unfortunately, my pump clogged up *with* a hop spider so I just use it for clean water in the chill but if my pump wasn't so puny, I'd definitely give this method a go.
Yikes, sorry to hear that.
Great info.
Thanks man!
Last recipe video you uploaded I was wondering how you were getting away without the hop spider. Good information!
Thanks for watching!
I wouldn't say the hop spider "negatively" impacts hop utilization or flavor it reduces it. You can overcome this by adding more hops.
This video couldn’t have come at better time! I just brewed a batch of beer this past Saturday and I threw the hops into the kettle and not the spider. This caused the bazooka screen to get clogged big time so I was trying to think of other options to try. I might try hop bags for each individual hop addition. Then if that fails, I might try method you recommended in this video. Thanks!
Just whirlpool and dump everything in the fermenter and it should leave the heavy hop sludge behind.
My German pilsner wins medals and consistently ranks 41-43 when BJCP scored. I got rid of my hop spider too and I don't regret it.
Hop bags might help, but if you can free the hops they will come through so much more.
@@TheApartmentBrewer - I wonder if the screen on the grain basket is about the same as the hop spider. If it is, then maybe I could use that instead of the spider.
I got the hop spider with my grainfather. I used it most of my brews, but as I've gotten my system tuned I removed it since the hop spider gets in the way of first wort additions during the sparge (makes the basket sit uneven). I've mostly just been throwing them in freely and doing a manual whirlpool for about a minute at flameout. Then I let it sit for 5 minutes. That procedure has pushed all the hop material away from my pump and allowed me to get relatively clear wort straight from the boil kettle pumped through my counterflow chiller.
The big thing I'm planning on changing on my larger hop additions is using a muslin bag to contain the hops. That's a technique I saw in use in a commercial capacity. Since the hop bags are relatively free floating they dont affect the utilization or flavor much, and when done, the bags can just be lifted out from the twine used to hold them off the bottom/away from the heating element. I just havent gotten the muslin supplies yet to do that for the upcoming batches I have planned out over the next month.
I still think for hugely hopped brews I will also use the hop bags as well. Have yet to really max out this whirlpool method.
Thanks for the video as always, very detailed and informative. I recently moved to using a hop spider for kettle hops, not because of clogging the pump (the grainfather g40 I use drains through the center bottom and has a pretty good false bottom and pump), but because I was worried too much "stuff" was getting into the fermenter after chilling. Do you think there would be any issues with using the hop spider to filter from the kettle into the fermenter?
In my experience, hop spiders will gum up and overflow if you are trying to push wort through them. Don't worry too much about trub pickup going into the fermenter, it doesn't really impact the beer very much
Cheers!
Cheers Curt!
What you do is how Brewtools B40, B80 and B150 system works with 3 valve. Great video!
Only you need 4 three way valves and 3k with brewtools' system.
That's actually where I got the inspiration from!
I still like the hop spider for the full control I get with whirlpool and other additions.
I just scrape some utilization back by recirculating the wort into the hop spider.
I go back and forth on my hop spider due to this concern especially for large whirlpool additions for IPAs. I would many times just free throw them in there but there is alot more clean up need and also a large volume of the hops make it into the fermenter. My concern is less of the clean up and more of the long duration hop contact with the wort then beer over the week plus it ferments. I have found a middle ground which you show here. But also, during the boil process, using a thick insulation glove, I take my hop spider and "dunk it" into the boiling wort, lifting it up and down in and out of wort to help the liquid flow more freely and release the oils. I usually do this a couple times during the process. For whirlpooling I have done something similar to what you show, I have the spider sitting and let the whirlpool arm pump through the hops spider. In addition to this I take my metal spoon I sterilized and I use that to stir the hops in the hop spider as well to make sure they don't just get compacted down. I know this is a more hands on process but I have seen great utilization this way, and I no longer fear underutilization of my whirlpool hops and it cuts down on hops in the fermenter, best of both worlds. Another option could be straining your fermenter as you pump in the wort but I don't have a mesh screen that fits for that.
Hello! Great video as always.
I'll try next time to switch place of the pump and the chiller in your set up. One 3-way valve less, I'll use just one direct after the plate chiller, this for circulating or chilling into the fermentor. I know you should avode items before the inlet of the pump, but my chiller is smaller then yours.
Gravity will solove everything to the fermentor. I want to do splitbatch in 2 fermentor. What do you think of my idea? Sorry for my spelling, I'm from Sweden😂
I also gave up on the hop spider in my clawhammer setup, instead I use the grain basket. The flavor difference is amazing but you do need to be careful with boil overs as the wort will foam up along the outside of the basket. I also pull the basket almost completely out of the boil a few times every 10 mins or so just to help keep the hops from compacting on the bottom too much.
I tried using the grain basket a few times and the wort would not drain through it, pump ran dry and thats not a great thing. Glad it works for you!
I too have ditched the hop spider, and use that exact method with one difference. I have a blichman three vessel system, so sometimes in a heavily hopped beer I will use an in-line filter with a fine screen. I have yet to have to stop the transfer to clean the filter before I finish transferring wort to fermenter but it gives a second layer of protection.
Thanks for sharing!
Based on purely anecdotal experience, I've noticed increased bitterness when not using the hop spider. Not so bad for a West Coast IPA, but on something light I've seen a perceivably less desirable beer. Process control of the spider is really nice - ability to remember bittering hops as soon as boil is over rather than having them sit for 15mins in hot wort as it cools down.
That is a good point - although you could probably account for the increased bitterness by decreasing the initial bittering addition.
I love the elegance of using physics principles to help with wort clarity.
BUT, My problem is that I have heating elements at the bottom of my DIY electric kettle that thwart any attempt to collect hops & trub in a whirlpool cone.
So, here's my workaround:
I still use a hop spider and...
-vigorously stir the hops in my spider
-lift the loaded spider and allow it the wort to drain back into the kettle
-re-submerge it and allow it to refill with hot wort
-repeat 3-4x in 30 seconds. It's like steeping a teabag.
-repeat this process every 10 minutes or so during the boil.
So, it IS a bit of a hassle compared to "no-spider hopping" and whirlpooling but it has restored my hop utilization & hop flavor to excellent levels.
I like it. Persaonally, I dump out the grain basket and put it back in the wort and use it as a MASSIVE hop spider. all the same perks but no extra equipment needed. (Using Clawhammer)
Glad that works for you, every time I've done that the wort doesn't pass through it. Ran my pump dry a few times and I decided not to try to make that work anymore.
@@TheApartmentBrewer Yes that is something to be aware of for sure, I have done that as well. I wonder if throwing in some rice hulls, like you would to prevent a stuck mash, might help with that or not. Something to try
im using the 800 micron mangrove jacks spider atm and think its a good combo of containing hop matter but not all of it, it pretty much just holds the larger matter and lets the finer stuff through which isnt an issue as the size it lets through dosent clog anything, the spider i had before was about 150 micron and held near enough everything but i was bothered it was holding in the oils too which is why i went with a larger micron mesh
Makes sense, maybe I can experiment with a larger mesh
I've been doing a spoon whirlpool after immersion chilling for a while, but I've never been able to tell if it works. The wort seems reasonable clear until the end so I guess it's doing something. I just shut off my kettle valve as soon as it starts pulling sludge. For big whirlpool additions, I just use bags, smack them around with the spoon for 20 minutes, take them out, finish chilling, then spoon-whirlpool.
That is a good method as well, and seems to work pretty well for you!
I use a hop infuser, which is a course mesh free floating spider. Plus obviously don't over fill it or they won't be able to move around inside and do what they need to
I have been using the electric brewery hop stopper with good results. I do have a built in whirlpool arm in my kettle though, so I can’t speak to how it would be without it.
That is something I've looked into a bit. Glad it works well for you though!
Very cool video. I just got a Clawhammer and I brew heavily hopped beers so may have to use this set up. When mashing, are you basically using the Whirlpool set up but instead of using the Spincycle you connect to the lid?
Not exactly. I use the regular loop kettle -> pump -> lid for mashing, but I have the three way valves still set up so I just have to swap one hose out.
Since you’re the guy with the sponsorships, maybe a good video would be showing how much hops it would take to max out/damage a pump like the one Clawhammer includes, or otherwise make your setup fail. Looks like an awesome (and pretty inexpensive!) rig, but for those occasions where a huge amount of hops is needed, it’d be cool to get a feel for how much really is too much. 🍻
While it would certainly be entertaining, destroying equipment leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Liked the video. Might have missed it…, sanitising the chiller first by recirculating through it at the end of boil would also drop the wort temperature to 75 to 80C for the whirlpool hop additions? My biggest problem is clogging the pump when using whole hops in the kettle and pelleted hops added freely to the unitank as dry hops which bung up the outlet to the bottom butterfly valve. I have been splattered by green hop slurry too often!! 😕
The chiller sanitation step I do now at the 60 min mark before I add any hops, and without running the cold water through so it minimizes temperature drop.
I used to use a hop spider but now I just use the spider as a filter for the hops before transferring to a fermenter.
You should do a video on how to shorten a brew day. That's something I've been exploring myself.
Great video as always.
I chill 10G batch using Jaded immersion chiller and recirc using pump into igloo with 2G ice block- saves a ton of water and I chill the water in advance in Corney. It’s 3 stages - 1st 2 gals for heated sanitizer, 2nd 2 gals with chilled Corney water ( for 1st Kviek pitch ) 3rd 2 gals with ice block and chilled Corney water. Super primitive low cost chill method.
I clean as I brew and prep things like water and crush grain the night before to break up the brew day.
My brew days are anything but short - mainly because I'm filming a lot and setting tons of things up. But you can save a little time by prepping as much as possible the day before - your grain, water salts, even heating up overnight if you trust your system enough. Or performing an overnight mash. Cleaning as you go helps a lot too.
I have been using a hop spider for nearly a year. Yes, it does help mitigate clogs, reduce clean up time and restricts hop utilization; however, I do notice a difference in flavor and aroma. I need to give free hops a try during the flavor and aroma time during the boil. That might be the game changer. Thanks for the tip!
If you want to just dip your toes in, try it with a pilsner or hoppy European lager as opposed to a hazy IPA or something. That way you can try without using a ton of hops
I've been using a similar method for years. I use an immersion chiller that I keep in a bucket of star san solution near the kettle. I have had 8oz in the whirlpool without ever clogging the pump. I run the wort through a sanitized hop bag prior to running the wort off to the fermzilla which collects most of the hops. I have never worried about trub entering the fermenter and it's never caused any issues for me in terms of off flavors or clarity of beer styles that are supposed to be clear. I do not want the hops in the fermenter for obvious reasons. On an unrelated note I bought an Apartment Brewer t-shirt in a xxl(I'm a husky fella) damn thing fits like a medium. 😂
That sounds like a solid method! Trub doesn't really affect the clarity at all in my experience either. Sorry the t-shirt size got messed up - I unfortunately can't control that. If you reach out to Teespring they should be able to issue you a refund or get the correct size.
@@TheApartmentBrewer I definitely wasn't suggesting you have control over teespring I know better. Ordering shirts online is a crapshoot because sizes are not standardized And I have a bunch of shirts sitting in drawers that I cannot wear because they're too small or too big. Usually the ones are too small my 5 foot tall 110 lb wife ends of wearing as a nightgown so it's not a total loss.
An emersion chiller makes this more complicated as you typically need to move the chiller up and down to cool it effectively. Also the chiller in the wort really messes up the circular flow of the wort during whirlpool. It may work if you do the whirlpool after you chill it though and remove the chiller.
I use a counter flow chiller as they won’t block up and I go into my fermenter using a strainer to catch any hop leaves and also help with pre fermentation aeration. Simples
I use a three vessel system, with a counterflow chiller. I was doing a longer whirlpool and not getting much of a cone. I'm excited to try the shorter whirlpool and see the difference. Thanks for the video, and the idea! Cheers brother.
A CF chiller would be an awesome eventual add since it definitely would be tougher to clog. Check out the tea leaf paradox!
Thanks Steve! So in my equipment profile if I set whirlpool/no-chill time to 20 minutes or so and temperature to about 180 or so (since the wort naturally cools a tad after flameout) that should get me in the ballpark? For aroma additions, would you recommend doing a hop steep instead? Thank you, I just got a Exchillerator but trying to figure out the logistics of this since I can’t/won’t whirlpool cold because recirculating isn’t as efficient. Thanks again!
I think that should work. I usually still segregate my 0 min additions and my deliberate whirlpool additions though since in the deliberate whirlpool I'll have constant motion and temperature and in the 0 min style addition it's only a small amount of motion and a falling temperature.
My next brew I’m going to try a No hop boil. I’ll do a mash-hop, a first wort hop, a long steep at flame-out, and then a dry hop. So there will be no hops in the wort during the boil. I anticipate hop flavor without the bitterness.
Sounds like a very interesting idea, good luck!
I've done a couple brews now with a hop stopper and it seems to do well without needing to whirlpool. Making one might be a fun DIY project and they let you sanitize by recirculating during the boil without losing hop utilization. Have you tried using the mash screen as a giant hop spider?
I've tried using the basket a few times before but unfortunately they've all been failures. The wort tends to not want to pass through the mesh and its worse than using the hop spider, once my pump ran dry because there was no liquid underneath the basket.
Thoughts on pulling hop spider out with remaining hops and using it to screen cooled wort into fermenter?
Great topic and for me quite timely. I’m a BIAB guy with just the kettle, bag and hop spider. I’ve been somewhat disappointed in flavor the past few brews. I’m thinking, especially now after watching this video, of just adding the hops freely into the kettle and then giving a stir for a few minutes. Thinking I should end up with similar results you experienced as long as I didn’t muck up the process prior to that point. Thanks for all the advice and sharing your experiences. Btw, I brewed a Belgian Golden after watching your video. Broke it out at Thanksgiving and got great reviews. That Belgian series is a must watch!
Brewer in sandals are dangerous like ur style i do the same haha
I have been doing this inadvertently but only because my Anvil Foundry 10.5 doesn't come with a hop spider and I haven't bought one yet. But I have only put about 5 oz of hops through it because the pale ale (Take the A Train recipe) I brewed I scaled down to 3 gallons. May still get one for IPA's and pale ales, because that 5 oz came close to clogging my pump.
It might help a lot! Thanks for brewing my recipe!
@@TheApartmentBrewer It's very good, will be brewing again!
I have been letting the hops flow into the conical fermenter then, after a couple hours, drain them out the bottom. I haven’t noticed any issues. I use a counter flow chiller immersed in ice water.
That's definitely a benefit of using a conical!
Great video, I have been trying this with a Spike Solo, but looks like the 15 minute wait was my problem. Not sure about the background music, made it hard to watch for me at least.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Question about recirculating arm and chill plate…I have the clawhammer 10 gallon system just picked up the arm and valves and ditching the hop spider. I also picked the 1/2” npt pick up tube. Is it possible to chill down enough when going from kettle to chill plate directly to fermenter? I’ve always recirculated back to the kettle to get the temp down and of course results in lots of trube in the fermenter, which is why I’ve decided to use the arm.
If your ground water is cold enough it is entirely possible. For example I live in New england and in the winter one pass will get me to roughly 60-65 F. In the summer it's more like 80-90 F. Still easy to finish the last 20 degrees of chill in the fermenter though letting it sit in the fridge
How about re-circulation into the hop spider after the boil but before sending anything to the chiller? I haven’t tried it yet but I have been having the same issues on my 20gal Clawhammer . Thanks for all you do!
I've tried this but it eventually overflows and causes the hop material to flow out into the kettle.
@@TheApartmentBrewer Been there done that
Bought mine two years ago and I only used it twice. It's just collecting dust in my brewery. Will give it away for free to anyone.
I think there's also an increase of the formation of DMS resulting from continued conversion of SMM between the boil and end of whirlpool before pumping through the chiller.
If you haven't noticed it, probably not big enough a deal to warrant consideration.
Interesting thought, I think those who do the no-chill method would be affected by this as well though.
Question? Where did you get the 3-way valves, and do they have tri-clamp versions? I've been using the Blichmann BrewEasy Compact and realized one short comping that a 3-way (or even a 4-way) could solve. Agree with the hop spider or hop bags, as I'm always very aware of getting good recirculation but could see better utilization by dumping the hops directly into the brew kettle. There was some info on this in regards to hop utilization for dry hopping based on total contact.
Looks like Blichmann has a 3-way 1.5" TC as L-type or T-type. T-type always connects at least 2 ports, up to 3. L-type only connects center and 1 other port or is closed. A good diagram can be found on Brew Hardware's 3-way valve pages.
I ordered NPT versions off amazon, but I think TC versions exist somewhere on amazon as well. They are probably going to be a bit more expensive though.
I use this method continuously. Except I just stir it, stir for a minute and with the centrifugal forces, the lighter materials and trub naturally settles to the centre. I would also like to add one thing, StarSan won't be effective enough to santise the heat exchanger (if anything got hold inside), so would recommend a stronger sanitiser like Caustic soda at a 5% concentration. Just rinse before use.
Thats a good point. I've been hooking up my chiller and hoses at the beginning of the boil now and sanitizing at the 60 min mark with the boiling wort before adding my hops. Works like a charm!
I ferment with the hops. I separate in the secondary vessel.
I tried out your exact system, but confused a bit in how to set valves. I will give another go tomorrow. Any secrets to remembering how to set valves?
I usually just do a rehearsal of which valves I will turn for which parts of the brewing process and trace the flow path every time before turning on the pump
Quick question about your setup. The Clawhammer system isn’t seen much in the UK, is it a no sparge system? If so, do you know how you’d go about converting a recipe that is made for a clawhammer system to a Grainfather for example?
Yep, it is a no sparge system, although you sort of can sparge if you pour some water over the grain basket as it is lifted out. As long as the volumes are relatively similar the only thing you should need to adjust is efficiency.
Maybe I missed it, but did you mention what mesh size your spider is? Wondering if it's worth testing between different ones to see if it's just 1 or all that impacts it significantly.
I don't actually know the mesh width, but this is a good point.
I was thinking about buying Clawhammers whirlpool arm for my CH system. Have you found the heating element a factor when whirlpooling?
It might slow things down a bit but I've had no significant problems with it impacting the whirlpool
This is the ideal process to get rid of clogs, but I am too paranoid about sanitation to rely on star san to sanitize a plate chiller. I found that the easiest way to clog a chiller is to stop the flow. Cold break + hot break + hops will almost always clog a chiller, but if you stop the flow after the 'sanitize' step, you can pretty much guarantee a full clog. (Ask me how I know). This had nothing to do with hops. I made about 4 different NEPA with 4-8 oz of hops in the boil (30L) and a quick backwards flush would do the trick. Recently did a Hef with 2oz, and the proteins formed a nice jello inside my chiller that forced me to clean it with 60psi garden hose pressure and use my immersion instead!
New setup works like this:
@20 mins whirlfloc
@10mins recirculate into hop spider; this captures a tonne of trub+hops into the spider that I then remove to avoid over-doing the isomerization.
@5mins cycle through plate chiller into whirlpool arm
At flameout I will stop flow and drain the chiller + hoses**** important
Good 10 minutes rest for the hop cone and then I will pump through the chiller to collect the wort. Works great for people like me who need 5X peace of mind
Thats a great method, thanks for sharing! I have recently started hooking all my valves and hoses up now at the start of the boil and sanitizing my chiller by running boiling wort through it for a few minutes prior to adding my first hops addition. This seems to work pretty well, and as long as I don't disconnect hoses.
@@TheApartmentBrewer will give this a try, just have to wrap my mind around what happens to everything in the lines+chiller during that 60 minutes 🧠
I also always jist dump them in, but getting a clear wort into the fermenter was really hard. Especially for my last DIPA with 150g hops. I used a hopbag at the end of the pump to collect material but it clogged up and i had to massage the wort out of the bag. What a mess 😅
That is a lot of hops!!
0:27 "with some Clarity" Haaaa hehe
Could you accomplish a whirlpool in the Clawhammer with just a spoon/manually? I have the 120V Clawhammer and I'm looking to increase hop utilization but doing it manually with a spoon seems easiest without having to purchase new equipment. Thoughts? Thanks for the great video!
Absolutely, that would likely work just fine.
Would this method work with BIAB using using Jaded immersion chiller ?? I currently use 10G igloo with 2G ice block to chugger pump to Jaded immersion chiller to cool my wort.
Yes, it is actually easier with an immersion chiller since you don't have to worry about clogging the chiller.
I hate the hop spider because it is way to short and only a few centimeters are within the wort. I changed to an old biab-bag, which works quite well in case of keepint the hops out of the final product. Not sure about the utilization, but only had two brews this way.
I haven’t used any kinda strainer on my brew kettle system for 4yrs and never had a clog . I think the most hops I’ve added at once was around 5-6 oz .
That is certainly a lot of hops!!
Great stuff... which does not apply to the designer of my all in one system with a built in pump... which draws from the bottom of the kettle!! Will never risk pumping hop particles through there. Which is a shame because it also limits my cooling options to immersion only and JaDeD don't supply Europe (very well)
I'm sorry to hear that! Have you considered looking into a trub trap or similar false bottom?
@@TheApartmentBrewer only briefly, figured it would build up as a bazooka filter would (took me 2 brews to throw that in the trash, even with a hop spider). Also worried it won’t stay in place very well during the boil, but not sure how that works
Does this same concept apply to dry hopping? Should I be adding hops directly to the beer instead of in a mesh bag? If so, how do you recommend keeping hop sediment out of the finished product?
That's different because you should still be able to separate the hops at the end, and you can't do that with a whirlpool in the fermenter. However if you have a conical, you can wait for the hops to sink to the bottom and dump them through the bottom dump valve if you want to add them freely. I still mostly use a dry hopping bag for my dry hopping.
Would like to see this tested with two samples and blind tasting. I doubt the hop spider reduces flavour at all.
Can't do a blind taste test on every video, but its a good idea. That would require a double brew - one with and one without a hop spider for the same beer. Can't guarantee exact same wort and fermentation conditions and someone else would get pissed about that.
Trying to compensate for the additional IBU's from that whirpool I usually add 15 mins. of boiling time to each hop addition on Beersmith. It's not a perfect science but a close reference.
I will try a brew in a bag XXL during the boiling, which i will weight with magnets on the sides of the kettle (not on the bottom). All the wort will be "in" the bag, i'll just have to throw my hops, and take off the bag at the end.
Thats a really good idea
I put the cloth biab mesh bag around the rim inside the fermenter while pouring in the wort through the funnel. Catches all boil pot debris.
I use a large biab bag tp make a swimming pool for hops ,during the boil it spans half of the boiler and when adding at flame out I open it to cover the full area of the surface .So hops can swim freely but I can remove them
Nice idea!
I guess my being I was getting the optimal hop usage I’ve just dumped my Hopsin during boil hop spider nothing is it falls out of suspension I’ve been Fermenting on the hops I’ve had no issues
Sorry for all the questions, no fear of the grains that inevitably get outside the basket clogging things up prior to the whirpool since we are taking the bazooka screen off?
No worries, I have never had that issue either, but usually I'm not really getting any grain particles outside the basket that make it into the boil unless I overfill