Blichmann Hop Rocket

[mickp]

Yeah sorry, that was my fault. It was a combination of a comment from JZ on the recent Brewstrong Q&A, plus studying Tasty's configuration with the Hoprocket.
Apologies for derailing, and thanks to JohnF for a helpful reply. I will not concern myself with cold break removal until one distant day when I get me a conical.

[booboo]

Any updates on this Tasty?

I am planning on buying one of these this weekend so I can have it for next weekend brew.

I plan to attach it with a tri-clamp to my kettle (brew-magic) and use it upside down like you have to filter out hot break. I whirlpool all my brews, mainly to bring the temp down so my chiller will work properly. Can I have this in line with my whirlpool or will it get stuck like a sparge can?

Tasty,

Few Questions:

1: Whats the point of running the Hop rocket Upside down? Do you need gravity to keep the hops on top of the screen so they compact and filter trub more efficiently?
2: You mention that you perceive no added hop flavor or aroma with a hop back compared to late hopping/whirlpooling. My assumption in your setup is that you do not use a hop back at all and instead use whirlpool hops.
3: Do you cut back on your whirlpool hop amounts when you use the Hop Rocket. I would guess you are getting some level of hop flavor/aroma from the hops in the Hop Rocket trub filter.
4: You are hanging the hop rocket from the boil kettle valve. Are you concerned it is stressing the coupling on the kettle too much? Are you getting alot of deflection from the weight of the hop rocket when its full of liquid. I would be worried over time that the coupling will develop a crack and leak?

1. The Hop Rocket has one fine screen and that's at the top (my bottom) so I reverse the flow. Yes, I want my hops, which are in a hopsack by the way, to pull down against that screen. Pushing wort from the bottom just won't do that at normal chilling flow rates. The March pump on the cold side of the plate chiller is able to pull down the hops against the screen. And yes, gravity helps.
2. Depending on the recipe, sometimes I do both a whirlpool addition and a hopback. In any case, if I'm using a hopback, the recipe typically has lots of late additions so all I'm saying is that amongst all that hop flavor and aroma, I'm not noticing that much of a difference even though there probably is some. The Hop Rocket used in its intended configuration might impart more aroma and flavor than the way I'm using it.
3. No, I don't reduce the the whirlpoool additions when I use a hopback. No doubt the hopback adds something. After a 20-30 minute whirlpool rest, the wort is down to 190F or so before it gets to the hopback. I expect I'm getting far better hop oil extraction during the whirlpool and there's probably some saturation issue in play.
4. I use a MoreBeer heavy duty kettle and I don't worry about the deflection. Nonetheless, because the HR is heavier than my hopback and holds more wort, and because it will look very cool, I'm going to be hard piping the Hop Rocket to the Therminator. In non-hopbacked beers like lagers, I'm experimenting with using rice hulls in a hopsack as a trub filter.

Tasty

[Hoser]

Well,
I am not Tasty, but I asked your very same question a couple of weeks ago. I inverted the hop rocket like Tasty. Shortened my hoses to the pump. Raised my Blichman burner. And, based on other people's advice SLOWLY opened the valve on the out side of the pump AFTER the air had been purged from the rocket, pump, and hoses before I turned on the pump. Granted, I have not brewed a beer since my initial attempts. I did test it out with water. Obviously, not the same viscosity as wort, but the pump did not get airlocked and I was able to whirlpool with 4oz. of whole hops in the hop rocket. Definitely get the hop rocket, and good luck!

[booboo]

Thanks, I am going to order it. The thing that sucks is I have to spend $50 to get the correct tri-clamp for the brew-magic.

Using it this way, how well does it do as a filter? I am curious of how it works with rice hulls or a combination of rice hulls and hops.

Well,
I am not Tasty, but I asked your very same question a couple of weeks ago. I inverted the hop rocket like Tasty. Shortened my hoses to the pump. Raised my Blichman burner. And, based on other people's advice SLOWLY opened the valve on the out side of the pump AFTER the air had been purged from the rocket, pump, and hoses before I turned on the pump. Granted, I have not brewed a beer since my initial attempts. I did test it out with water. Obviously, not the same viscosity as wort, but the pump did not get airlocked and I was able to whirlpool with 4oz. of whole hops in the hop rocket. Definitely get the hop rocket, and good luck!

[Hoser]

Have not tried it as a filter. Had some initial issues with it and just wanted to make sure it worked with the JZ whirlpool chiller. Now one thing I forgot to mention was that I put the hops in a hop bag. May want to do this with the rice hulls. I believe this made a difference in the outflow of the hop rocket. I know Blichman is releasing an extra/new attachment/filter to correct some of the issues with the hop rocket that should be coming out within the next month or so that will be free to hop rocket owners. So, this may alleviate some of the issues with airlock, clogging, etc. that have been encountered thus far with the hop rocket.

[booboo]

I was thinking a handfull of rice hulls in first then the hops on top would keep the hops from cloging the chiller and help with filtering. Do you have more info on the new filter Blichmann is going to offer?

[Hoser]

The hop bags worked fine to keep the hops from clogging my pump. I imagine it would work equally well with a chiller. To be honest, my initial issue was the pump airlocking and opening the valve too soon and compressining the hops against the screen and limiting flow. I didn't notice any hops escaping from the hop rocket at any point. I think the combination of the 2 would be an unnecessary step because the hops already act as a filter. I think Tasty was implying using only rice hulls with lagers in the hop rocket, not the combination of hops and rice hulls.

All that Blichmann told me was that a new filter would be available soon to hop rocket owners to help alleviate some of the issues owners have had. He did not give any more explanation other than that.

[booboo]

I gues I am over complicating this. Basically I would be using it to filter trub. I can always throw hops in a whirlpool to get the same effect. How much of a benifit is filtering out the trub on the way to the fermenter. I brew a lot of light body and clolor beers and would suspect they would benifit the most. But enough to spend the money?