Blichmann Hop Rocket

[TastyMcD]

Tasty Wrote
I've never noticed any real increase in aroma or flavor that I don't better get from whirlpool and dryhop additions

Ouch....Wish I read Tasty's evaluation of Hop backs about 2 hours ago before I plunked down my 120 bucks....Oh well... a fancy trub filter is on its way to me.....

Don't get me wrong I love my hopback. I bought a Hop Rocket as well. I'm going to remove a few parts and run it in the opposite direction so it filters trub like mine.

Tasty

[breyton]

Tasty Wrote
. I'm going to remove a few parts and run it in the opposite direction so it filters trub like mine.

Tasty

Looking forward to seeing your mods. As an idea.. i know you use filter pads to help clear you beer. What about using the 7 micron pad and cuting it to size to sit on top of the screen filter in the Hop Rocket. That would filter most all of the trub... not sure if it would be too tight of a filtration or would clog... but its an idea

[Dirk McLargeHuge]

Tasty Wrote
I've never noticed any real increase in aroma or flavor that I don't better get from whirlpool and dryhop additions

Ouch....Wish I read Tasty's evaluation of Hop backs about 2 hours ago before I plunked down my 120 bucks....Oh well... a fancy trub filter is on its way to me.....

[breyton]

anyone brew with the Hop Rocket yet... feedback, likes, dislikes...

[thatguy314]

Tasty Wrote
I've never noticed any real increase in aroma or flavor that I don't better get from whirlpool and dryhop additions

Ouch....Wish I read Tasty's evaluation of Hop backs about 2 hours ago before I plunked down my 120 bucks....Oh well... a fancy trub filter is on its way to me.....

It probably makes a bigger difference when you're cooling 15+ barrels at a time and the wort stays hot a lot longer.

[Cliff]

JAnd when I say thin, I mean thin -- as in it took my 65 minutes to fill a 6 gallon better bottle. (And I probably only got about 4 gallons due to the loss from the hops).

I read this and went back to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEO75CszMcI
He shows it working and flowing. The flow is way far better than you describe and he's only using gravity to drive it.

So I wonder if maybe you are doing something wrong. Either that or he's not got more than half an ounce of hops in the thing and he ain't telling you how much he put in it.

But assuming he's got a reasonable amount the flow should not bee too bad is you run the wort in from the bottom and out the top.

BUT~!!! Watching his video I was struck by a couple thoughts:
1.) Gravity may be the ideal way to run it because the flow is gentle and won't slam the hops against the top of the container
2.) If you are using a pump try using a throttling valve on the pump's output side before the flow gets to the hop rocket to see if a gentler flow lets the hops inside tumble around more easily instead of plugging it up. I suspect that with a reasonable hop load and a pump you may actually be forcing the hops to get all jammed up under the forced flow of the pump.

[bobbytuck]

JAnd when I say thin, I mean thin -- as in it took my 65 minutes to fill a 6 gallon better bottle. (And I probably only got about 4 gallons due to the loss from the hops).

BUT~!!! Watching his video I was struck by a couple thoughts:
1.) Gravity may be the ideal way to run it because the flow is gentle and won't slam the hops against the top of the container
2.) If you are using a pump try using a throttling valve on the pump's output side before the flow gets to the hop rocket to see if a gentler flow lets the hops inside tumble around more easily instead of plugging it up. I suspect that with a reasonable hop load and a pump you may actually be forcing the hops to get all jammed up under the forced flow of the pump.

Yep -- I think that's it. Tasty suggested this earlier, too.

I'm brewing this weekend, and I'm going to throttle back the pump and see what happens. I'm not sure gravity would work in my case because my BK is only a foot or so above the hoprocket on the ground (using a TopTier, and I don't really like feel like messing with the tiers now.) In the Spring, I may go from three tiers to two -- and move my BK so that it's at the same level as my MLT (about three to four feet off the ground.)

I may brew a second batch whirlpool-only and see if I can taste a difference. I've made satisfyingly hopped-up beers with late additions and whirlpooling, so I suspect my desire for the HopRocket was more to try something new than actually make a drastic shift in the taste of the beer. (Although if it does that -- that's great.)

My four batches I've made with the HR are still fermenting in my basement. I gotta admit -- they taste pretty damn good (a couple of IPAs, a brown ale, and Denny's Rye IPA). I'll probably bottle at least one and maybe two over the upcoming turkey day.

[Cliff]

(Although if it does that -- that's great.).

A brewer after my own heart