hopbacks, who uses 'em?

[slanted & enchanted]

i've been toying with the idea of a hopback for like a year. what's the consensus here on the forum? is it worth it? or should i just stick to the whirlpool hops and call it a day?

anyone have drawings/photos of one? i though it would be easy to part together but after sketching some stuff out i was coming up with problems.

thanks in advance.

[SunkenBier]

I love my hop back. It gives the beer a nice floral aroma and a percieved bitterness that did not linger. The one I am using is sold by B3.

[Imakewort]

do you use your hop back with A immersion chiller? Or do you circulate through it just before flameout.

[SunkenBier]

I use an immersion chiller to cool then I gravity feed to the hop back. I pull from the hopback with the pump and send it straight to the fermentor.

[Test_Engineer]

I use an immersion chiller to cool then I gravity feed to the hop back. I pull from the hopback with the pump and send it straight to the fermentor.

I thought you needed some heat to get the full potential of a hopback. Sending cooled wort through it seems like you wouldn't get as much from the hops.

[Bugeater]

I thought you needed some heat to get the full potential of a hopback. Sending cooled wort through it seems like you wouldn't get as much from the hops.

That has always been my impression too. I always thought of the hopback as a grant full of hops from which you pump the wort to a plate chiller. Post chill would be more like a randall but should be done at serving rather than prior to fermentation where some of the aroma will be scrubbed out by the CO2.

Of course, I may just be talking out of my ass here as I have never tried a hop back myself. I would appreciate the correction if I'm wrong.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

[Mylo]

Of course, I may just be talking out of my ass here

Boog, that is a fancy trick that you have learned over the years. You'll have to teach JP.


Mylo

[SunkenBier]

I used to send it hot from the boil to the hopback and then chill it before it went to the fermentor. The problem is with this method I had beer sitting hot creating DMS while it was sending it into the hopback.

I love experimenting so I am trying to do it cold now to see the affects. One reason I want it cold is because Im now using an immersion chiller with a prechiller so I can drop everything cold fast.

I just had a nice idea I think I might try. While the immersion chiller is chilling I can send the beer from the kettle into the hopback and pump it back into the main beer to whirlpool. I think I may have to try that soon.