Need help with hop-clogged pickup screen.

[calpyro]

Hello,
I been brewing a bunch of Double IPA's recently and switched from whole hops to pellets due to the large amount of liquid absorbed by whole hops.
However, I ran into a new problem with pellets. They clog my home-built hopstopper screen. I have been using a 8"X 8" fine stainless steel screen envelope that I put over my pickup tube in the boiling kettle. Pellets totally clogged it up yesterday when I used 10 OZ of pellets in the boil.
I am trying to fix the problem and fashioned a new setup today and would like some feedback. Do you think it will keep my pickup tube from being clogged?
It is constructed from three, stainless steel screen colanders with a stainless braided tube over the pickup tube. Look at the photos for a clearer idea of the setup.

Disassembled:


Assembled:


With immersion chiller that holds it down.

[Crut]

I like the fact your thinking new. Im sure it should work just fine. I use to have the problem of clogging, then i learned to whirlpool, and bam, much better. The only problem i could see with the colanders is that it seems like it would be sort of a pain to clean.
You've come to the right place for help though!

[calpyro]

Thanks for the feedback. Compared to the pain in the A$$ of a clogged kettle, I'll take the cleaning chore. I have been toying with the idea of fashioning a screen on the bottom as well. My local restaurant supply shop has stainless splatter screens for frying pans about the same size as the largest colander. If I attach them together with a few lengths of fine stainless wire, I think it will keep all of the hops out.

[DannyW]

If it was clogging the single screen, then it seems like it would clog the outer of your 3 screens and give you the same result. Perhaps the outer screen should be coarser mesh, then middle one a bit finer, then the inner one finest yet?

I went through several gyrations like this (well, not quite so well engineered as yours) and eventually settled on no filtering devices at all, pellet hops all the time (or bag whole hops), and letting the whirlpool do the work. Much less stress and cleanup at least on my setup.

[calpyro]

Danny,
Thanks for the advice. I have been thinking about the whirlpool, but with the amount of hops that I have been using 12-16 ounces per batch, the hops get pretty deep.
Do you think that a whirlpool will work with lots of hops?

[Crut]

Depending on how you route your pickup tube, i dont see having a problem with that many. Your tube just might have to be a little higher than close to the bottom

[DannyW]

I think my hoppiest recipe has 14oz of hops in a 10 gallon batch. It worked fine when I made it 2 weeks ago, but 6 oz of those hops were whole hops in a bag.

Now, this is the JZ pump powered whirlpool chiller, not just stirring with a spoon. I also have no pickup tube at all on the inside of the kettle - just a hole about an inch off the floor. I also let the kettle sit for 45 min or so after turning off the chiller and pump to let everything settle below that outlet. The immersion chiller seems to hold the hop pile in the middle pretty well while the wort flows out the outside.

Yes, there is a lot of wort left under that outlet when I am done; I just plan my recipes to accomodate it.

[calpyro]

Pump and whirlpool setup, next on the purchase list. Sounds like I can either pump through the hop sentiment, or whirlpool it out of the way. Thanks for the tips.