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Hop Back Design

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  • #16
    so who made that lovely beast for you?
    ________________
    Matthew Steinberg
    Co-Founder
    Exhibit 'A' Brewing Co.
    Framingham, MA USA

    Head Brewer
    Filler of Vessels
    Seller of Liquid
    Barreled Beer Aging Specialist
    Yeast Wrangler
    Microbe Handler
    Malt Slinger
    Hop Sniffer
    Food Eater
    Music Listener

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    • #17
      Stout Tanks and Kettles - http://conical-fermenter.com/

      Pretty quick turn-around. Price was pretty good too.

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      • #18
        Hop Back

        What size is the tank? After you get on that baby let us know the outcome.
        Chuck Williamson
        Butternuts Beer & Ale
        (607) 263-5070
        butternuts@frontiernet.net

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        • #19
          She is about 1bbl which fits nicely under my brew platform. I plan on riding her hard next week. Will let you know how she holds up.

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          • #20
            Originally posted by fa50driver
            I just received my custom made hop back, complete with sight glass, 2 inch inlet, 1.5 inch outlet, false bottom, and female NPT fitting on the lid to attach a valve for pressurizing/purging. I had it made as a pressurized vessel so that it could be used before or after the pump. I'm a little concerned with cavitation issues because I had the outlet placed very close to the false bottom. I guess if needed I can have some tabs welded to raise the false bottom. I'm psyched to put this baby in use on my next brew.
            That, is a thing of beauty!

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            • #21
              How's the hopback working

              Hey fa50driver -

              How is your hopback working out?

              Anything you'd do different in the design if you had a do over?

              Thanks!
              Eric Biermann

              Inbound Brewco
              Minneapolis, MN 55401

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              • #22
                Originally posted by ebiermann
                Hey fa50driver -

                How is your hopback working out?

                Anything you'd do different in the design if you had a do over?

                Thanks!


                Yea, and how 'bout a pic or two with the "hood" up?

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                • #23
                  Originally posted by fa50driver
                  She is about 1bbl which fits nicely under my brew platform. I plan on riding her hard next week. Will let you know how she holds up.
                  Any updates?

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                  • #24
                    The unit works pretty decent, but there are a few issues that I had to work through. Due to the width, the false bottom isn't exactly tight, and the unit flexes under pressure/vaccum so I need more than a false bottom to prevent hop debris from hitting my filter and hx. The first time I ran it I plugged the sh!t out of my strainer AND HX. Since then I have used either a hop bag or cheese cloth as an extra filter to prevent any bypass. The unit seems to hold pressure pretty well, but I am using it post kettle/pre-pump (without any flow issues.) I have not used it Post Pump yet. The next time I make a Pale or an IPA, I will take a photo of the setup.

                    If I were to re-order it, I would not get the sight glass, it is just one extra piece of equipment to deal with (I removed it after it leaked) Also, the top main gasket stretched after the first wash, so I had to remove an inch or so and cut it diagonally so that it would match up again and re-insert it carefully so that the diagonals touch and line up before putting the top on. (The main unit has a groove that the gasket fits into) It held pressure again though. I would also probably add some casters to it. It is fairly large and bulky and casters would help out.

                    For operation, basically I run hot H2O through it to sanitize as I normally would through all of my hoses/HX , then blow the remaining water (and purge and O2 out) with CO2 through the top valve/air inlet. After whirlpooling, I open the inlet valve and attach a small hose (beer line size) onto the top gas outlet valve and open it slowly. The hot wort gradually fills the unit and the gas exits. Once liquid starts flowing out the top hose (without a hose it will spurt straight up to the ceiling) I close the top air valve and open the outlet valve, kick on the pump and start knocking out. Once knockout is complete, I attach a CO2 hose to the top valve close the inlet valve and blow out the remaining wort through the HX.

                    Overall, I think it was a pretty good purchase. I might order it a tad larger next time, as I have a 20bbl system, and I can't get much more than 10 lbs of hops in it
                    Last edited by fa50driver; 02-17-2011, 08:10 AM.

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                    • #25
                      I realize this is a very old post, but I am not finding a lot of information on hop backs on here.

                      Do you have to fill hop backs up completely to use them, or could I fill it up say 1/3 of the way full for a beer where I didn't necessarily want quite as much hop aroma extracted?

                      Is the filter also required after the hop back, or is there a way to build the hop back so you don't need another filter?

                      Would a 1bbl hop back be a good size for a 7bbl brewhouse, and how much leaf hop could I expect to fill it with?

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                      • #26
                        More hop extraction...

                        Building another hop back and wanted the latest news and designs from those with good infusion rates.

                        Seems as though hopbacks as essential equipment went out of style with the advent of pelletized hops. And then back in style for fresh hop aromas with craft brewing. So the unit has been somewhat repurposed from a strainer to an infusion device. And from a simple square strainer pre-pump, to a more complicated pressurized post-pump device. Most of what I've seen and used lately are either a repurposed basket strainer, or a more stout, shallow, broad-based tank with v-wire bottom. Seems as though each has its merits--the basket strainer design has excellent infusion characteristics and smaller footprint, but is more difficult to clean. The v-wire bottom offers very easy cleaning, but larger footprint and little surface area for maximum extraction.

                        How about a two-piece unit that has a circular base of v-wire, but is also supplemented by a separate cylindrical v-wire "basket" for improved surface area? Anyone seen anything that they think works optimally for cleaning vs extraction in a moderately sized piece of equipment?
                        Phillip Kelm--Palau Brewing Company Manager--

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                        • #27
                          Originally posted by youngbuckbrewer View Post
                          Our is on a 8 bbl system and is made with a used 1/2 bbl keg. We made it so that it flows via gravity off of the kettle and is then hooked to a pump en route to heat exchanger. We had a false bottom made of perforated SS locally for under $100. We also use this as a grant for lautering. Being able to use this device for both lautering and as a hopback is a huge bonus for us. At the end of brewday it is used as a CIP vessel to hold caustic for cleaning HE and the BKettle. I can post photos if anyone is interested.

                          By the way it holds around 15 pounds of whole flowers when packed pretty full.


                          Michael Uhrich
                          Carter's Brewing
                          How about those pics? building a 7 barrel system and want to build a grant, looking for some ideas.

                          Thanks,
                          Jason

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