Kettle Valve - Bazooka Screen and Pellet Hops

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by meatballj626j, Feb 28, 2014.

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  1. meatballj626j

    meatballj626j Initiate (0) May 7, 2009 Georgia

    I have been contemplating adding a valve to my brew kettle. I mainly use pellet hops, and I am questioning if a bazooka screen will be able to strain the wort with hops in it without clogging. I have a hop spider that I could use, but I've had issue with the hop bag staying on and have thought about completely scrapping it.

    Will the bazooka screen clog like I think it will? Is a bazooka screen my only option? Thanks for the advice in advance.
     
  2. Jay_Ulreich

    Jay_Ulreich Initiate (0) Jan 15, 2014 Indiana

    you could probly rig a toilet braid to work pretty well
     
  3. DrewF

    DrewF Initiate (0) Jan 3, 2010 Pennsylvania

    I use a setup like you describe but only for leaf hops. I use pellets only occasionally and remove the bazooka screen for them because they do clog.
     
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  4. cmac1705

    cmac1705 Zealot (517) Apr 30, 2010 Florida

    Like Drew said, the bazooka screen can clog with pellets. I use it with leaf and it works. Small particles can make it through but you leave the big chunks behind.
     
  5. PortLargo

    PortLargo Pooh-Bah (1,831) Oct 19, 2012 Florida
    Pooh-Bah

    I am a big fan of kettle valves, bazookas, and hop spiders. I use pellets, used to just toss them in a paint strainer bag and only minor hop debris escaped. My bazooka did a good job keeping it in the kettle. I now use a ss filter for the hops and debris is slightly less. My experience is the bazooka can do the job if you make an effort to contain the hop pellet debris. My first two attempts clogged, but after minor adjustments I have been clog-free for a dozen+ brews. If all fails, you auto-siphon from the brew kettle. Your other option is to let the hop debris transfer to the primary and wait for it to settle with aging.

    Once you get a kettle valve you'll start looking at quick-disconnects. The difference between a man and a boy really is the price of the toy.
     
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  6. FATC1TY

    FATC1TY Pooh-Bah (2,564) Feb 12, 2012 Georgia
    Pooh-Bah

    Look into a SS mesh hop spider. I have a 300 micron I think it is. Works well.


    Appears that the temp is lower in the screen than the boil, but I took a temp with my thermapen and it's 1-2* less than the hard rolling boil outside of it.

    I stir it around and I'm not quite sure I have any less hop extraction from it.

    Keeps everything clean.. I might put a bazooka on my kettle though for all the whole leaf I use. I like to float leaf hop as I feel I get more from it if it's free. Pellets, I think do a better job even if they are contained.
     
  7. meatballj626j

    meatballj626j Initiate (0) May 7, 2009 Georgia

    Cool thanks for the reply's. I need to look into if brewmaster's warehouse has whole leaf as an option on their recipe builder or not.

    I wasn't necessarily knocking the hop spider. I used it on a brew and the bag fell off of the spider attachment, probably because I didn't tighten the hose clamp tight enough. Ever since then I've been reconsidering it, but on the couple of brews I used it one and it worked, it made transferring so much easier. I might be able to live with it.
     
  8. JoeSpartaNJ

    JoeSpartaNJ Zealot (691) Feb 5, 2008 New Jersey

    I used a bazooka screen for a while but switched back to using hop bags. My bazooka screen clogged as well.

    I may give the toilet braid try as even hop bags after a while can get pricy.
     
  9. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    Brewmasters Warehouse doesn't sell leaf hops.
     
  10. FATC1TY

    FATC1TY Pooh-Bah (2,564) Feb 12, 2012 Georgia
    Pooh-Bah


    I could see a toilet braid clogging worse, IMO..
     
  11. utahbeerdude

    utahbeerdude Maven (1,374) May 2, 2006 Utah

    I've got a kettle valve + bazooka screen on my brew pot. It works great when using leaf hops. If I use pellet hops, which I regularly do, I always put each addition in a mesh bag.
     
  12. fuzzbalz

    fuzzbalz Pundit (953) Apr 13, 2002 Georgia

    I have just a kettle valve and just use a hand held strainer when transferring to the primary, after whirlpooling I only get a small amount of hops out of the valve, but then I only use pellet hops so that wouldn't help if your using whole hops.
     
  13. tngolfer

    tngolfer Initiate (0) Feb 16, 2012 Tennessee

    I had a bazooka screen on my kettle and stopped using it due to clogging. Whirlpooling keeps most of the hops in my kettle but like others have mentioned, I just let them settle out in primary.
     
  14. SFACRKnight

    SFACRKnight Grand Pooh-Bah (3,348) Jan 20, 2012 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I have a bazooka screen as well and have tailored my recipes to be cone hops in the boil, and pellets in dryhop additions.
     
  15. JoeSpartaNJ

    JoeSpartaNJ Zealot (691) Feb 5, 2008 New Jersey

    That was my thinking too, that why i haven't tried it.

    I filter my wort through a colander when transferring from pot to fermenter. It gets rid of a lot of hop residue and aerates the wort. Great multi-purpose tool.
     
  16. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    Straining does indeed help aerate wort. But I wouldn't rely on that solely (not that you necessarily do).
     
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