Brew Kettle clogged screen

iamsnowbear

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Hey guys,

So yesterday I got to break in my new kettle pot. I purchase this 10 gal brewsie however I came across a issue when it came time to drain it and move to the fermenter. After about 20 seconds none of my wort would come through as it seemed my bazooka screen was clogged up by the hop sludge at the bottom. I thought between the false bottom and the bazooka screen I would be alright but I guess not. I ended up just pouring it out the old way.

Am I doing something wrong or should I be brewing my wort using a hop bag/ hop basket thing?
 
A hop sock in the boil is probably your best bet if you want to drain it that way, I honestly don't put a filter on mine cause I don't really care if hops end up in the fermenter. I just try to leave the bulk of it behind by a careful draining.

I've had the same thing happen to me so I wouldn't say you were doing anything wrong though.
 
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A hop sock in the boil is probably your best bet if you want to drain it that way, I honestly don't put a filter on mine cause I don't really care if hops end up in the fermenter. I just try to leave the bulk of it behind by a careful draining.

I've had the same thing happen to me so I wouldn't say you were doing anything wrong though.

Ah ok just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing a step or anything. I'll just get a sock or a mesh spider basket for easy removal since the bazooka screen is somewhat useless. Cheers
 
Ah ok just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing a step or anything. I'll just get a sock or a mesh spider basket for easy removal since the bazooka screen is somewhat useless. Cheers

I use a stainless keg hop filter on a cotton string tied to the kettle handle for my bittering and early to mid hop additions. Its pretty easy to fish it out and add more if you have multiple additions. Then I put in a hop spider basket late in the boil for any 10, 5, 0 or hop stand additions. I was finding that when I did all my additions in the basket, by the time I got to 30 mins that the mesh was mostly clogged with break material. I'd go to run the wort into the fermentor after chilling and be left with a basket full of wort and hops that wouldn't drain. My hop utilization sucked as well. Now that I split my additions, bittering in the hop tube and late additions in the basket, I don't have any issues and get nice extraction. If you use a coil chiller, aim to add the chiller before the basket so you don't have to lift the basket out to drop the chiller in. There are a ton of ways to do it but this is what's worked for me.
 
I use paint strainers from Home Depot. No need to be fancy, just keep them off the bottom of the kettle or the heating element. Bazooka screens won't work if you're using pellet hops.
 

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