Blichman Hop Rocket

I’ve owned my hop rocket for about a year and never used it.  Primarily because I didn’t want to deal with scaling my recipe to account for the loss.  Anyway, I brewed a Black Brett IPA on Saturday and decided it was time to use it.

It will likely be the last time also for one reason: endless amounts of hop material in my plate chiller.  Other than that it worked as advertised.  I’ll probably sell it.  I don’t think it will work as a Randalizer either - I imaging keg quick disconnects would be constantly plugged.

So if you plan to use one, use an immersion chiller, or plan on LOTS of back flushing.  And yes, I used whole hops.

Did you use pellets?

Recirculate for a short period before attaching to your chiller should solve your hop back woes, and will also sterilize all of your equipment pre chiller.

I have used my Hop Rocket on batches up to 15 gallons on numerous occasions. Works great (as long as you use same fermenter for all 15 gallons). If using for more than 5 gallons, I prefer to refill it with another 2-3 oz of LEAF hops per carboy. Other than that, no complaints. And I too use a 40 plate chiller. We also used it as a randal at club night this year in Gran Rapids at our booth serving an Amercan Red. A little foamy, but I am sure we can fix that with a few tweaks. I highly reccomend the Hop Rocket.

No pellets.  100% whole hop.

I like the idea of recirculating for ambit prior to chilling.  I may have to give that a try!