Bobby - Thanks for shipping this so fast. I received it this morning. Holy Crow - this thing is built like a tank. I really didn't expect such a solid, clean, and beautiful hunk of metal. Everything is wonderfully thick and sturdy.... wow... I'm impressed, this will be the heatstick that gets passed from generation to generation!
Quick question: I'm new to tri-clamps so I'm wondering how you know that you've tightened the thumbscrew enough when you put it all together? Any guidance is appreciated N_G.
The hopback is definitely coming first because there was much more interest in it. They are officially in production now with native camlock, NPT, and triclover I/O ports. August 1st is a very rough ETA. There was also a lot of interest at NHC for a larger unit that could hold 4-5oz of leaf hops. I'm working on it.
The idea for filtering is to pack it full of rice hulls. I've heard it works great but I can't back that up with my own testing yet.
Sorry for the lack of updates. This was just really bad timing trying to develop two new offerings. Between moving my shop, attending NHC, moving my family to a new house, and losing an employee, I'm losing my mind.
Initial tests on the hopback are promising but not 100% conclusive regarding the coarse internal filters. In order to make it useful for whole hops and also rice hull filtering, the perforation size has to be just right. Regardless, I have some 35 units in production right now. I'll be fabricating the filters locally once I get that detail firmed up.
I have been working on the heat sticks as well with various pot/keg clamp methods. If I wanted to half ass it, I could just make them bare bones and you'd just rest them on the bottom of the pot. I know I can do better. I've been spending a small fortune on raw materials to prototype various ideas. Two forum members currently have two of the early units to play around with but I haven't heard back yet.
I have been working on the heat sticks as well with various pot/keg clamp methods. If I wanted to half ass it, I could just make them bare bones and you'd just rest them on the bottom of the pot. I know I can do better. I've been spending a small fortune on raw materials to prototype various ideas. Two forum members currently have two of the early units to play around with but I haven't heard back yet.
I have one of the early heat sticks. I love it. I am content to let it rest on the bottom of the pot; it suits my process. I had thought about hanging it with one of these,
http://t.homedepot.com/p/Cramik-Ent...er-Plated-Milford-Pipe-Hanger-4009/100352598/
but it seemed like overkill when gravity will keep it where I need it. I would have held the pipe in the clamp and bent the strap to hang over the pot. But I don't need it. I currently need to get a more suitable element for it and will do so soon.
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Are you planning on releasing a bare bones version and an RTD version of the heat stick? I'm interested in the bare bones version if you have any more prototypes available, or if you decide to release them.
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The hopback is definitely coming first because there was much more interest in it. They are officially in production now with native camlock, NPT, and triclover I/O ports. August 1st is a very rough ETA. There was also a lot of interest at NHC for a larger unit that could hold 4-5oz of leaf hops. I'm working on it.
I do have an update that the body assemblies are all finished. We're having the strainer plates made locally so that won't take much longer. Still no hard ETA though.
As of the first production units, we're sticking with the 1-2 ounce of whole hops size. It's not a the end of the story but I'm trying to fill a gap in the market for an inexpensive hop back for the 5 gallon batch brewer. The next size would be for 4-5 ounces and I think that means 4" diameter x 10" length.
As of the first production units, we're sticking with the 1-2 ounce of whole hops size. It's not a the end of the story but I'm trying to fill a gap in the market for an inexpensive hop back for the 5 gallon batch brewer. The next size would be for 4-5 ounces and I think that means 4" diameter x 10" length.
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