Kettle Pickup Tube Inlet (Square, Angled, etc.)?

[disney7]

I just built a new kettle and am having a slight issue with the pickup tube.

My old kettle just had a weldless 1/2 coupler on the inside for a pickup. The kettle was a fairly small diameter, so I didn't lose much wort and it never clogged when recirculating (I whirlpool).

The new kettle is much bigger in diameter and I had to use a 5/8" pickup tube in order to not lose too much wort when draining to a fermenter. I couldn't mount the valve any lower in the kettle due to the kettle's multi-layer bottom.

Yesterday, I made an imperial stout that had about 5 ounces of hops in it. This is the first brew I've made in this setup that had more than a couple of ounces of hops. The pickup tube stopped up and I had to clear it (by reversing the circulation) a couple of times.

I'd like to stop that from happening in the future. I'm trying to figure out if I should trim a little off the end and leave it square, if I should try to bell it, or if I should cut it at an angle (if so, in what direction). I'm not sure if any of those options would help or hurt.

Any ideas? I don't really want to use a hop stopper or anything like that since whirlpooling has always given me nice clean wort if I pick up the wort from the side of the kettle.

In the attached pic, the pickup is on the right. It's hard to tell in the picture, but there is about 1/2" space at the end of the pickup. The pipe on the left is the whirlpool arm that stops about 4 or 5 inches from the bottom of the kettle.

 

[LordUlrich]

Not a very useful response but I'd just boil a bit more and not use the dip tube. Account for the waste, I "lose" nearly a gallon in my kettle, the last gallon is usually not very clear anyway.

 

[m1k3]

This was my kettle after my stout last Saturday.

This is just break material since the hops go in this.

 

[disney7]

Do you find that you have to use much more (if any) hops to get the same level that you would have had without the spider?

 

[m1k3]

All my last brew have used 2-3oz of hops at 60 minutes for 15 gallons.
Those brews were IPA, Stout, Red Ale.... I've never sent my beer to a lab for IBU evaluation... but they seem good to me and the people that have tried them.

In short, yeah I'm happy with my hop utilization and it seem in line with the BeerSmith2 calculations.

 

[Rivenin]

i had my setup like that and didn't have plugging issues... weird!
maybe slow your flow next time and see if that helps? i have a feeling it MAY be too close to the edge though and hops maybe getting stuck right there. maybe trim back an inch or so?