Hop filter leaking when bottling

[John R]

Hi everyone. 
 

I just bottled my first batch that had dry hops (American Pale Ale). I have the dry hop filter and bottling attachment. The bottling attachment (small black thing with 90 degree turn) was leaking badly while bottling. I tried everything I could, took it all apart and started again from scratch, but it still leaked badly. It was a royal pain to bottle with the constant leaking. Has anyone else experienced this? Or does it sound like a faulty part?

Thanks,

John

[Robert Pretty]

Hi John

Where is it leaking from, where the bottle adapter joins the filter or where the bottle valve tube joins the adapter?

Just make sure you push them all in very firmly especially the bottling valve to the filter adapter.

I have bottled plenty without a problem. If it continues to leak. Contact the Brewart team. They have the best customer service of any organization, I have every dealt with

 

 

Edited January 12, 2021 by Robert Pretty

[John R]

11 hours ago, Robert Pretty said:

Hi John

Where is it leaking from, where the bottle adapter joins the filter or where the bottle valve tube joins the adapter?

Just make sure you push them all in very firmly especially the bottling valve to the filter adapter.

I have bottled plenty without a problem. If it continues to leak. Contact the Brewart team. They have the best customer service of any organization, I have every dealt with

 

 

Hi Robert,

Thanks for your reply. It is leaking from where the bottle valve tube joins the adaptor, as per the picture attached to this message. The bottle valve tube works fine on it's own, as I have used it to bottle brews without dry hops, and no leaking. No matter how I fiddled and tried re-connecting it to this adaptor though, it was leaking badly. 

 

I think I will contact Brewart to see what they say. Thanks for the advice.

Cheers

[Robert Pretty]

Yep that is the the end it leaks from. Make sure you push the tube in really firmly. Make sure it is in all the way. Usually fixes it. If that doesn't. Contact the Brewart team, they will sort it, for you.

Edited January 12, 2021 by Robert Pretty

[Captain 3 Droids]

54 minutes ago, John R said:

Hi Robert,

Thanks for your reply. It is leaking from where the bottle valve tube joins the adaptor, as per the picture attached to this message. The bottle valve tube works fine on it's own, as I have used it to bottle brews without dry hops, and no leaking. No matter how I fiddled and tried re-connecting it to this adaptor though, it was leaking badly. 

 

I think I will contact Brewart to see what they say. Thanks for the advice.

Cheers

Hi John, Robert’s correct with a firm connection. Do it before you attach to the droid tap as it takes the pressure off the tap spout. Also check that there are no burrs and the end is cut square. These push in connectors can be quite finicky.

Cheers

[Thagomizer]

John R and others,

I have had the very same leaking problem with my adapter.  I tried re-inserting the tube firmly and even added some tape to make the fitting tighter.  None of these practices were effective.  I called in the problem to BrewArt but have not yet received the promised replacement adapter.  I am now dry hopping an experimental batch by immersing the dry hops within a stainless steel perforated tea infuser that I had.  Then I will not need to use the BrewArt filter when bottling. 

I have seen other posts that recommend a stainless steel infuser.  Hopefully, it will not clog the outlet valve.  The muslin bags that I previously used on my old conical fermenters would often clog up the drain when bottling.  Of course, you can always pull them out just before bottling.

This is not to say that trapping the hops within an infuser is the best solution.  It would be better, in my opinion, if the hops were freely floating around in the wort in order to maximize their influence.  I am hoping for a fix for the leaky adapter.

[Captain 3 Droids]

5 minutes ago, Thagomizer said:

John R and others,

I have had the very same leaking problem with my adapter.  I tried re-inserting the tube firmly and even added some tape to make the fitting tighter.  None of these practices were effective.  I called in the problem to BrewArt but have not yet received the promised replacement adapter.  I am now dry hopping an experimental batch by immersing the dry hops within a stainless steel perforated tea infuser that I had.  Then I will not need to use the BrewArt filter when bottling. 

I have seen other posts that recommend a stainless steel infuser.  Hopefully, it will not clog the outlet valve.  The muslin bags that I previously used on my old conical fermenters would often clog up the drain when bottling.  Of course, you can always pull them out just before bottling.

This is not to say that trapping the hops within an infuser is the best solution.  It would be better, in my opinion, if the hops were freely floating around in the wort in order to maximize their influence.  I am hoping for a fix for the leaky adapter.

With the tube, try with a smearing of keg lube, it helps to insert the tube and does act as a seal.

[Thagomizer]

Captain 3 Droids,

An excellent solution.  I will certainly try it.  That would get some of the sealant above the top of the bottling wand - where tape would not go. 

I think that some of my food-grade silicone grease might do the trick.

[Captain 3 Droids]

2 minutes ago, Thagomizer said:

Captain 3 Droids,

An excellent solution.  I will certainly try it.  That would get some of the sealant above the top of the bottling wand - where tape would not go. 

I think that some of my food-grade silicone grease might do the trick.

Yes that would be fine, let us know how you go.

[Thagomizer]

Captain 3 Droids

The small tea infuser was way too small.  The hop pellets expanded and clogged it up.  Retrieving it just before bottling, I had to dig the hops out with a small fork,  Some of the pellets had not even expanded.  The hops influence was minimal.

As per your suggestion, I have obtained a larger stainless steel hops infuser that should allow the wort to circulate more freely through the hops - and the pellets should have sufficient volume to expand and influence the wort.  The next dry-hopped batch will use the large infuser.

After that, I'll try BrewArt's dry hop filter again while sealing the bottling adapter with food-grade silicone grease.

[Dustin Frothman]

On 08/07/2021 at 9:57 AM, Thagomizer said:

Captain 3 Droids

The small tea infuser was way too small.  The hop pellets expanded and clogged it up.  Retrieving it just before bottling, I had to dig the hops out with a small fork,  Some of the pellets had not even expanded.  The hops influence was minimal.

As per your suggestion, I have obtained a larger stainless steel hops infuser that should allow the wort to circulate more freely through the hops - and the pellets should have sufficient volume to expand and influence the wort.  The next dry-hopped batch will use the large infuser.

After that, I'll try BrewArt's dry hop filter again while sealing the bottling adapter with food-grade silicone grease.

You really need the big boys for infusion to work properly and then only put 30 or 40g of pellets in them as any more and they’re ineffectual.

[J P]

On 13/01/2021 at 7:33 AM, Captain 3 Droids said:

Hi John, Robert’s correct with a firm connection. Do it before you attach to the droid tap as it takes the pressure off the tap spout. Also check that there are no burrs and the end is cut square. These push in connectors can be quite finicky.

Cheers

Have had exact same problem.  Brought it up with Liam who told me to make sure it gets pushed ALL the way in.  
 

I was initially annoyed thinking how could I have stuffed that up.  Turns out I was wrong.   The bottle adapter tube feels like it clicks into place in the black elbow.   But then you have to push it another 1-2 cm deeper yet with a bit more pressure and then it locks.   Solved the leak problem.   Finicky but effectual.  

[Thagomizer]

Thanks to all who gave good advice.  Here is what I have (somewhat sheepishly) discovered.

• The bottling tube hits the adapter at a stop at about 5/8 of an inch (1.6 cm)
• The tube can be further pushed in to about 1 and 1/16 inch ((2.7 cm).  Then it will be seated properly.

After years of damaging sensitive equipment by forcing parts beyond their limits, I was reluctant to shove the tube any further beyond the first stop until several people suggested it.  An advisement from BrewArt would have been helpful here.

As it is, I am good to go with open dry-hopping using the dry-hop filter system.

Life is good.😃

[John R]

I have had luck as well by pushing the tube in as far as possible. My only problem now is that the tube becomes VERY hard to remove from the adapter after being pushed in this far. Is anyone else experiencing this as well? And if so, any tips on getting the tube out easily? 

Thanks!

[Captain 3 Droids]

2 minutes ago, John R said:

I have had luck as well by pushing the tube in as far as possible. My only problem now is that the tube becomes VERY hard to remove from the adapter after being pushed in this far. Is anyone else experiencing this as well? And if so, any tips on getting the tube out easily? 

Thanks!

Some keg lube or food grade silicon grease will help, however when pulling the tube out you need to push in the tab on the adaptor. 

[Thagomizer]

Hello John R,

It helps a little to push up on the retaining ring.  It is still stiff and difficult, however.

[John R]

Thanks for the reply, I might look into some grease/lube. I definitely understand how it is supposed to work, but with my adapter (when the tube is pushed in all the way), pushing in the tab does not release the tube at all. Perhaps the adapter is faulty?

I end up having to yank on the tube using all of my strength to get it out while holding the tab in, and it usually takes me a good 5-10 minutes of trying before it comes out (I would be embarrassed to express how frustrated I get while doing this!)

Edited July 19, 2021 by John R

[Captain 3 Droids]

2 minutes ago, John R said:

Thanks for the reply, I might look into some grease/lube. I definitely understand how it is supposed to work, but with my adapter (when the tube is pushed in all the way), pushing in the tab does not release the tube at all. Perhaps the adapter is faulty?

I end up having to yank on the tube using all of my strength to get it out while holding the tab in, and it usually takes me a good 5-10 minutes of trying before it comes out (I would be embarrassed to express how frustrated I get while doing this!)

Understand your frustration. As it is an adaptor for bottle filling could you just leave it attached? Sanitise the two together before use.

[Thagomizer]

Captain 3 Droids,

As a future (bottling) dry hopper, this makes perfect sense.  The cost of one single unattached bottling wand is minimal to the frustration of disassembling and re-assembling these parts.  Again, damage (as well as frustration) is possible when excessive force is exerted; so a pre-assembly would be good.

I will still be brewing many non-dry-hop beers.  However, these newer dry-hop brews are very much in my future.

All suggestions on equipment and ingredients are welcome.

[Thagomizer]

Thanks to all who gave good advice on this issue.

I just bottled a batch of The Point IPA using the dry hop filter without leakage.  (Complete insertion into the adapter).  I broke a fingernail extracting  the bottling wand, but next time I will be using my food-grade silicone lubricant so that will not be a future problem. 

I have decided it is better to separate all the parts for better sterilization: so I will not be dedicating a bottling wand for this specialized purpose - but a dedicated assembly was a good idea.

Cheers.