For some reason I don't get that big of a cone when I whirpool. I have about 3 inches of break material on the bottom of my kettle. Thanks for the heads up on saving/straining the leftover wort for later use. Always seemed a waste to me to throw it down the drain. I can freeze it to be used for future starters if I boil it before using it in a starter.
For some reason I don't get that big of a cone when I whirpool. I have about 3 inches of break material on the bottom of my kettle.
I had complained privately to the Kaiser of the same phenomenon. I would get a good mound when whirlpooling hot wort, but not cold. However, my last batch I whirlpooled cold and started watching a movie and forgot about it for about 35 minutes. When I siphoned I had a great mound (heh heh). I think I was rushing the process with cooled wort...it really takes a while for the whirlpool action to cease leaving a nice mound.
I admit that I don't wait long enough, but with everything that you read that stresses cooling the wort down as quickly as possible and pitching the yeast immediately thereafter, I have a hard time walking away for more than 10 or 15 minutes.
-walker
PS: nice write-up, Kai.
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Here's another use for your brewery control panel.
I admit that I don't wait long enough, but with everything that you read that stresses cooling the wort down as quickly as possible and pitching the yeast immediately thereafter, I have a hard time walking away for more than 10 or 15 minutes.
Keep it covered and there should be no worry. Germs lack the abiliy to "crawl" under the lid or aluminum foil. They have to fall be drafted for carried in. You get way more potential contact with germs when you try to pour it through a strainer and funnel and have to unclogg the funnel many times. I have been there
Can you get a good whirlpool going if you have a kettle with a ball valve? How about if it also has a thermometer? Would the probe in the thermometer get too much in the way or would it disrupt the whirlpooling effect?
Can you get a good whirlpool going if you have a kettle with a ball valve? How about if it also has a thermometer? Would the probe in the thermometer get too much in the way or would it disrupt the whirlpooling effect?
Sorry to say that "I don't know" I haven't updated my kettle yet. I plan to get a new one eventually and will install a ring that connects to the spigot so I can whirlpool. But I'm not sure about the thermometer. In the end you can always omit the thermometer since it is not that necessary on a boil-kettle .
Thanks for the response, but why would a ring connecting to a spigot help the whirlpool?
This is not to much of a noob question, actually.
In order to make for a smooth wort rotation, w/o many turbulences, you have to make sure that there is nothing sticking into the wort. Either a spigot that is flush to the inside of the pot or a ring that goes around the pot should work. The ring has the advantage that the wort can enter it at many places around the trub cone, thus reducing the draft (and with this potential trub intake) that can build up at a single point.
But I haven't really looked into designing something like this. These are only thoughts I have about a potential design of a new brew-pot based on what I have seen and read so far.
Thanks for the info. I think I will just stick with a basic full-boil pot and siphon it the old fasioned way. I really like the idea of doing everything possible to make the process easier and more consistent, and don't mind spending a little money (no brewsculptures are in my near future though) but sometimes simplest is best.
I really like the idea of doing everything possible to make the process easier and more consistent, and don't mind spending a little money (no brewsculptures are in my near future though) but sometimes simplest is best.
I'm not crazy about updating my brewhouse either, just yet. Except for the boil overs, that I have to watch with a 25qt pot, I'm doing pretty well. Although that can get rather frustrating
I'm actually more interested in fixing the fermentation end of things first. That's where the beer will spend most of it's time anyway.
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