Question(s) about whirlpool/trub removal

Hey guys,

I just upgraded my equipment and hoping that some advice from the board could help me improve/refine my technique and maybe my beer.

My new equipment includes a 10 gallon megapot with a ball valve and an immersion chiller. I still brew 5 gallon batches and ferment in 5 gallon carboys. My question is about the best way to use my equipment to get the hot/cold break trub out of the wort before it hits the fermenter.

I've done one batch in the new brewpot so far (the extract version of the 60 minute IPA clone from this site) and I ended up with a LOT of trub at the bottom of my carboy. My process was to do a full boil (although I underestimated boil off and still had to top off with water). Once the boil was done I killed the heat and cooled with the immersion chiller. When I hit my chill temperature I pulled out the chiller and stirred the cooled wort with a sanitized spoon for a minute or two. Then I opened up the ball valve and started straining the wort into the carboy.

I was hoping to see a cone of trub at the center of the brewpot, but no such luck. The hop pellets seemed to have all been caught in the strainer, but the trub flowed right through.

Should I have done the wirlpool before I cooled? (If so how do I sanitize the chiller? I thought the idea was to have it in the brewpot for the last 5-10 minutes)

Should I have continued to stir while the beer was draining out of the ball valve?

One of the primary reasons I bought the new brewpot with the ball valve was so that I could remove more of the trub so I'm really hoping to get some good avice from you guys. Thanks in advance for any feedback you can give.

2 days and no love?

Hadn't seen the post before now.
The best results I've seen are when you combine whirpooling with an immersion chiller.

To sanitize the chiller, you place it in the brew pot the last 15 minutes of the boil.

Once you are at flameout, stir like a mad man for a minute or two then turn on your chiller water.

Also, with this method, you might want to offset your pickup tube by a few inches from center.

You didn't mention what other equipment you have, but a pump makes this nice.

How fine is the strainer, maybe you could get something with mesh or smaller holes to let less junk through. Just a thought.

When you whirpool, you need to let it set for a good 10-15 minutes in order for that "trub cone" to actually form. If you are stirring and a minute or two later are running off your wort, that is your problem-- all of the trub is still in suspension and has not had time to settle to the bottom of the brewpot.

If you whirlpool, wouldn't it make sense to have your dip tube on the side rather than the middle? I'm working on constructing mine, and am leaning toward the middle, with a SS scrub pad attached. With that construction, is whirlpooling necessary?

DryHopHead said:

If you whirlpool, wouldn't it make sense to have your dip tube on the side rather than the middle? I'm working on constructing mine, and am leaning toward the middle, with a SS scrub pad attached. With that construction, is whirlpooling necessary?

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I would put mine halfway between the edge and middle. If you whirlpool, the trub goes into a pile in the center. If you don't you will not have lost much wort.

Thanks for the feedback guys, I definitely didn't let it settle before begining to siphon so that's something I'll try next time. Stainless steel scrub pad might be an option as well.

In response to lrr81765 - so I should be stirring with the chiller in the pot at flameout? Won't the coils of the chiller be obstructing the hops/trub from migrating to that cone in the center when I'm doing that? Or are you suggesting lifting the now sterilized chiller out while I stir and then dropping it back in to chill? Just want to make sure I'm on the same page

Also, I'm not using a dip tube to drain the wort, I'm just opening up the ball valve on the side of the pot and letting it drain directly into the strainer. My setup doesn't involve a pump and I'm trying to cap my equipment expenditures with what I've got.