Attention whirlpoolers

Just installed a whirlpool on my kettle to seperate trub and for whirlpool hop additions. Made two pale ales with whirlpool hop additions. I whirlpooled for 20 minutes and let wort settle for 20 minutes. I have a thermometer on the kettle and the temp didnt drop below 190 degrees. These ales are really bitter. I think i am getting isomerization during those 40 minutes. My entire hop schedule needs to be adjusted. How do you account for this in beer smith.

Compensate by adding less hops. IBUs in beersmith should just be used as a reference for your personal tastes. If you think the beer is too bitter then lower the IBUs by either reducing the amount of bittering hops or reduce the flavor/whirlpool hops you are adding. The only way you are going to fine tune your system is by using a consistent process and brewing a lot. Figure out what you like and match it to your IBU calculations.

Also, if you can always wait 10 or 20 minutes for the temp to drop before adding the whirlpool hops if you think its adding too much bitterness. In any case, consistency in your process is key.

I chill my wort at flame out, to about 140-150 (not too worried about the actual temp) and there are some IBUs contributed but not as much as at boiling or near-boiling temperatures. The hops go in just after flame out, and I get to 150ish in about 3-5 minutes.

Yooper said:

I chill my wort at flame out, to about 140-150 (not too worried about the actual temp) and there are some IBUs contributed but not as much as at boiling or near-boiling temperatures. The hops go in just after flame out, and I get to 150ish in about 3-5 minutes.

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This is what I am going to do next. What worries me is that if I whirlpool the wort for 20 minutes near boiling temperature then my 10 minute hop additions are more like 30 minute hop additions not to mention the increased utilization from my bittering addition.

jtp137 said:

This is what I am going to do next. What worries me is that if I whirlpool the wort for 20 minutes near boiling temperature then my 10 minute hop additions are more like 30 minute hop additions not to mention the increased utilization from my bittering addition.

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You've found your answer - treat your additions as being made earlier when calculating your recipes in BeerSmith. Your "60" minute addition is now "60 + whirlpool" minutes, etc.

What about chilling and whirlpooling at the same time? That way it won't really impact your times...?

Yooper said:

I chill my wort at flame out, to about 140-150 (not too worried about the actual temp) and there are some IBUs contributed but not as much as at boiling or near-boiling temperatures. The hops go in just after flame out, and I get to 150ish in about 3-5 minutes.

Click to expand...

Yooper, how long do you then whirlpool at 140-150?

I just started using a whirlpool IC and I'm not sure how to handle the flameout additions.