My Equipment List for JZ's Whirlpool IC Setup

Williams 728
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Evan!

Evan!

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Right now, I have just a 15 gallon aluminum kettle with no spigot. I've got a very nice big IC, so PseudoChef talked me out of spending all that coin on a plate chiller, and instead just going with JZ's Whirlpool Immersion Chiller setup. First thing I needed was a weldless bulkhead. From there, a march pump, the fittings, and I'll end up making a hop screen, pickup tube and the recirculation arm myself from stuff at Lowe's. And, if I ever feel like adding a plate chiller down the road, it should be easy enough. So, take a look and tell me what you think:


I'm not paying $15 for a GFCI adapter, I'll just use one of the old GFCI's I have at the house to outfit the receptacle where I'll commonly use this.

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From the barbed spigot, silicone tubing will go to the march pump. On the "in" and "out" connections of the pump, there will be these:


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The silicone tubing will go from the pump up to the recirc arm. Just before the recirc arm, though, there will be one of these:


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Once the wort is at pitching temp, I'll turn off the pump, unhook the line at the QD and move it to the fermenter, then turn the pump back on. I've got 12 feet of silicone tubing---too much? too little?

I'll also be making a hop filter to be attached to the compression fitting inside via a copper pickup tube.

So, comments? Better ideas?
 
Sorry no help but....

I am in the process of adding the same basic "stuff" to my kettle, adding the pump and recirc. chiller later (I just whirlpool myself with a spoon for now). What are you planning on using for a pick-up tube? And how are you going to situate it in the kettle? I use a combination of whole and pellet hops, and have a couple ideas but nothing that makes me too happy.

Oh, and MoreBeer sells the tub for recirculating. I am sure it is cheaper to DIY, but this has all the bend already in it.
Wort Chiller Recirculation Package - Option One | MoreBeer
 
That looks good to me. I think you will be very happy with the whirlpool chiller. It works very well.

What are you using for your return? The angle of the return has a big effect on how well your wort circulates around the kettle and therefore how well it cools.
 
Beerrific said:
Sorry no help but....

I am in the process of adding the same basic "stuff" to my kettle, adding the pump and recirc. chiller later (I just whirlpool myself with a spoon for now). What are you planning on using for a pick-up tube? And how are you going to situate it in the kettle? I use a combination of whole and pellet hops, and have a couple ideas but nothing that makes me too happy.

Oh, and MoreBeer sells the tub for recirculating. I am sure it is cheaper to DIY, but this has all the bend already in it.
Wort Chiller Recirculation Package - Option One | MoreBeer
Click to expand...

Just using copper tubing for the pickup, and a 12X24 steel steel screen folded over to form a 12" square, then sewn together and attached to the pickup tube with a tubing clamp at one corner of the square.

I saw that stupid package---paying $15 for pre-bent copper is, well, retarded.
 
Looks good. I'm still tweaking my JZ whirlpool implementation but I love it. I have a second weldless fitting about half way up the keg for the return/whirlpool. The pics in my gallery show it (also show the inside of the kettle w/ a copper pick-up tube). What the images don't show is a recent addition - I added a curved piece of copper tubing to the whirlpool return inside the kettle that is about 5" long and gently curves along the side the keg (hope that makes sense). I used it for the first time last weekend and I got a much better whirlpool and chilled the wort faster. Just another way of doing it.

I started using hop bags instead of a hop filter. I tried it but it kept getting clogged (for both leaf and pellet hops) so in frustration I ditched it. My pickup tube is set to pull from the side of the keg now - it does a good job of leaving a lot of the trub behind. Oh, after I'm done chilling I turn the pump off and I let the wort sit for about 20 min. It really helps the trub settle out (again, just a personal preference). Anyways, I haven't used my CFC for about a year as I love JZ's method.
 
Boerderij_Kabouter said:
That looks good to me. I think you will be very happy with the whirlpool chiller. It works very well.

What are you using for your return? The angle of the return has a big effect on how well your wort circulates around the kettle and therefore how well it cools.
Click to expand...

I'm going to do what JZ suggests---30-45 degrees to start, then just play around with it (just going to test with water to start) to find the best angle.
 
caskconditioned said:
Looks good. I'm still tweaking my JZ whirlpool implementation but I love it. I have a second weldless fitting about half way up the keg for the return/whirlpool. The pics in my gallery show it (also show the inside of the kettle w/ a copper pick-up tube). What the images don't show is a recent addition - I added a curved piece of copper tubing to the whirlpool return inside the kettle that is about 5" long and gently curves along the side the keg (hope that makes sense). I used it for the first time last weekend and I got a much better whirlpool and chilled the wort faster. Just another way of doing it.

I started using hop bags instead of a hop filter. I tried it but it kept getting clogged (for both leaf and pellet hops) so in frustration I ditched it. My pickup tube is set to pull from the side of the keg now - it does a good job of leaving a lot of the trub behind. Oh, after I'm done chilling I turn the pump off and I let the wort sit for about 20 min. It really helps the trub settle out (again, just a personal preference). Anyways, I haven't used my CFC for about a year as I love JZ's method.
Click to expand...

that's what I'm thinking I might do instead. Maybe, with that IC sittiing in the middle of the kettle, it'd be better to have that bazooka T fitting on my bulkhead rather than something that goes out into the center of the kettle. After all, it's not a keggle, so it doesn't have the indentation in the center for a pickup tube to sit in.
 
Evan! said:
I'm going to do what JZ suggests---30-45 degrees to start, then just play around with it (just going to test with water to start) to find the best angle.
Click to expand...

Good idea.

I have also found that I get a much better whirlpool the further down in the pot my return is. After figuring this out, I know draw liquid from the top of my boil kettle and return it though my bottom pickup tube which I have attached a curved return to... I hope that makes sense. This way I get a very strong whirlpool of the full volume of wort.

My other benefit from this arrangement is that after cooling is complete. I drop in my aeration wand, and leave the whirlpool sit for 20 minutes. Then when I come back, I drain out of my bottom valve and leave a big hop/break cone in the center of the pot.
 
Evan! said:
that's what I'm thinking I might do instead. Maybe, with that IC sittiing in the middle of the kettle, it'd be better to have that bazooka T fitting on my bulkhead rather than something that goes out into the center of the kettle. After all, it's not a keggle, so it doesn't have the indentation in the center for a pickup tube to sit in.
Click to expand...

Exactly. And the whirlpool action by design pushes everything to the center (or it should - this is the part I'm still tweaking) so picking up from the center is counter-productive.

On my last brew I left the IC in the keg until the end. Next time I'm going to experiment with taking it out after the wort is chilled and running the pump for a couple more minutes after - then letting it settle before running off. See if that makes a difference with a more compact trub cone in the middle.
 
EdWort said:
This thread needs more pics please!
Click to expand...
I ran down to the garage and took some pics. Also worth noting, I rest the IC on the pick-up tube. My thinking on this was that it would leave a couple inches below the IC for the trub cone to form.

Whirlpool valve above the pick-up valve (the "T" is for a thermometer):
CIMG2387.JPG


Whirlpool return arm inside keg w/ pick-up tube below:
CIMG2389.JPG


Everything put together:
CIMG2388.JPG
 
EdWort said:
Nice pics. Got any of your trub cone? (that sounds kind of kinky ) :drunk:
Click to expand...

LOL. But I will take some on my next brew - actually a great idea to see what works best as I continue to tweak it. Some people sniff air locks, I like to fondle trub cones:cross:
 
stupid question: I don't need a special molybdenum drill bit to drill through aluminum, do I? I can just use a metal hole saw...right?
 
caskconditioned said:
I ran down to the garage and took some pics. Also worth noting, I rest the IC on the pick-up tube. My thinking on this was that it would leave a couple inches below the IC for the trub cone to form.

Whirlpool valve above the pick-up valve (the "T" is for a thermometer):
CIMG2387.JPG


Whirlpool return arm inside keg w/ pick-up tube below:
CIMG2389.JPG


Everything put together:
CIMG2388.JPG
Click to expand...

That's teh awesome. I won't be spending the $$ on the second bulkhead just yet, but maybe some day.
 
I kinda like how the keg "catches" the trub in the bottom indentation. It seems to work well enough for me, but I've never gotten a nice pile once I drain the keg.

OTOH, I hear flat bottom vessels are better for this particular setup because of the way the whirlpool focuses the sediment in the center. I'd be interested to see a picture comparison of trub cones in each vessel. I'd guess that if you introduce cold break into the equation with the IC, all bets are off.
 
ScubaSteve said:
I kinda like how the keg "catches" the trub in the bottom indentation. It seems to work well enough for me, but I've never gotten a nice pile once I drain the keg.

OTOH, I hear flat bottom vessels are better for this particular setup because of the way the whirlpool focuses the sediment in the center. I'd be interested to see a picture comparison of trub cones in each vessel. I'd guess that if you introduce cold break into the equation with the IC, all bets are off.
Click to expand...

Well, once I get mine all up and running, I'll let you know. What I'm contemplating doing it making my own makeshift bazooka T with stainless braids on each end, and keep it close to the kettle wall so it stays outside the IC. My only concern is that I need to find a way to lift my IC off the floor of the kettle so that the whirlpool can work correctly and get a nice trub cone. Anyone have any ideas?
 
Evan! said:
Well, once I get mine all up and running, I'll let you know. What I'm contemplating doing it making my own makeshift bazooka T with stainless braids on each end, and keep it close to the kettle wall so it stays outside the IC. My only concern is that I need to find a way to lift my IC off the floor of the kettle so that the whirlpool can work correctly and get a nice trub cone. Anyone have any ideas?
Click to expand...

If you legs on it I would think they would interfere with the whirlpool process. Why not just remove it when you reach the desired temp and continue to recirculate for a few more minutes?
 
I'm looking forward to more pics here as well. This is a project that I'm interested in doing too.
 
EdWort said:
If you legs on it I would think they would interfere with the whirlpool process. Why not just remove it when you reach the desired temp and continue to recirculate for a few more minutes?
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking, except I wanted to attach the recirc arm to the IC with a couple zipties. If I take the IC out, the recirc arm comes with it. I may just manually whirlpool.
 
Evan! said:
That's what I was thinking, except I wanted to attach the recirc arm to the IC with a couple zipties. If I take the IC out, the recirc arm comes with it. I may just manually whirlpool.
Click to expand...

Try attaching the recirc with a wood clamp or something to top lip of the kettle. That should allow you to pull the IC when ready and leave the pump running.
 
Evan! said:
My only concern is that I need to find a way to lift my IC off the floor of the kettle so that the whirlpool can work correctly and get a nice trub cone. Anyone have any ideas?
Click to expand...

I think it will still work with the IC in there. The trub cone should just form in the middle of the IC. I doubt JZ takes his out.
 
EdWort said:
Try attaching the recirc with a wood clamp or something to top lip of the kettle. That should allow you to pull the IC when ready and leave the pump running.
Click to expand...

hmmm...I wonder if I have a clamp that would work. I know I have plenty of plastic/rubber ones that would, but by the end of the boil, even the top of the kettle is hot as hell, and I suspect would melt any rubber or plastic. I do have metal ones, I just gotta figure out how to rig something up to clamp something cylindrical with a clamp that's meant to be used on flat surfaces.
 
Beerrific said:
I think it will still work with the IC in there. The trub cone should just form in the middle of the IC. I doubt JZ takes his out.
Click to expand...

probably right. thing is, I know from personal experience that the stuff on the outside of my IC stays there, and the stuff on the inside of it stays there. So if, when I put the IC into the wort, there are leaf hops on the outside, they'll have a hard time getting into a cone inside the IC.
 
wtf? morebeer...whew! Um, is star san HB "anionic acid and final rinse" the same thing as regular old star san?
 
Evan! said:
Well, once I get mine all up and running, I'll let you know. What I'm contemplating doing it making my own makeshift bazooka T with stainless braids on each end, and keep it close to the kettle wall so it stays outside the IC. My only concern is that I need to find a way to lift my IC off the floor of the kettle so that the whirlpool can work correctly and get a nice trub cone. Anyone have any ideas?
Click to expand...

I think you may be underestimating the clogging power of the cold break:D That stuff will gunk up your bazooka T real quick. You're probably better off having an open dip tube that contours towards the edge and bottom of the kettle...some folks cut or bend it at an angle to better fit the shape of the kettle. Also have it pointing away from your whirlpool. In other words, if you whirlpool CCW, have the dip tube point a little left...so it doesn't scoop particulates.

I tried building this, and got good results, but I found manually whirlpooling was way easier, much stronger, and didn't require cleaning a pump. Once everything was chilled I still pulled the IC, whirlpooled again, and let it settle covered for 15 minutes. The wort was crystal clear. It defeats the purpose to do this, I know, but the IC just got in the way of a true whirlpool. :mug:
 
ScubaSteve said:
I think you may be underestimating the clogging power of the cold break:D That stuff will gunk up your bazooka T real quick. You're probably better off having an open dip tube that contours towards the edge and bottom of the kettle...some folks cut or bend it at an angle to better fit the shape of the kettle. Also have it pointing away from your whirlpool. In other words, if you whirlpool CCW, have the dip tube point a little left...so it doesn't scoop particulates.

I tried building this, and got good results, but I found manually whirlpooling was way easier, much stronger, and didn't require cleaning a pump. Once everything was chilled I still pulled the IC, whirlpooled again, and let it settle covered for 15 minutes. The wort was crystal clear. It defeats the purpose to do this, I know, but the IC just got in the way of a true whirlpool. :mug:
Click to expand...

I don't think it really defeats the purpose, as the main purpose of the whirlpool chilling system is to cool the wort by recirculating it against the chiller coils continuously. The whirlpooling of the break material and hop gunk is just a happy side effect. What you're doing is exactly what my plans are for. Thanks for the advice on the homemade bazooka tee idea. Maybe I'll just make the homemade hop stopper and merely bend the dip tube so it's close to the kettle wall. I mean, it's not a big deal if the IC sits on the screen for awhile anyway...meh, we'll see. I'm gonna have to play around with this for a little while. Might start off with the single braid towards the kettle wall and see how that does.
 
Evan! said:
stupid question: I don't need a special molybdenum drill bit to drill through aluminum, do I? I can just use a metal hole saw...right?
Click to expand...

I used a step bit on mine. It's great because you can go up one size at a time and get an exact fit for your bulkhead.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360122265357&category=67240&_trksid=p4340.m215&_trkparms=algo%3DSI%26its%3DI%252BC%252BS%252BIA%26itu%3DUCC%252BUCI%252BIT%252BUA%252BUS-BWR%26otn%3D8%26ps%3D33 This would work well.
 
What kind of times are you guy seeing on chilling an full 10-11 gallon batch? I have a plate chiller and I can chill a full batch down within 10 min. But here is what I am thinking, I have been considering getting a pump anyway and when I do I am interested in pumping the wort through it and back into the kettle with an immersion chiller in it, just as an experiment to see how quick I can get it dropped.
 
Tonedef131 said:
What kind of times are you guy seeing on chilling an full 10-11 gallon batch? I have a plate chiller and I can chill a full batch down within 10 min. But here is what I am thinking, I have been considering getting a pump anyway and when I do I am interested in pumping the wort through it and back into the kettle with an immersion chiller in it, just as an experiment to see how quick I can get it dropped.
Click to expand...
It will all depend on the temp of the water you are using. It probably won't be any more efficient (in time) than your plate chiller. But there are other cited benefits for using the whirlpool method. Check out Jamil's page.

Benefits summary:

  • Improved hop aroma
  • Improved hop flavor
  • Reduce DMS (fast to get temp below 140F)
  • Reduced cold break in fermenter
  • Ability to control the final temp. more precisely
 

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