Keggle Whirlpool?

Has anyone installed this fitting on their Keggle for creating a Whirlpool? How are the results? At what liquid level is it best to install?

http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=44_35_46&product_id=151

I haven't used that specific fitting, but I have made my own and the results of a 10-minute whirlpool are outstanding. I've stopped using hop bags for pellet hops, in fact.



-Joe

You mean like this:



It works fabulously!

Here are the results after brewing a cream ale.



I've since switched the inlet and outlet about. They are roughly at the same height up from the kettle bottom.

I don't cool in the kettle. I whirlpool for 10 min. Let it rest for 10 and then send it through my CFC chiller to the fermenter.

I'm confused as to why you whirlpool?

<----Noob

It's to move all of the particulate matter into a cone in the center of the kettle. Then you have a pickup tube on the side to avoid picking this up. Makes for a cleaner beer.

Ok I'm running into a problem with using my Immersion chiller. I get a good cold break but have alot of sediment stirred up as I stir to to equilize the temp to get a good reading.

I essentially negate the Immersion chiller it seems. Would doing this help?

Looked like this after transfering.



Was an american light

(it was only my first time using the IC)

Did have a good amount of trub in the bottom of the BK though

I just got one...it works great. I mostly just use it to speed up the cooling process since it pushes the wort around the immersion chiller. After I have cooled as far as I want to go, I then pull out the immersion chiller and whirlpool for a few minutes more, then turn it off and let it sit as long as I can (impatient sometimes).

ahh so after I chill with the IC I should let the wert hang out for a bit to settle? I'm scared of getting contaminates in my beer. :-(

so could i do the following.

keggle one = BK
keggle two = whirlpool attachment.

after boil is done I gravity feed from BK through CFC into Keggle #2 using whirlpool attachment, then aerate into Carboy for Fermentation

im just trying to figure out how 3 keggles come into play when brewing. I currently have 2 keggles in the making. I have a Igloo cube cooler I can turn into a mash container for AG brews.

-=Jason=-

You can have as many keggles as you want

Spend some time researching old school pro brewing systems. You can have one keggle just for heating and containing hot water (Hot Liquor Tank). You can have one just to mash in (Mash Tun). You can have one just to lauter in (Lauter Tun). Most smaller systems combine the mash and lauter in one so you have the Mash/Lauter Tun (MLT).

Then there is the brew kettle (BK). You can have a separate whirlpool tank but again, most combine the whirlpool in the kettle. For cooling, breweries used to use cool ships to allow the cold break to settle before being forced cooled with plate heat exchangers.

Now, most whirlpool in the kettle, allow to wort to rest from between 10- 45 mins and then force cool and send it to the fermenter with in-line oxygenation.

If you are using an immersion chiller, it might be a good idea to have the whirlpool outlet on a different vertical plane than the inlet. This way you can reduce the amount of temperature stratification. Or you can avoid it altogether and use a Counter Flow Chiller on the fly into your fermenter.

thanks, Wayne I've been reading up quite a bit and have yet to brew my first batch, just trying to figure this all out and get the right equipment for my first brew. I am more of a hands on type of learner and reading alone doesn't really stick unless I do it myself or see it done.

just see a lot of 3 keggle or 3 pot systems using pumps etc. not really understanding the flow pattern.


-=Jason=-

I made my own that is full 1/2" ID (copper) with an angle pick-up tube along the bottom and sidewall. Works nicely since I pump out at the bottom, out through CFC and then back into the kettle. if I stir it up at the start of the pump to really get the whirlpool moving and then kick the pump into action, I will drop that bad-boy down to about 75 degrees, let it settle, then pump again through the CFC and into the fermenter (will be about 60-65 into the fermenter).

Works nicely.

Flomaster said:

im just trying to figure out how 3 keggles come into play when brewing. I currently have 2 keggles in the making. I have a Igloo cube cooler I can turn into a mash container for AG brews.

Click to expand...

As Wayne said, lotsa options especially when you start trying to model after a larger scale brewery. I have 2 kettles (HLT and BK) and a cooler MLT. Some get away with a single kettle they use for HLT and then reuse for BK with the strategic use of buckets or other temporary wort collection devices.

Wayne1, Im interested to know if that pic of your sediment cone was from a 5 or ten gallon batch and how much wort is left behind with that setup? Also how is it for cleaning afterwards and what is your procedure?

I really like your way of whirlpooling in your keggle kettle can you whirlpool and then run the wort through a small plate chiller with out clogs

GC89,

Sorry, I hadn't seen your question earlier. That batch was a 10 gallon Blonde Ale. It only used 4 oz of hops. My last batch, a porter, used 5 oz and left a similar sized cone.

When I make Pale Ales or IPAs, I do use up to a pound of hops. There is quite a bit more trub left behind. I tend to compensate for that by starting out with a greater volume in the kettle and leave more behind.

My outlet is at a level where roughly .375 gallons are left behind. Cleaning is easy. I dump the residue out, hose the kettle down and scrub it well with PBW first and then Acid 5 from Five Star. Rinse and put back on the brewframe.

fisherlandon,

If your question is directed to me, I do not use a plate chiller. I feel a counter flow chiller works best at a homebrew level. They are easier to clean and maintain. There is never a problem with clogs.

When I was brewing professionally, I did clog the plate heat exchanger once in awhile. It is a major PITA to pull one apart, remove all the residue and assemble it so it doesn't leak. I even wrote an article for New Brewer magazine once on just that subject. Maybe that is why I like my CFC so much.

Wayne,

When your doing the whirlpool do you just run everything through your pump/ cfc & back into the kettle? I set up my kettle almost exactly the same as yours, just dont want the pump or cfc to clog with hops as I startup the whirlpooling for the first time. It doesnt appear you have any kind of filter or hop-stopper in the BK.


edit: my bad...read the date as 2012, sorry for the post on a year old thread.

No problem with resurrecting an old thread, as far as I am concerned.

Currently, I use a hop spider with 5 gallon paint strainer bags. I have been doing a fair amount of pale ales and IPAs with lots of late additions. The trub levels were very high and would cut down on the amount of liquid that I was able to remove.

Using the hop spider did require recalculating my volumes a bit. I never had a problem with clogging the pump or the CFC. I just wanted more trub free wort into my fermenters.

Ok, I use a majority of pellets hops. I really want to try whirlpool hopping just didnt want to clog up everything on my first run. I was thinking of just bagging the 60-30min additions and removing them when I start the whirlpool. That should remove at least some of the potential debris.

When you whirlpool, is the pump hooked up only to/from the BK or does it also run through your CFC while recirculating? With a 25' CFC, I am worried I might not get enough velocity from the 1/2" Bargain Fittings whirlpool fitting.
I just want to use the whirlpool recirculation to sanitize the CFC piping. Once the whirlpool has settled for 10-20min I plan to cut on the chilling water & go directly to my fermenter.

I have no trouble with whirlpooling through my CFC. I have taken a fair amount of care to minimize resistance with my hose barbs, hoses and quick disconnects.

You might want to try it out with just water to make sure you are getting the velocity you want.

I whirlpool hop with the hop spider. I only use pellets.

I would not count on the wort to sanitize the chiller. Most pumps don't care to move boiling wort. Recirculate StarSan through all your hoses and CFC before the end of the boil and let it sit in the lines for a bit.

Run the chilling water through the CFC while you are whirlpooling. This will also help to reduce the amount of cold break transferred to your fermenter.

Alright, thanks again for all your help, my kettle was pretty much designed exactly like yours, the pictures really helped!

I have upgraded my fittings and hoses going into the pump to be as close to 1/2" as possible in the hopes it would minimize clogs while maximizing flow.

As for sanitizing the chiller, I am aware of the issue of pumps not wanting to move boiling liquid. My thought was that running non-boiling temperatures above 180deg through the chiller tubing for 5-10mins would kill a majority of the typical culprits, basically like pasturization...

at the brewery where I work, we sanitize our lines and heat exchanger with 180deg water for 30 minutes...for what that's worth. Sanitizing with heat is a function of temperature and time. I probably wouldn't trust 180 water/wort for only 5-10 minutes.

I understand people wanting to be sure things are properly sterilized, but heres an exerpt from the fda guidlines for liquid pasteurization:
160 degrees F for at least 6 seconds
165 degrees F for at least 2.8 seconds,
170 degrees F for at least 1.3 seconds,
175 degrees F for at least 0.6 seconds, or
180 degrees F for at least 0.3 seconds

Now, this is the liquid temp...if you have a reasonably clean chiller and lines, getting your equipment to this temp for even a few minutes should be more than enough to kill any bugs. I personally re-rinse my plate chiller and hook my lines up. I fill it will boiling wort and let it hang for the last few minutes of the boil(i only run the pump enough to fill the lines and chiller, then shut off). At flame out, i pump the hot wort through everything for a few minutes prior to starting the cooling water flow. Never once had a problem doing this as long as you keep your chiller clean (backflush, bake when necessary).