Recirculation of wort on a single tier setup.

I was going to run the boiled wort right from the boil kettle into the pump and out through my CFC and from the CFC directly into my primary fermentor. Does the wort need to be recirculated back through into the boil kettle for a second trip through the CFC or should one time be enough?

That completely depends on how cold your coolant water is and how fast the wort and coolant are flowing through the CFC. You can regulate the wort with a valve on the pump output. If your tap water isn't cold enough, you can either pump ice water through it (you can use a submersible pump for this), or use a copper coil submerged in ice water to either pre-chill the coolant or post-chill the wort after the CFC. I'd just do a trial run and see based on your tap temp.

For me it depends on what kind of beer I'm brewing. If I'm using a hopback, then it goes right into the fermenter. If I have a bunch of late additions hops, then I like to recirculate to get the whole wort cooled down very quickly to preserve the aroma. If I don't have much in the way of late addition hops, then I will skip recirculating. Most of the time though I recirculate to cool the whole wort down at once. This does put extra demands on your kettle filter though. More pumping means more opportunity for your filter to plug.

You'll want to recirc back to the kettle before flameout to sanitize the CFC but then what Lil Sparky said... If the CFC output isn't quite as low as you hoped, you can recirc back until the whole wort is down near 140F, then redirect to the fermenter. This also serves to bring you down under DMS production zone and as mentioned above, lock in your aroma hops. I only do this if I can't run the pump at full bore. If I can, the 10 gallons drain in less than 5 minutes and I don't worry about aroma or DMS. Beware though, recirculating to the kettle puts cold break in and you might want to catch it in a hop bag or something so it doesn't eventually clog your pickup tube.

My boil kettle is a 15 gal pot with which I use a Bazooka tube as my filter and a ghetto paint strainer mod for the hops. I think I will probably just recirculate the wort back into the kettle. I have two questions based on your suggestions. If you are going to run the boiling wort thru your cfc do you need to starsan the CFC or will the boiling wort take care of all the nasties. And my CFC is using 3/8" copper so I need to use 3/8" hosing with it. When I am recirculating will this signifigantly slow the process down since it is a smaller diameter? And one more question..would my best be to modify the lid of the 15 gallon pot so that I can just run a hose to a barb that I will drill and set into the lid of the kettle or should I just put the hose in the kettle and let it run off. THANKS AGAIN!!! You guys rock.:rockin:

I recirculate starsan through my setup and drain it just before hooking up to the boil pot.

If you are going to run the boiling wort thru your cfc do you need to starsan the CFC or will the boiling wort take care of all the nasties.

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I recirculate the boiling wort for the last 10 mins or so. That should be plenty of time to sanitize the chiller. I still clean it out good after use and store it dry.

And my CFC is using 3/8" copper so I need to use 3/8" hosing with it. When I am recirculating will this signifigantly slow the process down since it is a smaller diameter?

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The flow is a little more restricted than when it's not flowing through the chiller, but whattya do? FYI, I have 1/2" ID hoses w/ QDs connected to my pump. I've got a QD fitting on the CFC to connect it.

And one more question..would my best be to modify the lid of the 15 gallon pot so that I can just run a hose to a barb that I will drill and set into the lid of the kettle or should I just put the hose in the kettle and let it run off.

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I have a return connection mounted high in my kettle with a curved return to give a little whirlpool. Before that, I just ran the hose back inside. Either way works OK, but I'm partial to the mounted return.

Sparky, Do you have a picture of your return, im curious as to how the whirlpool effect is achieved, and a shot of how you put a QD on your CFC? Thanks for all your help again!

I'll see if I can post some up for you.

Here ya go.

Inside



Outside



CFC. You could just use a compression fitting on the copper tube connected to the QD, but I already had these so I put them to use.

I have some trouble with the pump sucking air from the boil pot during the recirculation process to sanitize the CFC (it air locks). I was going to stick a spoon under the pick-up in the pot to see it that helped. Anyone else have this problem?

I like the kettle returns on top man. Does it rotate easily enough to drop the return down if you're doing a 6 gallon batch? I guess you wouldn't want it to drop above the surface of the wort.

Thebull. I've found that I do have to reduce the boil vigor when I'm doing the CFC sanitizing recirculation in order to reduce the steam bubbles in the line.

Thanks. They rotate easily enough, but you'd have to make them longer to really reach down for a 6 gal batch. The wort actually hits the side of the keg. It would probably whirlpool better if the full force hit the wort.