Question for those that use Keggles

So i built by boil kettle and I'm about do build a mashtun out of a keg. For those that use a keggle as a boil pot, how do you keep the hops out of the fermentor? I'm going to use a plate chiller and due to the shape of the bottom of the keg, wouldn't all the trub be funneled through the chiller into the fermentor? I'm using a false bottom and a pick up tube that pulls from the middle of the keg to avoid much liquid loss.

If you are using a false bottom, you should be good, however it helps tremendously if you use some whole hops sometime during the boil. This will set on top of your FB and act as a filter bed. Now what your big concern should be is cold break. Do not go from your chiller directly to your fermentor, or you will have all that cold break in there.

Instead, pump through your chiller back inti your kettle, and bring the whole kettle down to pitching temp. Then transfer to your fermentor, pitch, and have s HB.

Hope this helps.

Don't forget to aerate!

I chill then pump back to my boil kettle and whirlpool, my pickup tube is a 90 degree copper stub out the goes to the side of the kettle, it leaves behind a little wort, bu mostly just hop trub and cold break. I know there are some that would argue the merits of whirlpooling, but I have had great luck doing it, and think it has done more to improve the quality of my beer than just about anything else...my $.02...wnc

Celticway said:

If you are using a false bottom, you should be good, however it helps tremendously if you use some whole hops sometime during the boil. This will set on top of your FB and act as a filter bed. Now what your big concern should be is cold break. Do not go from your chiller directly to your fermentor, or you will have all that cold break in there.

Instead, pump through your chiller back inti your kettle, and bring the whole kettle down to pitching temp. Then transfer to your fermentor, pitch, and have s HB.

Hope this helps.

Click to expand...

The cold break in the fermenter is fine. It won't harm anything, and it compacts down with the rest of the trub. Many people have plate chillers or CFCs and the cold break goes into the fermenter. You can filter it out if you want, but it's certainly not required.

I use a CFC and I just let everything go into the primary. I don't touch my fermenters until 3 weeks anyway before checking SG, so usually everything is well settled out by then.

Since you're using a plate chiller, you might want to do the whirlpool and side dip tube thing. Or construct/buy something like the Hop Stopper.

Yooper said:

The cold break in the fermenter is fine. It won't harm anything, and it compacts down with the rest of the trub. Many people have plate chillers or CFCs and the cold break goes into the fermenter. You can filter it out if you want, but it's certainly not required.

Click to expand...

I agree it will settle to the bottom and that it is ok. However I have noticed a pretty significant difference in my final beer once I started removing as much of the cold break before transfering to my fermentor. To each thier own. There is no one way of doing it and everyone pervieves flavors differently. I have also noticed that if the cold break goes in, there is more of a chance of chill haze. If you want to leave it for a month or so, then this prob wouldn't be an issue. But for average ales like APA's, I get rid of the cold break amap, and throughput is about 2.5 weeks.

IMO, it could possibly be the difference between a great beer and an excellent beer.

I use a CFC and whirlpool in my boil keggle as well. but I found trying to whirlpool and chill at the same time is counter productive. putting the chilled wort back into the keggle of hot wort takes longer to cool down, at the same time the CFC is a bottle neck when it comes to whirlpooling. SO I think my next brew I'll just chill first in my CFC into another vessel possible my HLT. then pump it back via my whirlpool inlet creating a solid whirl pool leaving cold break out of my Primary.

-=Jason=-

Flomaster said:

I use a CFC and whirlpool in my boil keggle as well. but I found trying to whirlpool and chill at the same time is counter productive. putting the chilled wort back into the keggle of hot wort takes longer to cool down, at the same time the CFC is a bottle neck when it comes to whirlpooling. SO I think my next brew I'll just chill first in my CFC into another vessel possible my HLT. then pump it back via my whirlpool inlet creating a solid whirl pool leaving cold break out of my Primary.

-=Jason=-

Click to expand...

That's probably a great idea. It does take quite a long time to cool down the kettle flowing back. Do you have a FB? If you do no real need to whirlpool. One thing about it taking longer is everything has time to settle leaving it pretty clear. I suppose it leaves room for an infection to get in. What I am planning on next is to prechill my CFC water first. I think this will bring it down pretty quickly.

Celticway said:

That's probably a great idea. It does take quite a long time to cool down the kettle flowing back. Do you have a FB? If you do no real need to whirlpool. One thing about it taking longer is everything has time to settle leaving it pretty clear. I suppose it leaves room for an infection to get in. What I am planning on next is to prechill my CFC water first. I think this will bring it down pretty quickly.

Click to expand...

no false bottom, or else I wouldn't be whirlpooling

-=Jason=-

Gottcha.

Hop Spider. I still get a bunch of hop pellet residue in the fermentor, but I don't think that is a bid deal.

passedpawn said:

Hop Spider. I still get a bunch of hop pellet residue in the fermentor, but I don't think that is a bid deal.

Click to expand...

Nope, no worries there!

Flomaster said:

I use a CFC and whirlpool in my boil keggle as well. but I found trying to whirlpool and chill at the same time is counter productive. putting the chilled wort back into the keggle of hot wort takes longer to cool down, at the same time the CFC is a bottle neck when it comes to whirlpooling. SO I think my next brew I'll just chill first in my CFC into another vessel possible my HLT. then pump it back via my whirlpool inlet creating a solid whirl pool leaving cold break out of my Primary.

-=Jason=-

Click to expand...

I had the same problem with my CFC so I broke out my old immersion chiller and us it until the wort is under 100F, then put the CFC in an ice bath and using my pump I recirculate back to the kettle. It takes more ice but I can get 11 gallons down to 55F in 30 minutes.

yeah, i use a hop spider, and it works like a charm!

Have any of you tried putting a stainless sponge/scrubber underneath the dip tube? I've been thinking about trying this. Is it effective with pellet hops?

Dont worry about liquid loss, a small adjustment to your recipe/procedure will make up for it.

I use a dedicate whirlpool vessel and pump over to it through my cfc. I then chill by recirculating back into the whirlpool through CFC until I get to temp. Once there I take the CFC out of the loop and get a proper whirlpool going. Let sit for 20min and then pump to my fermenter.

I leave much of the junk in the kettle and even more in the whirlpool vessel.

Celticway said:

IMO, it could possibly be the difference between a great beer and an excellent beer.

Click to expand...

Maybe- but I think the line between "great" and "excellent" is not well defined. I make some pretty good beers that I would put against any other in the world.

I don't have any issues at all with chill haze, and I keg my beers at about day 10-14 after brewing. So far, this has worked extraodinarily well and I'm not going to change.

Cold break in the fermenter isn't going to cause off flavors, while hot break might. I think everyone needs to do what works best for them, but I don't want anyone to be afraid that they have to whirlpool for xxxx minutes to avoid cold break into the fermenter. A lengthy cooldown might cause more flavor issues than some cold break in the fermenter.

everyone is correct. use a false bottom and some whole leaf hops. use a 90 turn to the side. Pull some trub and cold break into primary with a nice hoppy ipa. and try to leave as much as possible for a kolsch or golden.

I use a 15 gal polarware with a 90 copper elbow to the side dremeled to curve to the side. I have to turn it on its side about 2 gal left while pumping through my homemade cfc to get the last bit, but am very careful not to start pulling too much trub once the kettle jerks too much.

Personally, after flameout, whirlpool gently for 1 minute, and let it sit for 20 minutes. I try to rush it and start running off after 10 min, but i still get a lot of cold break in the primary. Times where I get busy and let the kettle sit for 20-30 min, I get a lot less cold break in the primary. Let the whirlpool and rest run its course and have patience. rdwhahb!

i'm paranoid when it comes to extra material... i also have a keggle and a plate chiller.. my pickup tube is just off to the side pointing towards the center of the keggle, though i wrapped a SS braid around it which seems to keep just about everything out..

oh yeah, and i use my homemade hopspider:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/modified-ss-hop-bag-249317/

I draw from my keggle w/ a cfc to my fermenter (another keg). I use a 5 gallon paint strainer over the mouth out the keg to filter out as much crap as possible. I use a similar set up for hop additions in the boil.