I just bought two spincycle submerged whirlpool returns from brewhardware.com, one for the HLT and one for my BK. My question is, how high should I mount them? I was thinking it wouldn't matter too much in the HLT so I would just put it an inch or two below the top of where the water will normally be. For the BK I was thinking just above the five gallon level as I brew both five and ten gallon batches and I brew at least six gallons of wort for a five gallon batch. Looking for advice since I'd rather not drill a bunch of unnecessary holes in my kettles.
Best height for recirculation port
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For the BK, locate the spin cycle no higher than a couple/few inches below your post-boil volume level to allow whirlpooling hops.
Personally I like having the BK return a few inches above the kettle bottom as there really isn't a reason to finesse the height. My valve height is the same as the drain port.
For the HLT I located the return in the middle of the hex coil top/bottom span, but frankly it could have gone literally anywhere as long as it was below the top of the coil (regardless of batch size I need at least enough water to cover the hex)...
Cheers!
Personally I like having the BK return a few inches above the kettle bottom as there really isn't a reason to finesse the height. My valve height is the same as the drain port.
For the HLT I located the return in the middle of the hex coil top/bottom span, but frankly it could have gone literally anywhere as long as it was below the top of the coil (regardless of batch size I need at least enough water to cover the hex)...
Cheers!
I am installing a whirlpool port on the BK because before sending the wort to the fermenter I will be chilling it and recirculating until it gets down to temp. Hopefully that way most of the cold break will stay out of my fermenter. I have read that it will cool faster if the recirculation port is higher in the BK. Am I thinking too hard on this?
Yes you are thinking too hard. I would put them both at about the 4 gallon mark.
Here's a pic of my kettle (it's a 10-gallon kettle). My return port, which is centered between the two low ports and has a plug in it, is about the 3.5-gallon level.
BTW, I do the same thing as you are planning, i.e., I return chilled wort to the kettle via the whirlpool port until I get to the temperature I want.
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Is there any good reason to have a valve on the recirculation port on the boil kettle or HLT?
I run a 3v2p single tier herms rig and I can say in the course of a batch - including filling the BK with strike water and filling the HLT to above the hex - both from my RO system - through filling the fermentors, the return ports on both the HLT and BK have no hoses attached numerous times.
So, yes, there are operational reasons to have control over returns as there are times you don't want those ports open...
Cheers!
So, yes, there are operational reasons to have control over returns as there are times you don't want those ports open...
Cheers!
That's why.
Here's a pic of my kettle, same one as in post #5 above. You can see the various items on ports; lower left is a ball valve on the "out" port, connected to a dip tube on the inside of the kettle. The port on the lower right is a temp probe to connect to my panel. The port in the middle is the recirculation port.
Different brewers do this differently, but in my case I draw wort out of the "out" port into my pump; from the pump, into my counterflow chiller; from the counterflow chiller back to the recirculation port. When it's time to move that wort into the fermenter, I shut off the pump; close the recirculation port ball valve, use a forceps to clamp the hose right at the camlock connector, then disconnect from the recirc port and connect to the fermenter.
I have a Spike CF10 and I fill it through the racking port, the wort comes out through the racking arm on the inside of the fermenter.
If I couldn't shut off the recirc port, it'd be a mess.
BTW, here are the forceps I use to clamp off the silicone hoses: https://www.amazon.com/Excel-Tube-O...+occluding+clamp&qid=1589459346&s=hpc&sr=8-15
bjhbrew
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That's why.
Here's a pic of my kettle, same one as in post #5 above. You can see the various items on ports; lower left is a ball valve on the "out" port, connected to a dip tube on the inside of the kettle. The port on the lower right is a temp probe to connect to my panel. The port in the middle is the recirculation port.
Different brewers do this differently, but in my case I draw wort out of the "out" port into my pump; from the pump, into my counterflow chiller; from the counterflow chiller back to the recirculation port. When it's time to move that wort into the fermenter, I shut off the pump; close the recirculation port ball valve, use a forceps to clamp the hose right at the camlock connector, then disconnect from the recirc port and connect to the fermenter.
I have a Spike CF10 and I fill it through the racking port, the wort comes out through the racking arm on the inside of the fermenter.
If I couldn't shut off the recirc port, it'd be a mess.
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@mongoose33 do you have any issues with temp stratification during chilling? I just did my first 10g brew in my new 15g spike kettle. I recirculated through my counterflow chiller until the wort was mid 70’s but then when I ran it off to my fermenter the temp all of a sudden jumped all the way up to 160 as the wort from the top half of the kettle worked its way down. I blamed it on the recirculation port being too low.
I've never noticed, to be honest. I do the same thing you do, get the kettle cooled to the point where the wort coming out of the chiller is about 70 degrees, then redirect it into the fermenter.
I can adjust the water flow easily to adjust the temp as needed--I have a valve on my hose that's then attached to the counterflow chiller. I use that to adjust the water flow as the spigot for the hose is on the other side of the garage. I just sit there and watch it and increase or decrease the flow of water as necessary. I also have a thermometer on the wort-OUT side of the CFC so I can monitor the temp of the wort going into the fermenter and adjust as needed.
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Thanks for all of the responses. I was initially planning on having the recirculation ports at the top of the pot near the lid, so that is why I was wondering if a valve was really needed. Now I am considering locating them lower, but now I am worried that the lower port would cause the stratification issues mentioned above. Has anyone else had similar problems?
Thanks
With essentially a whirlpool spinning around the kettle I don't think it'd be possible...
Cheers!
Cheers!
bjhbrew
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Believe me, I was pretty surprised. I recirculated for about 15-20 minutes. I don’t have a thermometer on my chiller output but I went until the temp probe at the bottom of my kettle read mid 70s. Then when I drained the wort into the fermenter the temp suddenly shot back up. My counterflow chiller really slows down the flow from my chugger pump so it’s definitely not a raging whirlpool but it is slowly swirling. I dunno... not sure where I’m going to go from here.
thats stratification. the cold wort spins around the bottom, the hot wort stays at the top.
as to the OP, my typical advice would be to mount the WP low in the kettle, and then point the outlet up at like a 25 degree angle. that way you ensure you;re sending cold wort up to mix with the hot wort. then it spins and makes its way back down.
but if you're switching between 5 and 10 sizes, i have to assume you will need to adjust the angle to send the cold wort up to top. in that case, maybe a location at the 3-4 gallon level isnt a bad idea.
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