do any of you whirlpool in the BK?

[Zeppman]

Hey all,

Just curious how you guys deal with the hop gunk and trub in the BK. I'd like to try and whirlpool, but I think the heating element would be in the way.

Do any of you successfully whirlpool with a heating element running through the middle of your BK?

 

[grainbill]

I do not have letric but I do whirlpool. I recirculate the wort through the counter flow chiller and back into the BK. I want to get a quick cold break so I set the flow to get the wort to 100 degrees as fast as I can. It "piles" up the trub into a nice pile in the middle of the kettle, which also has a false bottom.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

It works great. I have a concave kettle bottom to settle the trub into it. I use only pellets hops, and lots and lots of them, and retain a lot of it in the bottom. I'd guess 95%+ are in the cone. Some collect on the element but a little scrubbing works great on that part.

 

[Zeppman]

sandyeggoxj,

Do you whirlpool with a pump or by hand? Does your element cut across the entire kettle? How high off the bottom of your kettle is your element?

 

[sandyeggoxj]

About 4" up from the center. Maybe 1" above the side. Kettle is 20" across. It goes maybe 3/4 across. I have a center inlet chugger and a tangential inlet. Depending on the beer I whirlpool 20-30 min. 30 for hoppy beers. 20 for everything else.

 

[Zeppman]

Interesting, sounds similar to what I have (I went the Kal clone route). Do you have a picture of the inside of the kettle you could share?

 

[sandyeggoxj]

I Should be home tomorrow night and I can grab a pic then. I have 30 gallon stout kettles.

 

[augiedoggy]

I use this... works very well and its simple. whirlpooling is effective but I have too much going on in my pot like the elements fighting the current plus I use a plate chiller... this keeps the wort clear.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B4AX2U0/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[Zeppman]

Thanks guys,

I've thought about those hop spiders, but I'm concerned about them affecting the flavor. I live for IPAs and I would not want to be reducing the flavor of the hops in my beer.

Have you done any comparisions, hop spider vs free hopping?

 

[Roadie]

The hops buyer does not impede the flavor of IPAs and it really helps contain the hop trub! We also whirlpool our IPAs and have not had a problem integrating the hop spider in to this procedure.

 

[funnycreature]

I do not have letric but I do whirlpool. I recirculate the wort through the counter flow chiller and back into the BK. I want to get a quick cold break so I set the flow to get the wort to 100 degrees as fast as I can. It "piles" up the trub into a nice pile in the middle of the kettle, which also has a false bottom.

I was never able to get any cone in my BK during whirlpool using the immersion chiller/whirlpool method. Maybe my setup geometry is not good but I seem to always have everything in motion instead of a center where the trub can settle. Yhe only way to get it the cone is to manually create a vortex with a spoon after chilling and let it settle for 20 or so minutes.

Thanks guys,

I've thought about those hop spiders, but I'm concerned about them affecting the flavor. I live for IPAs and I would not want to be reducing the flavor of the hops in my beer.

Have you done any comparisions, hop spider vs free hopping?

I have used a hop spider with pellet hops but have no comparison. There is definitely a temperature differential and the fine mesh tends to clog easily. I stopped using it for pellet hops but intend to keep using it for leaf hops because that will clog my pump if free-floating. Mine is centered in the BK though in case that matters.

 

[augiedoggy]

I upgraded to the lagers hop spider so the clogging of the screen material is not a factor... with the small spider it did seem like it may have been effecting hop utilization a bit.

 

[augiedoggy]

^^ larger..for some reason the edit option is gone for me.

 

[Brettomomyces]

I have a NorCal false bottom with the level 3 filter stand...tried it out with 10oz of pellet hops on saturday and had absolutely no trouble/clogging. I'm not sure where it tops out, but it could definitely take some more.

 

[November]

I use a tangential input to whirlpool. My tank has a domed bottom and after 15 minutes with the pump and 15 minutes settling I get a decent pile on the bottom. My element is sent up the same as sandyeggoxj's. I also use a trub filter in front of my plate chiller but with the whirlpool it doesn't have much to do. No hop bags or spiders, I free range my hops. To clean, I suck trub out of the dome bottom with a shop vac.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

Oh crap, I just realized I didn't post a picture!! I'll have to set it up but I get one today.

 

[maplemontbrew]

I bought a weldless whirlpool arm from Morebeer that works great. $37

http://morebeer.com/products/stainless-weldless-whirlpool-arm.html