Side pickup / Whirlpool / flat bottom boil kettle

[Zippox]

The last IPA I made caused my counterflow chiller to clog with hop pellets. So I'm looking to avoid that going forward, as well as improving the hop flavor/aroma of my beers.

I have a 25 gal aluminum pot that has a flat bottom. I have this exact attachment setup that picks up from the middle of the kettle:

My plan is to upgrade that to pick up from the side by instead using a 90* elbow like this:

Then I could manually stir the wort to create a whirlpool, causing a cone-like collection in the middle which would hopefully prevent any future clogging of the CFC.

So I have also been reading up on doing a "hopstand" to increase hop flavor/aroma. The plan is to add flameout hops, cover the kettle and turn off the flame. Then let it sit for a while and hopefully within about 20 minutes it will cool to 180* (does that sound like a normal cooldown rate?). At that point I would add hops that would sit in there for 10 minutes until I then drain the wort through my CFC. I was thinking that during those last 10 minutes I could manually stir, causing a whirlpool so that when it comes time to drain, I am in the clear.

Are there any problems with this process?

 

[StMarcos]

Sounds fine although I wouldn't feel the need to wait so long to add the last hops. 180degF is above the 'sanitary' threshold for brewing beer.

 

[Zippox]

Sounds fine although I wouldn't feel the need to wait so long to add the last hops. 180degF is above the 'sanitary' threshold for brewing beer.

I don't think that hop steeping at 180*F is done for sanitary reasons, but probably rather for extraction of the oils. Can anyone confirm a good temperature range for 'hop steeping'/'hopstand'/etc?

 

[McKnuckle]

Yes, 170F is the temp at which most hop oils are said to no longer isomerize (i.e. contribute bittering). It is not a perfect figure, since there are many different oils and they have different threshold temperatures.

Generally, cooling to 160-180 and holding there for 15-30 minutes, then continuing to cool, is going to produce the results desired in a hop stand. You'll get a little bittering in the upper part of the range, but not enough to be concerned about.

 

[motobrewer]

Then let it sit for a while and hopefully within about 20 minutes it will cool to 180* (does that sound like a normal cooldown rate?).

Unfortunately, no. I thought the same thing that you did, except i was actively recircing thru my plate chiller and it took forever to get to 180.

 

[eric19312]

Unfortunately, no. I thought the same thing that you did, except i was actively recircing thru my plate chiller and it took forever to get to 180.

+1

I use IC to get from 212 to 180.

 

[Zippox]

Unfortunately, no. I thought the same thing that you did, except i was actively recircing thru my plate chiller and it took forever to get to 180.

I feared so. Recently I've been doing 5 gallon batches instead of 10. I have a 25 gallon aluminum kettle which means I don't think my immersion chiller will be able to make it down far enough into the kettle to cool it. (To cool the 5 gallon batches, I have been using a CFC instead). Anyways, my problems with cooling are bedside the point of this thread.

Thanks for the information. I'll shoot for getting the wort into the 160-180*F range before doing the hop steeping step.

 

[motobrewer]

it's funny, because i can drain my kettle through my wort chiller directly into my carboy and the output temp is high 50's. but when i tried to cool the whole mass by recircing it took forever.

 

[Natdavis777]

It takes me a matter of minutes to get a 10 gal batch down to 180 through my 20 plate chiller while actively recirculating. I wonder why it is taking so long for everyone else...

An alternative solution for the OP to avoid the massive hop particulate for hopping, hop stands, etc, could be a hop spider. I have a SS spider from https://utahbiodieselsupply.com/ and that thing is a champ! I can literally add all my hop additions to it, whirlpool, and drain clear wort into my carboys without dealing with hop debris anymore (used to plague myself as well)

For the record, I have a 90degree pick up tube that I cut on an angle so it lays almost flush with my keggle bottom.

 

[Zippox]

Recently I've been doing 5 gallon batches instead of 10. I have a 25 gallon aluminum kettle which means I don't think my immersion chiller will be able to make it down far enough into the kettle to cool it.

I was able to bend my chiller so that about half would make it into the 5 gallons. The tip of my finger on the wooden stick marks the 5.6 gallon line.