False Bottom VS. Whirlpool VS. No Filtering

I have been SCOURING the net to see if I can find the BEST solution to my new rig.

I will be brewing extract with pellet hops.
Mostly 5 gal batches but maybe 10 gal from time to time.

I currently have a 10" FB set up with a center dip tube in a E-Keggle.

I am struggling with either doing the FB setup or a Side Dip tube with whirl pooling. Any help would be great! Thanks!

 

Dont bother with a false bottom for a boil kettle, especially if your using pellets it wont do anything. I'd whirlpool and just use a side pickup. The only reason i could see a false bottom being useful in a BK is if your doing a BIAB where your one pot does everything...even then the false bottom is usually only there to keep your bag off from burning on the bottom.

 

Agree.

 

Interesting, I am currently building a bottom drain e-keggle with a false bottom. It will serve as my HLT and BK and I use pellet hops. So you're saying that FB won't do me any good?

 

Agree with Fuzze. Side-pickup with whirlpool will do well... What is your chilling setup?

This is how mine is arranged: I do a side pickup with a whilpool 90* SS elbow facing the same direction. That way it won't force sludge into the pickup tube...

I whirlpool for 15 minutes while chilling through my plate chiller and this is the result in my kettle...


It was more pronounced in my Keggle though even with the recirc going the other way:

 

If you're going bottom drain then obviously a whirlpool and side-pickup won't be doing you any good. False bottom will help, but I still bedtyou'll get some sludge going through it. No big deal.

 

Hey Bowtie,

I just set my kettle up last night the way you have yours in the second pic (pickup pointing in the same direction as whirlpool). It made sense to me. It's good to hear it works for you. How many ounces of hops were in that batch?

 

The dark one in the Spike Brewing kettle was only like 4 oz. The light one in the Keggle was about 6oz. I've had no issues whatsoever with it.

My recent brew-day I did a whole hop brew with around 10 oz of hops in there, but I had to bag it since I don't have any screen on my pickup tube, and don't want that going into the chiller.

 

Thanks! I always used a bazooka tube on the inlet with whole hops. Now I'm going to try all pellet. The next batch will have 29oz. No FB, no screen, no filter, no nothing. Fingers crossed. At least the kettle diameter is huge (20"). It seems like that would help keep the hop sludge from the pickup.

 

It usually piles up pretty nicely... I highly advise starting your whilrpool in the last couple minutes to sanitize the pumps, and then letting it run for at least 10 minutes while chilling.

 

To throw my 2¢ in, I have always had great luck with a false bottom in the BK. Only a tiny amount makes it through to the fermentor. This is what it looks like after going to the fermentor.

 

I will still whirlpool for hop stands. I wasn't planning or insinuating I would need or want a side pickup. Not too worried about some stuff getting past the false bottom, but I was hoping to keep a majority out of the carboy. Guess we will see, I am committed at this point.

 

What kind of hops? Looks like a mix of pellet and whole.

 

Whirlpool process:

This is was I was thinking I would do... What are your thought? What is your process? Do I need to worry about the extra time the hops will be in the kettle after the boil or do I need to change the times I throw it in?

1) Finish boil per instructions of recipe.
2) Start whirlpool by hand with a big spoon.
3) Start pump and whirlpool (no cooling... Just near boiling) for 15 min.
4) Switch hoses around, connect CFC and pump... Whirlpool while chilling full open cooling and wort flow for 15 min.
5) Shut everything off and let settle for 15 min... Covered.
6) Start pump and transfer while chilling to fermenter.

All hoses, pump, and CFC will have been sanitized before running or hooking up anything.