Cannot get a trub cone with my immersion chiller/Whirlpool

[indianajns]

I'm currently water testing my new 3 tier homebrew system. I'm using keggles and I'm testing with 10 gallons. I have one of the large 50' ICs from More beer and I've hooked up a whirlpool arm via JZ's instructions. My pump is a Chugger with a 7 gallon per minute flow rate. When I turn the pump on and leave it on for as much as 30-45 minutes, the water is turning but I'm not seeing any real whirlpool. I dumped a few ounces of hops in for my test and they aren't coning at the bottom at all. I tried crimping the end of the whirlpool but this seemed to have very little effect. Any ideas on what I can do differently to get a cone at the bottom of my boil kettle? THANKS!

 

[LordUlrich]

As long as you have some rotation, it should be enough. But (at least on my system) it needs to sit for a few minutes after the whirlpool before the cone forms. The whirlpool moves the sediment to the center of the kettle, and then after you stop the flow it settles into a cone.

 

[Cathedral]

As long as you have some rotation, it should be enough. But (at least on my system) it needs to sit for a few minutes after the whirlpool before the cone forms. The whirlpool moves the sediment to the center of the kettle, and then after you stop the flow it settles into a cone.

This is how mine works too. I will get a bit of a trub cone while whirlpooling, but most of it forms after the pump is turned off and allows the debris to settle.

 

[indianajns]

So how long should I let it settle after turning the pump off?

 

[LordUlrich]

5 minutes should be more than enough. It kinda depends on how clear you want it. The longer you wait the more that will drop out, but after a few minutes the majority should have settled.

 

[indianajns]

Got it. Do you guys have side pickups on your kettles? I don't have one and in my test I'm leaving about 2.5 gallons in my kettle. So I'm thinking I probably need some sort of pickup that extracts from the side so as to not mess with the trub cone.

 

[LordUlrich]

I do not use a pickup. I leave about 1.5 gallons in my kettle, I just factor that extra into my recipe.

 

[Cathedral]

I have a blichman 15g; the pickup extends about three inches into the kettle. I also use the hopblocker, which is a pretty large piece of equipment just sitting in the kettle, but I still get a good whirlpool.

Looks like this: (not my pic, but same setup) I was worried it would eff the whole thing up, but it works fine.

 

[indianajns]

I'm liking the hopblocker idea. Hard to tell from the pic. How does it work? Does it plug in to the ball valve exit from the kettle?

 

[Cathedral]

The pick up tube goes into it and sits at the bottom of the kettle, about an 1/8" from the bottom. The screen has two different size openings, a large one (like you see in the picture) and a finer size opening, which is covered in the picture by the shroud. After you whirlpool and let things settle, you start draining and the hopblocker catches most of the stuff floating; after the level reaches the top of the shroud you pull it up to expose the finer screen. This catches most of the finer sediment while still maintaining a siphon. I usually lose maybe a quart to a quart and a half on hoppy beers. It works good, but you have to whirlpool, otherwise it will clog and be a pain in the ass.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

So how long should I let it settle after turning the pump off?

My experience differs from what you've been told. I have not found 5 minutes to be enough time.

I use a whirlpool port and a chugger pump, and start it moving with about 5 minutes left in the boil (10 minutes after I've put my chiller in), just to get it circulating, then after it's chilled to temp, I remove the immersion chiller. I let it go for a minute more, then kill the pump. I get the best results when I leave it for 20 or more minutes, depending on the gravity of the wort and the hop bill - lower OG beers settle quicker, higher OG take longer, low hop bill faster, high hop bill slower. I get a nice trub cone of hot and cold break as well as the hops. I have a side-drawing port with an elbow and an extension to the bottom of the side of the keggle - I leave a half-gallon behind unless I cut it off early to get less break material sucked in.

 

[kozer99]

I have done 4 beers with the hopblocker in my Blichmann kettle. What I have learned about the blocker is that a certain amount of pellets end up in the blocker itself during the boil. After whirlpooling, I siphon about a 1/2 quart of the wort out of the pot and into the fermentor until it runs clear. I then connect it to my plate chiller and I can use gravity (without clogs) to chill the remaining beer. I learned this trick after a nightmare of chilling a highly hopped beer and the chiller got clogged by these initial pellets.