That’s incredible! What’s your whirlpool technique? I thought all those hops would cause a clog for sure!
Let's say I brew an IPA with a 60 minutes boil.
I don't do bittering additions, so the first one comes at around 20-25 minutes left in the boil. Every few minutes, I add hops. 15 minutes before end of boil, I add Brewtan B and 10 minutes before end of boil, some Protafloc. At the same time I throw in the Protafloc, I also sanitize the chiller, by recirculating hot wort thru it.
At the end of boil, I recirculate the wort thru the chiller with really cold well water ( I have a pretty deep well ), with the element turned off. Depending on the season, it will take me some minutes to cool it down to about 150-160F. Here you will certainly make use of a paddle ( I have a long one made of SS ), as when you recirculate, the filter will partially clog. So gently brush it to clear it, when you hear the pump making noise and you can see the wort is not coming out at the same rate.
I stir/whirlpool once in a while, as the temperature showing while recirculating to chill is always misleading/a bit lower than it actually is.
Once I hit 150-160F, I dump in the whirlpool hops and then I whirlpool with my paddle, without splashing too much. The whirlpool action takes maybe 10-30 seconds, at which point I take the paddle out and let the hops steep. ( before whirlpooling, the controller will show you've hit the desired temperature, but... once you whirlpool and you " even " the temperature in the kettle, it will slighly rise - hence my recommendation to stir a bit when cooling it down
)
I let the hops steep for 15 minutes, I come back and do another whirlpool and let it rest again for 5-15 minutes ( I whirlpool a few times, because I want more contact between the hops and the wort - they will sink/settle at the bottom and you'll get lower utilization/flavour ). The temperature is even lower by now. I sanitize everything and prepare to transfer the wort to the fermenter. I have a
ThruMometer connected between the chiller and the silicone hose which leads to the fermenter, so I can actually see the temp of the wort going in the fermenter.
On the mouth of my Speidel fermenter, I always have a sieve and a hop bag, just in case, the wort is too " muddy ", but it does not happen. It's more of a precaution. I begin the transfer and the first liter ( 1/4 gallon ) is a bit dirty, but then it clears and the rest is very clear wort.
It is very clear due to all things I've done above: I use Protafloc, which helps settle the trub and hops after the whirlpool. The whirlpool itself at a lower temp. helps tremendously and makes for a very nice compact cake at the bottom of the Grainfather. Give it enough time, after you whirlpooled ( you can whirlpool even if you are not using a lot of hops - I do it, because I want clear wort and less trub in the fermenter ) and most trub will settle.
Maybe I will take some pictures next time.
PS: The filter on the Grainfather can easily come out with a more agressive whirlpool, so I found a few SS rings/ties and always fasten the filter, so it stays put even when I brush it to clean it.
I also don't do flameout hops, as flameout means boiling temperature, so they will add more bitterness than intended. I happy with lots of late additions and a big whirlpool at 150F. ( at the same time, remember that the hops I add at 5 minutes before end of boil, they will actually add a bit more bitterness, because it takes a while to cool down the wort - so they actually " boil " for more than the 5 minutes intended)
