Apologies in advance for posting a novel.
So I've got some shiny new equipment, including morebeer's new higher-flow march 809 pump, and the following Blichmann stuff: 15gal kettle, hop blocker, therminator (plate chiller), and hop rocket (hopback).
After looking at Jamil's whirlpooler (connects to an immersion chiller, and he says no money off it) where he claims it's got a number of advantages over even CFCs (plate chillers merely being a type of CFC), as well as immersion chillers without his gadget, all of it seems a bit moot if you do something similar with a CFC.
So, I've seen several similar setups to what I'm thinking, but none quite the same.
Many people (including me) will sanitize all their lines from kettle to the line leading to the fermentor by recirculating boiling water through the whole setup, including the chiller. So far, I'm thinking to run the sanitization stage a short while before the boil ends, out the kettle, into an empty hopback (assuming I intend to use it at all has filters inside to help remove particulate pre-pump, to the pump, to the plate chiller (without cold water turned on), and finally back into the kettle, all the while it continues to boil. And let that cycle for maybe 5 minutes. I'm waiting on a couple of parts to come back in stock before also including an in-line oxygenator after the chiller. But to sum it up, the sanitization step goes like so:
But since I'm guessing a whirlpool doesn't work too well while still boiling, my plan for whirlpooling involves cutting off the heat and doing the same thing with very hot, but not boiling wort, and possibly adding hops to the hopback at this stage for "whirlpool hopping". Of course, making sure I have an outlet submerged in the wort at a downward angle... (I hear 45° is best?) This is doubly important for me because the *NEW* Blichmann HopBlocker (the old, crappy one has been discontinued) is supposed to work phenomenally when used properly, but one of the things they emphasize is that you really NEED to whirlpool - presumably they mean by hand, but a lot of reading on this board seems to indicate that stirring results in a totally inferior cone (if any at all!) in comparison to a constant stream of pumped wort at a strategic angle in order to create the necessary current.
How long should the whirlpool like this take? 30 minutes, and them time for everything to settle? This technique is different from the closest one I've seen to mine, as when they whirlpool they are also chilling (though this takes longer than chilling with a CFC traditionally). And is 45° from horizontal really best? In my infinite ignorance, I'd have assumed that a more acute angle (as in, closer to parallel with the surface of the wort) would provide a more suitable whirlpool.
Anyways, the last bit is probably obvious, although I may sometimes replace the hops at this point with more/different hops. The only real differences from before are that I run cold water through the plate chiller, starting the pump back up when wort sitting inside it gets to a nice low temp, and that the hose from the chiller goes to the fermentor instead of back to the kettle.
Why is this all necessary? Well for one, the space taken up by the HopBlocket would make it more difficult to stir in an effective circle I'd think. Plus, I will eventually convert to a Hermes system with a big electric element also in the kettle, further interfering with big, circular motions from a spoon. Not to mention, I can just set it and forget it, rather than kill my arm trying to physically stir a decent cone.
Anyways, to just quickly sum up the steps:
Sterilization
Boiling kettle -> empty hopback -> pump -> plate chiller w/o cold water -> kettle
Whirlpooling
Sub-boiling kettle -> filled hopback -> pump -> plate chiller w/o cold water -> kettle (ensuring a good whirlpool position/orientation)
Cooling/Transfer to Fermentor
sub-boiling kettle -> (possibly freshly filled hopback) -> pump -> plate chiller WITH cold water -> fermentor
Only thing I'm not even close to sure about right now (barring any persuasive replies, of course) is the hopback at each stage. I'm leaning towards using it as an inline filter, to keep additional trub out of the pump and chiller, even if I'm not using it for hops. And then I'm not sure whether it's best to use it only during the whirlpool stage, the transfer stage (as actually intended), or both, and whether replenishing before the last stage would even have much of an effect, not to mention how much it may contribute to bittering during the whirlpool stage. But I guess I van experiment with various hoppy beers for that. The thing is just a real PITA to open.
Other than that, I'd love to hear some critiques from experienced HBTers, whether it's a big issue or a tiny one. For instance - is there any point at all NOT to chill while whirlpooling, if I don't plan on putting hops in the hopback when it transfers to the fermenter?
Any help will be immensely appreciated. Gracias, merci, obrigado, danke, arigato, dankzij, grazie, takk, ankthay ouya... thank you.
So I've got some shiny new equipment, including morebeer's new higher-flow march 809 pump, and the following Blichmann stuff: 15gal kettle, hop blocker, therminator (plate chiller), and hop rocket (hopback).
After looking at Jamil's whirlpooler (connects to an immersion chiller, and he says no money off it) where he claims it's got a number of advantages over even CFCs (plate chillers merely being a type of CFC), as well as immersion chillers without his gadget, all of it seems a bit moot if you do something similar with a CFC.
So, I've seen several similar setups to what I'm thinking, but none quite the same.
Many people (including me) will sanitize all their lines from kettle to the line leading to the fermentor by recirculating boiling water through the whole setup, including the chiller. So far, I'm thinking to run the sanitization stage a short while before the boil ends, out the kettle, into an empty hopback (assuming I intend to use it at all has filters inside to help remove particulate pre-pump, to the pump, to the plate chiller (without cold water turned on), and finally back into the kettle, all the while it continues to boil. And let that cycle for maybe 5 minutes. I'm waiting on a couple of parts to come back in stock before also including an in-line oxygenator after the chiller. But to sum it up, the sanitization step goes like so:
But since I'm guessing a whirlpool doesn't work too well while still boiling, my plan for whirlpooling involves cutting off the heat and doing the same thing with very hot, but not boiling wort, and possibly adding hops to the hopback at this stage for "whirlpool hopping". Of course, making sure I have an outlet submerged in the wort at a downward angle... (I hear 45° is best?) This is doubly important for me because the *NEW* Blichmann HopBlocker (the old, crappy one has been discontinued) is supposed to work phenomenally when used properly, but one of the things they emphasize is that you really NEED to whirlpool - presumably they mean by hand, but a lot of reading on this board seems to indicate that stirring results in a totally inferior cone (if any at all!) in comparison to a constant stream of pumped wort at a strategic angle in order to create the necessary current.
How long should the whirlpool like this take? 30 minutes, and them time for everything to settle? This technique is different from the closest one I've seen to mine, as when they whirlpool they are also chilling (though this takes longer than chilling with a CFC traditionally). And is 45° from horizontal really best? In my infinite ignorance, I'd have assumed that a more acute angle (as in, closer to parallel with the surface of the wort) would provide a more suitable whirlpool.
Anyways, the last bit is probably obvious, although I may sometimes replace the hops at this point with more/different hops. The only real differences from before are that I run cold water through the plate chiller, starting the pump back up when wort sitting inside it gets to a nice low temp, and that the hose from the chiller goes to the fermentor instead of back to the kettle.
Why is this all necessary? Well for one, the space taken up by the HopBlocket would make it more difficult to stir in an effective circle I'd think. Plus, I will eventually convert to a Hermes system with a big electric element also in the kettle, further interfering with big, circular motions from a spoon. Not to mention, I can just set it and forget it, rather than kill my arm trying to physically stir a decent cone.
Anyways, to just quickly sum up the steps:
Sterilization
Boiling kettle -> empty hopback -> pump -> plate chiller w/o cold water -> kettle
Whirlpooling
Sub-boiling kettle -> filled hopback -> pump -> plate chiller w/o cold water -> kettle (ensuring a good whirlpool position/orientation)
Cooling/Transfer to Fermentor
sub-boiling kettle -> (possibly freshly filled hopback) -> pump -> plate chiller WITH cold water -> fermentor
Only thing I'm not even close to sure about right now (barring any persuasive replies, of course) is the hopback at each stage. I'm leaning towards using it as an inline filter, to keep additional trub out of the pump and chiller, even if I'm not using it for hops. And then I'm not sure whether it's best to use it only during the whirlpool stage, the transfer stage (as actually intended), or both, and whether replenishing before the last stage would even have much of an effect, not to mention how much it may contribute to bittering during the whirlpool stage. But I guess I van experiment with various hoppy beers for that. The thing is just a real PITA to open.
Other than that, I'd love to hear some critiques from experienced HBTers, whether it's a big issue or a tiny one. For instance - is there any point at all NOT to chill while whirlpooling, if I don't plan on putting hops in the hopback when it transfers to the fermenter?
Any help will be immensely appreciated. Gracias, merci, obrigado, danke, arigato, dankzij, grazie, takk, ankthay ouya... thank you.
