I Suck at Whirpooling

[michael.berta]

How long do you all whirlpool for to separate out the break material?

I've been using an oxygenation wand for 5 or 10 minutes or so after the wort is chilled. Then I cover and let it sit for about 30 minutes. My result has not been a nice trub cone at the bottom. I find that the break material has only sank half way and I still get a bunch of this crap in my fermenters. also the oxygenation wand creates quite a bit of foam and I a worry that I might be over oxygenating my wort.

Should I use a spoon instead like in Whirlpooling - Home Brewing Wiki and just let it sit longer? If s how long? 30 minutes should do the trick.

Help!

Mike

 

[doggage]

I think the oxygenation wand is much too thin, so it's probably not creating much of a whirlpool.

I use a paddle and stir for about a minute or so, trying to get a nice consistent circular motion going. Then I wait for about 10 minutes, just to be sure that it's all settled. Works great.

Ditch the wand and use a spoon or paddle. Hope that helps.

 

[stevea1210]

I just switched from an immersion chiller to counter flow. While using th IC I never got a good wirlpool. The two batches that I used the cfc on got a great cone on them.

I guess the ic breaks the trub cone up in some way.

 

[michael.berta]

Okie dokie. I'll switch to a spoon and not create the whirpool until after the wort is chilled and give it another shot. thanks

 

[walther]

To create something like this:



I start cooling with the IC without circulation, as my pump can not handle boiling temperature.
When the temperatue gets below 80 degrees, I start circulating the wort for the rest of the chill which takes maybe 30min.
When the temperature is around 25-30 degrees I start start pumping to the fermenter. I have two valves after the pump so that ~90% is continually returned to the boiler to maintain the whirlpool, and the remaining 10% is pumped to the fermenter.
When the boiler is almost empty, I cut off the whirlpool to not disturb the trub, and send 100% to the fermenter.

Was that what you asked ?

 

[michael.berta]

Yes, but I don't have a pump. Maybe I should get one. Others seem to have success with them...

 

[Munsoned]

Others will probably rip on my system as a potential for infection, but I use an IC. Cool it down to 70-75, whatever, by stirring the wort around the IC coils with a sanitized spoon. Take the IC out. Move the kettle to my basement. Take another sanitized SS spoon, and give the whole thing a good swirl. Put the lid on and let it settle for 15-20 minutes (while I sanitize the carboy, etc.). Then, I aerate with a small venturi tube as I rack into the carboy.