New equipment and Technique questions

[Tom Church]

So it is brew season again for me and this year I am going to be doing things a bit different and I have a few refresher questions...

1) We bought a wort chiller to use. This should go in for the last 5 min of the boil to sanitize right?

2) I want to try to use the whirlpool method to remove trub but this is all new to me...In the past we have just poured the chilled wort through a strainer as it goes into the fermenter but as I am sure you know...this is a real pain in the ass...so we want to try to get as much out of there before that as we can. So my queston is this...do we make the whirlpool with the chiller in there? Before or after? The wirlpool has to sit for a while though right? Then I assume that you siphon it out into the fermenter from the sides of the pot? Am I right in saying that the airation is good at this point because the wort is chilled?

I guess that the other option that we have considered, is buying a pot with a spigot and a false bottom (we need a new pot anyways...).

 

[sonvolt]

To answer your first question - yes, kind of. Throw the wort chiller into the boil to "sanitize" it. You may want to leave it in there longer than 5 minutes, however. When you throw it in, you may lose the boil becuase of the temperature drop. I put my chiller in right after stirring my late boil hop addition - i.e. with 15 minutes left in the boil.

As for the whirlpool method, I have never had any success with it. You will need to whirpool after the boil, however, so doing this with a wort chiller in the boil will not work. You will need to chill the wort, remove the chiller, and start a whirpool with a sanitized spoon.

From what I hear (I've never done it correctly), you have to stir like hell for longer than you think you might in order to get the trub to "set" at the bottom. Not worth it IMO, but those who do it swear by it.

 

[Ol' Grog]

Well, I can tell you that unless you got reasons to believe your wort chiller is really really dirty, just rinse it off and put in the boiling wort for the last ten minutes. Some will want to clean the chiller using vinegar and water, but if it ain't that dirty, then you should be OK. On siphoning the wort, whirlpooling will put the hot and cold break stuff in the middle of the pot which will allow you to siphon from the sides. However, two schools of thought on this, the yeast still need some of that trub and lot of us dump into the primary and just hold back some of the trub with the brew spoon. I'd be more concentrated on leaving the trub behind when racking from primary to secondary.

 

[Tom Church]

ok...I just red an article about why hot trub should be removed...I have heard what you are saying though...maybe I should just leave it...