Grannyknot
Well-Known Member
Last Friday I attempted my first pump driven whirlpool & recirculation.
My set-up is pretty simple. Kettle -> Chugger Pump -> Duda Diesel Plate Chiller -> back to Kettle or fermenter.
Everything was going well. With about 5 minutes left in the boil, I started circulating the hot wort to sanitize the plumbing. Got a pretty decent whirlpool going. Cut the burner off, and turned the water on. Rapidly chilled to 180 in about 30 seconds. Turned the water off. Added my whirlpool hops. Let the whirlpool sit at 180ish for about 15 minutes. Turned the water back on to bring down to pitching temps. Then the problems started. A massive amount of cold break was being generated, which didn't really settle to the bottom like the hops & hot break did. Instead it stayed suspended during the whirlpool and got picked up & recirculated, which eventually clogged the plate chiller, brought the recirculation to a near trickle, & stopped the whirlpool, which made me loose the cone at the bottom of the kettle. From there, it took a very long time to chill to pitching temps.
A friend suggested a false bottom in the kettle, but I have a hard time believing a false bottom wouldn't have been clogged by all the hops & break. And on top of that, I see kettle set ups all the time that have a whirlpool function yet don't use a false bottom.
Have I done something wrong in my process, or is this the reason people use counterflow chillers?
Here is my pick up...
My set-up is pretty simple. Kettle -> Chugger Pump -> Duda Diesel Plate Chiller -> back to Kettle or fermenter.
Everything was going well. With about 5 minutes left in the boil, I started circulating the hot wort to sanitize the plumbing. Got a pretty decent whirlpool going. Cut the burner off, and turned the water on. Rapidly chilled to 180 in about 30 seconds. Turned the water off. Added my whirlpool hops. Let the whirlpool sit at 180ish for about 15 minutes. Turned the water back on to bring down to pitching temps. Then the problems started. A massive amount of cold break was being generated, which didn't really settle to the bottom like the hops & hot break did. Instead it stayed suspended during the whirlpool and got picked up & recirculated, which eventually clogged the plate chiller, brought the recirculation to a near trickle, & stopped the whirlpool, which made me loose the cone at the bottom of the kettle. From there, it took a very long time to chill to pitching temps.
A friend suggested a false bottom in the kettle, but I have a hard time believing a false bottom wouldn't have been clogged by all the hops & break. And on top of that, I see kettle set ups all the time that have a whirlpool function yet don't use a false bottom.
Have I done something wrong in my process, or is this the reason people use counterflow chillers?
Here is my pick up...