Whirlpooling with heating coil in boil kettle?

[225]

I'm currently building a electric system with 20 gallon Blichmann kettles and 5500w ripple elements. And I would like to add the Brewhardware.com whirlpool port.

Is whirlpooling still possible with the element in the way?

I was thinking that if it was, moving the wort back to the mash tun to whirlpool there?

I'm new to brewing, btw.

Thanks!

 

[d3track]

Hasn't caused any problems for me. I think whirlpooling with the ripple elements is fairly common here.

 

[day_trippr]

What is the "HLT" in this system actually doing if it doesn't also have an element?

Cheers!

 

[225]

Hasn't caused any problems for me. I think whirlpooling with the ripple elements is fairly common here.

Awesome, thanks!

You start the whirlpooling after flameout and then just let it rest a little bit before running it through your chiller?

What is the "HLT" in this system actually doing if it doesn't also have an element?

Cheers!

Sorry, I was meaning mash tun. I fixed it lol.

 

[micraftbeer]

I whirlpool with this setup. I recirculate through counter chiller for a few minutes (with a "dash" if coming water as needed) and then back in through whirlpool fitting in the kettle, all while monitoring temperature in kettle. I then turn on controller in this mode to maintain temperature and whrlpool at fixed temperature. Hops collect in the center just fine.

 

[gavinr]

I whirlpool with this setup. I recirculate through counter chiller for a few minutes (with a "dash" if coming water as needed) and then back in through whirlpool fitting in the kettle, all while monitoring temperature in kettle. I then turn on controller in this mode to maintain temperature and whrlpool at fixed temperature. Hops collect in the center just fine.

micraftbeer, I have the same setup as you, but found that the counterflow chiller slows my whirlpool down. So I added a 3-way valve to the CFC input , and a tee to the output. After my groundwater has brought the temp down, I now bypass the CFC and continue to whirlpool for 10 min. This gives me a much better trub cone after waiting 10-15 minutes to settle. I then switch back to the CFC if I need to cool further directly into the fermenter, using a submersible pump in ice water.

 

[micraftbeer]

found that the counterflow chiller slows my whirlpool down.

I have a couple different wort pumps. I found that only my Blichmann Riptide had enough oomph to recirculate through chiller and get good hop mountain in center of my kettle. I was trying to use another pump that I use for mash RIMS (has better flow control than Riptide), but I couldn't get a decent whirlpool in the kettle.

 

[postalbunny]

I've found that elements don't really get in the way... particles will settle out in the center without any issues.

Here's an IPA in a 20g spike pot with two elements "in the way".

 

[225]

Thanks for the replies. I'm following Kal's (theelectricbrewery.com) instructions for the kettles. I have 3 20 gallon Blichmann's.

I made only 2 changes. The first being the water intake on the HLT. He uses a 90 and a 1/2" compression fitting and a piece of tubing.

I used a brewhardware.com whirlpool port. I was originally going to use it as a whirlpool port on the boil kettle, but i liked it so much, I wanted to use another one for the water input.

Inside the HLT:

Mash tun:

And boil kettle. The port isn't shown, but it's a couple inches above the element. The port just came in today.