Solution To Whirlpool Problem

[Truman42]

I had yet another unsuccesful whirlpool at the end of my brew on Saturday, and this time I waited 20 mins for the convection currents to settle and then whirlpooled.
Hot break everywhere getting drawn straight into my cube. I know a little is okay but Im getting quite a lot.



Anyway I was talking to my dad and he said its most probably the exposed element thats not allowing a vortex to form when I whirlpool and thats why Im getting trub spread out everywhere.
So my solution is to mash, sparge and boil in my urn, then transfer to my pot at end of boil and whirlpool in that before draining to my cube.
I cant boil in my pot because I have an invection cooktop and the pots alumimium..(That and the missus has put a ban on brewing in the kitchen due to the smell in the house) and I dont want to go out and buy a gas burner just yet.

So is there anything I need to consider when doing this? I assume the hot wort will sanitise the pot so shouldn't have any issues there.

Or option two is to get a false bottom made up that completely covers the element. Has any other exposed element BIAbers done this and had success with a nice cone of trub at end of whirlpool? Thanks in advance.

 

[Fish13]

i sm going to using hop socks now to try to reduce my trub also. i had the issue on my first ag which killed my O.G.

I'm keen to get some answers too

 

[QldKev]

I don't have an internal element, but I can see what your dad is saying.

Couple of tips I found
- Don't bring the wort up to the boil too fast. Not sure why this helps but it seems to make a difference.
- If you are using a lid, do not remove it prior to draining.
- Have a slight tilt away from the tap, so when the cone falls over it isn't drawn into the tap as much
- Make a batch a liter or two bigger and leave the last 1 (or 2) liter(s) behind. If you want this could be drained for starters etc.
- Hop Socks, although there often is arguments where ever or not they effect the hopiness of it

QldKev

 

[Jace89]

I boil in my urn, once the boil is done I turn the thermostat down to 85/90 and whirlpool for about 10mins or in till my arms cant move.
I start to run off into my cube and make sure I don't knock this cube or move it etc, I always get a nice cone of trub etc and the bottom.
I also use a hop sock so that is helping with reducing all my trub etc.

Another option would be to just get one of the hop screen things that CB have...its like under $20 I think.

 

[MarkBastard]

I remember worrying about this for a while, and then realised that the actual hot break was indeed in a cone like shape sitting directly on top of my concealed element on my crown urn. All of the other shit floating around was just hop particles. I've never been able to get a Hops + Break cone going.

 

[sama]

i just make 2 litres extra,23litres of wort,21 litres into ferm(19l in the keg once filtered and transfered)once the chillers been in for 15min all the break settles and the lighter clean wort drains off leaving all the break behind in the 2litres i chuck out.i came to the conclusion that 2litres extra factored in to my recipe is worth the fuk#n around with whirlpooling.

 

[Truman42]

I dont usually use hop socks but did for this brew, all except the post boil addition. I tried out my new inline filter but it kept getting blocked within 20 seconds or so and ended up having to take it out of the line.
The problem with leaving two litres behind is I will only end up with around 12 litres or so and want to get as much wort as possible.

@ Jace...Ive oly ever stirred for a minute or two. So you keep stirring as you drain???

 

[Truman42]

i just make 2 litres extra,23litres of wort,21 litres into ferm(19l in the keg once filtered and transfered)once the chillers been in for 15min all the break settles and the lighter clean wort drains off leaving all the break behind in the 2litres i chuck out.

Would do that if my urn was bigger, but its only 20 litres. I want to at last get close to 2 cartons of beer in each brew I do, otherwise its a lot of effort for very little gain. Unfortunately it all goes far too quick. it takes more than a month from start to finish and by the time you bring samples to work for people to try, mates calling over wanting a drink, family etc, its all gone in less than a month.

 

[Malted]

50L Braumeister has two exposed elements in it - whirlpooling isn't a problem in them.

Simple logic maybe? I get a higher proportion of trub if my crush is too fine, lots of flour equals lots of trub.

 

[sama]

Early days of working out my volumes and needing every drop of wort,id sit a clean sanitised sieve in the opening of my ferm(found one that fit perfect in a $2 shop)and drain through that.most of the pulp would catch in that,towards the end itd be trickling clear wort through it.

 

[pimpsqueak]

What kettle finings are you using Truman?
I used Brewbrite for the 1st time on Sunday and compared to every other brew I have done, the results were in-*******-credible.
With whirfloc I had very similar results to you and as a result, I upped my target final volume to 25L to compensate. Now with Brewbrite it looks like I may be able to drop it back to bang on 23L.

 

[.DJ.]

is it that much of a problem if you cube?

Any trub/break you drain from your Urn/kettle with drop to the bottom in the cube... Just pour it carefully from there??

 

[Nick JD]

I find that with koppafloc I get a hotbreak so "chunky" that when I pour the kettle (I lift the thing and decant off the clear wort when it's cooled) into the fermenter I can literally "drain" the clear wort around the break material (I use hop socks).

Truman? Have you considered just pouring most of the hotbreak into the cube, and then decanting off when you transfer to the fermenter? I get no ill effects from cooling on the hotbreak.

 

[jyo]

Assuming you use whirlfloc, what time are you adding it? 7-10 mins seems to be the magic number for me.

 

[loikar]

Whirlpool it after the boil, and really get that thing spinning.
Walk away for 10-15min and have a pint.
come back and just crack your tap open so it's a 1/4 open and let it drain into your cube.
adjust the tap by checking the clarity of the wort. If you see lots of floaties, turn it back and vice verse
when you start seeing the trub at the bottom you can adjust the tap accordingly by sight..

That being said, I wouldn't worry about trub in you fermenter.
Some of the best brewers I know dump the whole kettle into the fermenter, trub and all.
It'll settle out and your beer will be fine.

BF

 

[Nick JD]

That being said, I wouldn't worry about trub in you fermenter.
Some of the best brewers I know dump the whole kettle into the fermenter, trub and all.

I think it'd be a good idea to split a batch in half with the second half getting the full load of hotbreak - and then blind tasting the two.

Be interesting if they were different. More interesting if they aren't.

 

[jyo]

Whirlpool it after the boil, and really get that thing spinning.
Walk away for 10-15min and have a pint.
BF

BF, after 15 minutes I still have shit rising all over the place in my kettle from the convections, be it 23 or 46 litre batch. I can't see how whirlpooling straight away after the boil while there are still convections throwing particles everywhere would work? I don't see the need to rush this part of the process. Not being a smartarse.
2c

 

[black_labb]

I've been running all my wort into the cube without whirlpooling. My view is that it will all settle out in the cube alot better than it would in the kettle over the next few days. I've heard people suggest that shouldn't be done that way for a few reasons, but I havent noticed any issues. over 20ish brews.

I feel that anything that you are trying to keep out of the cube will get in in smaller quantities with a whirlpool, but the way it settles out it will end up being the same quantities left dissolved or in suspension in the cube.

 

[black_labb]

I think it'd be a good idea to split a batch in half with the second half getting the full load of hotbreak - and then blind tasting the two.

Be interesting if they were different. More interesting if they aren't.

Have a read of this thread

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=46800


From memory the beer with the trub ended up almost the same but a slightly sharper flavour. The theory was that that beer had the hop solids in there.

 

[Steve@PMF82]

Like others have alluded to, simple solution to get more wort - sanitized colander, sanitized voile or bag filter remaining wort trub through that, will it get all the hot break, no but it will get the majority.
Is it best practice? prob not..but the only thing that matters is will you be able to tell the difference in the final product?