Whirlpool & Plate Chiller

[Crusty]

Hi guys,
I am adding a whirlpool inlet to my boil kettle & wondering if you guys can explain your methods to whirlpooling either before wort chilling or after. I was looking at whirlpooling directly after the boil as I am cooling the wort down but wouldn't I end up with heaps of loose hops entering the plate chiller?
How do you guys do it?

Crusty

edit: I am not going to use an immersion chiller.

 

[Sammus]

I whirlpool after boil for 5-10mins then chill through the plate chiller into the fermenter. yeah some shit makes it in, but it's no biggy.

 

[fcmcg]

I whirlpool after boil for 5-10mins then chill through the plate chiller into the fermenter. yeah some shit makes it in, but it's no biggy.

i Second that...

 

[razz]

I use hop pellets in a bag crusty. If they get into a plate chiller they will block it up. As for the rest of your idea, go for it. I pump hot wort through the plate chiller and back into the top of the kettle through a s/s tube that whirlpools the wort.

 

[Screwtop]

Use a hop sock here too. I pump via the plate chiller (no water flow) for the last 15 min of the boil to sterilise the chiller (double kill as caustic is pumped through everything prior to brewing then flushed with clean water) then at flame out the water is turned on and whirlpooling continues for 20 min before diverting flow to the fermenter and backing off the pump flowrate for maximum chilling.


Screwy

Some pics of the kettle and return manifold for whirlpooling. Note: I don't bother with a pickup any longer, was drawing from the edge of the kettle, anyway. Trub stays in the centre after whirlpooling.

 

[Wolfy]

razz and Screwtop why do you pump the wort through the chiller (after the water has been turned on) and back into the kettle? Does it not cool enough in 1 pass or am I missing something else?

 

[razz]

I do it to get a faster temp drop for the total boil volume, that is, the 50 lts sitting in the kettle hits 70 degrees in about three minutes versus having only the wort passing through the plate chiller hitting 20-25 degrees into the fermenter.

 

[Crusty]

Use a hop sock here too. I pump via the plate chiller (no water flow) for the last 15 min of the boil to sterilise the chiller (double kill as caustic is pumped through everything prior to brewing then flushed with clean water) then at flame out the water is turned on and whirlpooling continues for 20 min before diverting flow to the fermenter and backing off the pump flowrate for maximum chilling.


Screwy

Some pics of the kettle and return manifold for whirlpooling. Note: I don't bother with a pickup any longer, was drawing from the edge of the kettle, anyway. Trub stays in the centre after whirlpooling.

View attachment 40277 View attachment 40278

Awesome setup Screwy.
So around 15 mins left in the boil, run the still boiling wort through the plate chiller, no cooling water flow & begin whirlpooling?
After flameout, continue as is & whirlpool for 15 mins or so & then do a single pass through the plate chiller, slowly, & then into the fermenter?

Thanks to everyone too for your input.

Crusty

 

[kevin_smevin]

You should whirlpool for about 10 minutes as soon as the boil finishes. Then you should let the wort settle in the kettle for another 10 minutes - this helps the trub/hop cone form. i Use a hop stopper as well. If you dont have one of them you should use a hop bag. You can recirc boiling water from you hot liquor tank through your chiller for 15 minutes before the end of the boil to make sure it clean and bug free.

 

[Screwtop]

razz and Screwtop why do you pump the wort through the chiller (after the water has been turned on) and back into the kettle? Does it not cool enough in 1 pass or am I missing something else?

After flameout wort needs to be whirlpooled for the required time to form a cone of break material and trub in the centre of the kettle bottom. This also drops the temp of the bulk wort in the kettle, I want this for two reasons.

Occasionally recipes for UK Bitters call for steeping hops, these are added when the wort cools to 80C. In this case water to the chiller is turned off but whirlpooling continues for the required steeping time.

Chilling is more effective once the temp of wort in the kettle is reduced.

I do it to get a faster temp drop for the total boil volume, that is, the 50 lts sitting in the kettle hits 70 degrees in about three minutes versus having only the wort passing through the plate chiller hitting 20-25 degrees into the fermenter.

You should whirlpool for about 10 minutes as soon as the boil finishes. Then you should let the wort settle in the kettle for another 10 minutes - this helps the trub/hop cone form. i Use a hop stopper as well. If you dont have one of them you should use a hop bag. You can recirc boiling water from you hot liquor tank through your chiller for 15 minutes before the end of the boil to make sure it clean and bug free.

A good whirlpool takes a good 15 - 20 in my kettle setup. I use hot wort to sterilise the chiller the same as some breweries do. Plus it's easy, hook up during the boil. 15 min to go pop the whirlflock tablet in and start the pump. Flameout, off with the gas in with flameout hops and on with the chilling water.

Screwy

 

[Damian44]

Hey. Im looking to pump my chilled wort back into the kettle also. Unfortunately ill be using a hose (silicone) to deliver it back to the kettle. Is their any tricks to this? Should i position the hose outlet at the bottom of the kettle or the top. Either way I'm going to disturb the trub i guess.

 

[amiddler]

While sanitizing my plate chiller yesterday (15min recirc back into kettle) I put the returning wort into my hop sock. I dont have any nice copper pipe set up just a silicon hose. Resulted in half of the trub getting pulled out with the hop sock and a very small trub cone. After 15mins of cooling no whirlpooling was required as the left over trub never got close to my outlet. Also picked up an extra .5-1 Liter of wort out of the kettle.

Drew

 

[Cannibal Smurf]

While sanitizing my plate chiller yesterday (15min recirc back into kettle) I put the returning wort into my hop sock. blah blah. Resulted in half of the trub getting pulled out with the hop sock and a very small trub cone. After 15mins of cooling no whirlpooling was required as the left over trub never got close to my outlet. Also picked up an extra .5-1 Liter of wort out of the kettle.

Drew

I've actually contemplated this before...glad to hear it works.
Anyone else ever tried this?

 

[razz]

Yep, I have. But the wort usually flows over the top of the hopsock.

 

[argon]

Bumping for any recirc chillers. Trying to get mine sorted after inaugural run over the weekend was less than ideal.

Some pics of the kettle and return manifold for whirlpooling. Note: I don't bother with a pickup any longer, was drawing from the edge of the kettle, anyway. Trub stays in the centre after whirlpooling.

View attachment 40277 View attachment 40278

Screwy et al, any reason you return the wort to the kettle high then drop to the base?

Would have thought penetrating the kettle adjacent the base would be a bit better if returning to bottom?

Also any chance that when the cooled wort returns to the kettle at the bottom it would then immediately go out the outlet or just that the hot wrt would stay above the cooled? eg stratification. Would have thought returning it at the surface would be more efficient. ie allowing the cooled wort to flow down through the hot wort before being picked up again.