Whirlpool with immersion chiller

[AzfromOz]

Howdy, my recipe calls for whirlpool hopping, but I put my immersion chiller in the kettle to sanitise it in the last 15 minutes of the boil. I imagine it will be next to impossible to get a whirlpool going with an immersion chiller in there. Does anyone just dump their chiller in a bucket of starsan to get around this or am I missing something obvious?

Cheers

 

[AzfromOz]

Edit: my "whirlpool" is achieved by vigorous stirring...

Cheers

 

[damoninja]

I whirlpool with my chiller in. It's not an insane whirlpool but it gets the job done.

What's the concern you have?

I drop mine in at 15 mins but and also run the pump for 10 minutes hot side to nuke nasties, at flame out if there's call for hops I drop temp to ~75C and leave the pump running with no water for some time while it gets its hop on, then turn water back on and finish.

 

[mtb]

I'm in the same boat as damoninja, the pump does well for creating a whirlpool and I find that if you allow the hose to lightly splash into the wort you'll also oxygenate it (just be careful to avoid this above ~80C if you're worried about hot side aeration).

On another note - whirlpool hopping at 15min isn't something I'm very familiar with, the whirlpool occurs at/after the end of the boil I thought, in order to create a centrifuge and direct trub/hop matter to the middle of the kettle. Removing your immersion chiller after creating such a whirlpool would probably disturb that little pile anyway.

 

[AzfromOz]

Thank you both for your replies. I probably wasn't clear enough in my original message so let me expand...

I want to do a whirlpool hop addition after the boil. I have no pumps so the whirlpool will be achieved by vigorous stirring. I then need to chill the wort, for which I will use an immersion chiller. I would normally sanitise it by placing it in the boil with 15 minutes to go. Doing that, however, would make it pretty hard to achieve a whirlpool by stirring as, I assume, the chiller will get in the way.

My plan to get around that would just be to dump the chiller in a bucket of starsan, and I'm wondering if anyone does that as a matter of course.

Really should have typed this first time!

Cheers

 

[TwoCrows]

You could .

Boil immersion chiller for 15 mins, cool wort to whirlpool temp for addition of hops.

Whirl it up add hops.

10 mins or so.

Add immersion chiller ot cool to fermenter temp.

Whirl it up and rest to settle trub for 10 mins .

Put in fermenter.

Does this sounds ok.

 

[damoninja]

my "whirlpool" is achieved by vigorous stirring...

Before I used to have a pump I'd do the same, the chiller didn't get in the way. In fact chilling in still water is going to be far less effective since you want to be getting as much hot wort in contact with as much cold metal as possible, if still it will still "radiate" heat but the exchange rate will drop significantly as what's in contact with the chiller has already cooled.

Not unlike why burns should be treated with running water, not still.

Sounds like you want to have a nice trub cone form without interference from the chiller, so to whirlpool without the chiller in the way here's what I'd personally do without a pump:

1. Drop chiller in @ 15 min
2. At flame out, drop hop.
3. Turn on water, start stirring, stop at ~78-80C (you will lose a few more degrees to water in the chiller)
4. Wait X minutes
5. Turn water on, stir your tits off until chilled
6. Remove chiller, give one last big stir, wait for trub to settle
7. Collect final wort

 

[Dan Pratt]

Don't bother with a bucket of starsan, just a clean bucket will do fine.

At the end of the boil remove the IC and place into said clean bucket.

Add hops and do whirlpool, when finished add the IC back and it wil still be about 90c + so the wort will sterilize anything that may of attached itself to the IC.

Chill wort as required.

If you want flavour and aroma from the WP additions without getting increased bitterness, do as mentioned by others and drop the temp down to <80c at the end of the boil. Adding hops at those temps wont isomerize, but the oils will be left in the wort for that flavour/aroma.

 

[Danscraftbeer]

I'm now using a stainless steel T bar in a drill to get whirlpool with the chiller in there. I thought the immersion chillers were designed to do that. Before that I just stirred vigorously inside the coil with a long spoon. Or literally used the chiller itself to stir/whirl.

 

[Matplat]

I'm not sure that it is actually necessary to be whirlpooling for a whirlpool hop addition. It simply defines the wort contact time with the hops at boiling temps.

Therefore I think you could add hops when you're chilling, follow your normal chilling procedure. Then whirlpool for your trub cone after chilling is complete and your chiller is out of the way.

 

[damoninja]

I'm not sure that it is actually necessary to be whirlpooling for a whirlpool hop addition. It simply defines the wort contact time with the hops at boiling temps.

It does stop them just hanging about on the top of the wort

 

[AzfromOz]

Thanks, everyone, for the great advice!

Cheers