Whirpool Setup Help

[shandy]

Hi All,

Recently reconfigured the brewery with a bigger kettle, march pump, bigger immersion chiller and put it all together ala Jamil's whirlpool chiller to try and improve cooling times and to generally move towards a more automated setup. Not quite a HERMS yet, but it's getting there.

Everything works just fine but I'm seeking some advice on fine tuning and best practice for getting the most out of it. I've done a couple of brews and the cooling is definitely improved however I've yet to experience the cone of trub in the centre and the lovely clear wort run off from my pick up tube. I don't have any pics to hand which is a bit of a shame but to explain, my pick up tube is half inch copper bent back round to the edge of the keggle and sits high enough to leave about 2 litres in the bottom of the vessel. Saturday was the best result so far when I ran the whirlpool at about half full speed and then left everything to settle for about half an hour (is that long enough?). There was a definite congregation of trub and hop material in the centre but I wasn't able to run off a fermenter full of clear wort. It was cloudy as the recirculated wort left in the lines came out of course, then it ran pretty clear for a good while (slowly of course) but with about 10 litres left it started to pull mud. Looking into the keggle I could see that a great deal of the break etc was in the centre but LOTS of it was floating in the remaining wort and was trickling into the fermenter.

I'm brewing again on Wednesday and I'd like to get a better solution in place. I'm thinking a filter of some sort on the pick up tube might be the go and I can sacrifice an old grain bag to get some fine material to fit over it but any advice you guys have can be trialled out too. I'm guessing a combination of whirlpool speed and settling time will improve things but I'm sure there's other tips.

Cheers


Shandy

 

[Pumpy]

Hopstoppa is the way to go

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...=19851&st=0

Pumpy

 

[Mitchell]

What type of hops are your using (pellets, plugs, whole?) and do you have a pic of your chiller rig and kettle?

I use pellets and manual whirlpool for a couple of mins (fast enough to generates a vortex but I try to not to suck air in) with a ~5-10 min rest. This gets me a nice trub cone and clear wort all the way to the last few drops.

I'd expect the Jamil number to be at least as good as a manual stir... if your using pellets I'm thinking either the whirl is not adequate or there is something inside your kettle creating enough turbulence to stop a nice cone forming.

 

[shandy]

What type of hops are your using (pellets, plugs, whole?) and do you have a pic of your chiller rig and kettle?

I'm using pellets and, no, I don't have a picture.

I use pellets and manual whirlpool for a couple of mins (fast enough to generates a vortex but I try to not to suck air in) with a ~5-10 min rest. This gets me a nice trub cone and clear wort all the way to the last few drops.

I'd expect the Jamil number to be at least as good as a manual stir... if your using pellets I'm thinking either the whirl is not adequate or there is something inside your kettle creating enough turbulence to stop a nice cone forming.

Don't see any turbulence. Everything goes round the outside nicely. Like I said though I do get a cone of sorts in the middle but not everything was there. If I was to mimic your method though, I'd start the whirlpool fairly fast and gradually slow it to a stop. Perhaps that's key to getting a good cone?

 

[shandy]

Hopstoppa is the way to go

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...=19851&st=0

Pumpy

I like the look of that a lot. Minimum losses to the kettle and clear wort. Perfect. I rarely use flowers in the kettle though but I can't really see why there would be a problem with pellets. In fact sucking the wort through a nice big build up of pellets might pull more from the last addition. hmmm

 

[shandy]

Hopstoppa is the way to go

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...=19851&st=0

Pumpy

What kind of false bottom is that Pumpy? Is it the the more beer one that grain and grape and craftbrewer sells? I noticed they have a 3/8 hosetail on them. If it has a hosetail how did you fit it up to your outlet?

 

[Doogiechap]

What kind of false bottom is that Pumpy? Is it the the more beer one that grain and grape and craftbrewer sells? I noticed they have a 3/8 hosetail on them. If it has a hosetail how did you fit it up to your outlet?

He has done what I did being replacing the hosetail with a 90 elbow and compression fitting (except Pumpy must have more money than me as I used brass and he used SS :lol: ) I priced a 90 SS compression fitting at $90 and that was mates rates !! The false bottom has a hole ready to accept a 1/2" BSP thread.
Cheers
Doug

 

[shandy]

He has done what I did being replacing the hosetail with a 90 elbow and compression fitting (except Pumpy must have more money than me as I used brass and he used SS :lol: ) I priced a 90 SS compression fitting at $90 and that was mates rates !! The false bottom has a hole ready to accept a 1/2" BSP thread.
Cheers
Doug

Yup, would be brass for me too

So is it the FB I see at Craft Brewer and Grain & Grape? I'm not sure if there are many others available or from where but I'd want to make sure the one I get has the smallest diameter perforations.