Is whirpooling worth it when...

Rusty Shacklefood

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... your boil kettle doesn't have a spigot/siphon tap? I boil mine in a big cooking pan so I end up pouring the cooled wort into the fermenting vessel.
Thanks
 
... your boil kettle doesn't have a spigot/siphon tap? I boil mine in a big cooking pan so I end up pouring the cooled wort into the fermenting vessel.
Thanks
Nope. Can't see any benefit to the whir pooling part. Just add the hops a d stir it in.
 
It could be of use if you use an autosiphon but pouring the contents negates the "clearing" function of the actual whirlpool. Stirring the contents of the boil pot while it's cooling definitely speeds up the process and if there are hops in there, it increases the contact action. If you're using a hop bag like most of us, the actual whirlpool thing is less useful overall. I don't do it for hops but I whirlpool every batch (actually pumping out of the pot and back in) to speed up the chilling process. Huge difference between running the pump and not.
 
I should have mentioned that I'm doing it for a clearer beer, not the hopping, as I use hop bags.
 
I should have mentioned that I'm doing it for a clearer beer, not the hopping, as I use hop bags.
It shouldnt make it clearer bc you said you are just pouring your beer into your fermenter. So anything your beer would have settled out (loose hops and proteins) will be all mixed up again. All whirlpooling will do for you is speed up your cooling. If you want clearer beer maybe pour it into your fermenter through some sanitized cheese cloth. And also the usual like irish moss or whirfloc tablets, cold crashing before bottling or kegging. using a syphon to transfer to your fermenter. and lastly gelatin which i have never used yet. Cheers and good luck
 
I agree just because the wort looks dirty or hazy going into fermentor doesn't mean your beer is going to look the same.
 
Now that I'm using a pump instead of muscle power and can do a proper whirlpool, I'm testing to see what works better. Up to now, I've been a "dumper", everything went into the fermentor. If I start to see a difference, I'll report it back.
 
a whirlpool works great for me but only if used properly, it does nothing at all if whirlpooling too short of time and too hot of temps, you need cooler temps for hops utilization and at least 20 minutes continuous whirlpool, for coning up hops and trub that does work fine but only if you let it set for 20 to 30 minutes after and no movement from that point on so time is a factor for some, this generally takes an hour extra for me, I personally use it in place of dry hoping but at the same time I don't go crazy trying to filter all hop matter out of the fermenter so in a sense some dry hopping is happening
 
Up to now, I've been a "dumper", everything went into the fermentor. If I start to see a difference, I'll report it back.
Even though I'm whirlpooling (where applicable for style) and pumping out, I'm pulling through a dip tube on the ball valve that goes right to the bottom of the pot and end up leaving very little in the pot at the end of transfer. Since I use a hop bag most of what's there is protein break. I have no problem with petting it all in the fermenter, but there's always a pretty thick layer of it left in the pint or so that stays in the pot.
Since protein is the first thing to drop out, I could do a drop from the conical and clear it all out, but I don't bother. I let it all percolate and just toss the first drop when I go to harvest yeast. It usually runs a pint or so of hop sludge and protein before I get to good yeast slurry.
 
I combine the Whirlpool & Wort Cooling. Instead of circulating the Ice Water in a coil inside the Kettle, I circulate the almost boiling Wort inside the coil submerged in Ice Water in a tank.
I'm pulling off the bottom of the Kettle through the Pump into the coil in a 25 gallon Galvanized Tub. A couple of 12 lb Sacks of Ice provide the cooling. the returning Wort goes into a dip tube to the bottom of the Kettle. I squeezed the tube to 1/16" opening & curved it to run along the bottom of the Kettle.
The water moves pretty fast & cools faster than it did when I had the Ice Water circulating in the hot Wort. I also leave the lid on with Steeping/Whirlpool Hops dangling in Hop Bags. I hang the Hop Bags around the inside rim of the Kettle in the circulating flow leaving the center open for the settling.
I don't have a lot of solids in the Kettle after moving the Wort to the Fermenter. Mostly a kind of fine sandy drop out.
 

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