5 replies to this topic

[mikebrad]

Can someone explain this concept (purpose, technique, etc...) to me?

[davelew]

Can someone explain this concept (purpose, technique, etc...) to me?

Some people like to keep the gunk from their boil kettle out of their fermenter. One method to do that is whirlpooling. Basically, whirlpooling means you stir (or pump) the wort in the boil kettle so that it spins rapidly. Any particles suspended in the wort will tend to go to the middle of the boil kettle. If you drain very carefully, you'll leave a little cone of hop particles, hot break, and cold break material. If you have a drain that points at the center of your boil kettle, you'll need to put an elbow in it otherwise you'll disturb the cone and just suck everything into your fermenter. Many whirlppolers siphon from the BK, instead of using a drain.I don't whirlpool. There are some award-winning brewers who don't whirlpool, and just dump the entire contents of their boil kettle into the fermenter (or even ferment in the boil kettle). The side-by-side taste tests that I've seen have all been ambiguous at best about whether or not to keep trub out of the fermenter.

[mikebrad]

I see. I suppose that could have come in handy when I went to a therminator. I decided on hop bags instead. I just let the break go right on through.

[HVB]

I whirlpool but not for the reason to have the trub in the center. I will whirpool back out of my CFC into the boil kettle so that I can chill the mass of the wort down to about 140 in a faster timeframe. Once it reaches 140 I go right to the fermenter. I used to just do this with an IM until it started to leak. Here is some reading on whirlpooling https://www.mrmalty.com/chiller.php

[ChefLamont]

Other benefits are much better efficiency of immersion chillers and the agitation of the wort should increase the extraction of flavor and aroma goodies form the flameout hops.

[Stout_fan]

Yea, I would think that slamming that wort down quick would retain more of the volatiles.