LarMoeCur
Well-Known Member
I've made a few changes to my brewery. I just switch over from a hop blocker center dip tube which I ran through a counter-flow chiller. It worked great at blocking hop material and I wasn't worried about cold break in my ales.
I did a few lagers last year and they turned out OK but not great. Well, I thought that changing over to a side pickup tube, added a whirlpool arm, and dusting off my old (very old 1997 vintage) immersion chill would help reduce the cold break material entering the fermenter. Which would hope fully yield a better beer.
My brewery is a 20g three kettle EHERMS. I used the HERMS coil as a pre-chiller by filling the HLT with ice water. I run my cooling water through the HLT HERMS coil then into the immersion chiller. I must say I should have done this years ago. I live in South Texas and my ground water is at best 75 degrees. I did a batch yesterday and cooled 13 gallons of wort down in less than 10 minutes. It helps when my water is 40 degrees leaving the HERMS coil.
That's the good news now the troubles. I ran the whirlpool with the immersion chiller in place. Which didn't really whirlpool just kind of moved the hot wort around helping with the chilling. When the temperature hit 70 degrees, I pulled the chiller out. The chugger pump was already running at full throttle. I was thinking it would really whirlpool now with the chiller out. Well, I was wrong. It just kind of swirled, I moved the whirlpool arm to see if I could find the sweet spot. No luck. So, I let it swirl for another minute or two and then let it come to a complete stop. I split the 13 gallons in two 7.5g glass carboys. The first 6 gallons was perfect! Clear as can be! Well, the second 6 gallons started off clear but as I got closer to the bottom. I picked up a ton of hops and cold break material.
Now here's the trouble shooting part.
1. Do you side tubers just plan for more loss in the boil kettle? I planned for about a gallon of loss but because of the hops and break material. I lost more than two gallons. What do ya'll do?
2. How big is your whirlpool to channel the break material to the center? My hops and cold break was pretty evenly along the bottom. I didn't see a cone in the center. Which has me thinking that I can't create sufficient whirlpool action with my chugger pump.
3. Would it help to put a screen on the side tube? I think my heating element maybe breaking up my whirlpool now adding a screen over the tube would break it up even more. In looking at setups I don't see many with screens.
I can't wait to taste the two different carboys. Just to see if there is a difference in the beers because of the hops/break material. I believe number one is the answer just plan for more lost material in the kettle to keep the side tube clear of the junk.
I did a few lagers last year and they turned out OK but not great. Well, I thought that changing over to a side pickup tube, added a whirlpool arm, and dusting off my old (very old 1997 vintage) immersion chill would help reduce the cold break material entering the fermenter. Which would hope fully yield a better beer.
My brewery is a 20g three kettle EHERMS. I used the HERMS coil as a pre-chiller by filling the HLT with ice water. I run my cooling water through the HLT HERMS coil then into the immersion chiller. I must say I should have done this years ago. I live in South Texas and my ground water is at best 75 degrees. I did a batch yesterday and cooled 13 gallons of wort down in less than 10 minutes. It helps when my water is 40 degrees leaving the HERMS coil.
That's the good news now the troubles. I ran the whirlpool with the immersion chiller in place. Which didn't really whirlpool just kind of moved the hot wort around helping with the chilling. When the temperature hit 70 degrees, I pulled the chiller out. The chugger pump was already running at full throttle. I was thinking it would really whirlpool now with the chiller out. Well, I was wrong. It just kind of swirled, I moved the whirlpool arm to see if I could find the sweet spot. No luck. So, I let it swirl for another minute or two and then let it come to a complete stop. I split the 13 gallons in two 7.5g glass carboys. The first 6 gallons was perfect! Clear as can be! Well, the second 6 gallons started off clear but as I got closer to the bottom. I picked up a ton of hops and cold break material.
Now here's the trouble shooting part.
1. Do you side tubers just plan for more loss in the boil kettle? I planned for about a gallon of loss but because of the hops and break material. I lost more than two gallons. What do ya'll do?
2. How big is your whirlpool to channel the break material to the center? My hops and cold break was pretty evenly along the bottom. I didn't see a cone in the center. Which has me thinking that I can't create sufficient whirlpool action with my chugger pump.
3. Would it help to put a screen on the side tube? I think my heating element maybe breaking up my whirlpool now adding a screen over the tube would break it up even more. In looking at setups I don't see many with screens.
I can't wait to taste the two different carboys. Just to see if there is a difference in the beers because of the hops/break material. I believe number one is the answer just plan for more lost material in the kettle to keep the side tube clear of the junk.
