Whirlpool?

[user 47933]

I’m about to embark into the world of all grain with a Klarstein and I’m seeing hop additions with Whirlpool in some recipes.
I’m not venturing into this straight away but I have no idea what it intails or how it’s achieved
Could someone explain or send my a link to look/ watch please

 

[Agentgonzo]

"whirlpool" is a step that some brewers do once the boil has been completed. You stick a big spoon or paddle into your wort and spin (whirlpool) the wort. This collects all the trub (hop debris etc) into a neat cone in the centre of your brewing kettle as it settles. That way, you can siphon the clear wort off or draw it from the side if you kettle has a tap and leave the crap behind.

The "whirlpool" hop addition is when people add hops at the same time. You do this so that it don't boil the hops for very long and as a result they maintain more of the fruity/floral aromatic flavours and you get less bitterness. It's also called "flameout" addition of 0-minute additions

 

[hoppyscotty]

Very essential for these AIO systems as far as I'm concerned as their false bottoms are usually not particularly effective as they don't fit very well around the edge of the perforated false bottom and let hops and trub past around their edge. By whirlpooling you gather most of it up into the middle of the false bottom and draw off much clearer wort.

When you're ready to transfer then give the wort a good stir and let it settle before starting your transfer and that should gather things up into the centre of the false bottom. If you have a pump you can get a whirlpool going with the pump too. Alternatively you can get a paddle for use with a drill...personally I think this gives too a vigorous whirlpool and is not really necessary to be so aggressive with it...maybe if you have a speed controllable drill you can do it more slowly, but I'd be too worried about hot side aeration by doing such a vigorous whirlpool.

 

[JockyBrewer]

'Whirlpool' is a term from the commercial world. In homebrew terms it means putting hops in after the boil for a few minutes, and optionally stirring it during that time. The exact meaning depends upon the brewer:

• You can put the hops in as soon as you end the boil, or chill to 90C/80C/70C first. Lower temperature produces less bitterness.
• You can do it for 5/10/20/30 minutes. Longer gets more extraction, but again more bitterness.
• You can stir/agitate the wort to increase extraction

There are ways of calculating the IBUs added through this method, but they are wildly inaccurate. Personally I've landed on doing this for 10 minutes at 80C with occasional stirring as it gets the most hop extraction with minimal bitterness added.


The name 'whirlpool' is because at the end of the boil some commercial breweries use a pump to spin the entire contents of their kettle like a whirlpool. This causes all the trub and hops to settle in the middle at the bottom of the kettle, meaning clean wort can go through their chiller. What has this got to do with hops? Well this process takes a while, and the wort stays hot in the whirlpool, so hops you added with 5 minutes to go in the boil might end up actually staying hot for 35 minutes creating more bitterness and reducing hop flavour. Some bright spark realised they could chuck hops in to the whirlpool to reduce the hot time and get more flavour from their hops.

 

[MashBag]

All excellent points, but can I add only that it is not essential (GF false bottom excepted)

 

[hoppyscotty]

All excellent points, but can I add only that it is not essential (GF false bottom excepted)

and BZ false bottom excepted. Yes in theory not necessary if you have an effective filtration system. I also think it is good to run a whirlpool during a hop stand for better hop utilisation. Having the hops in suspension and moving around the wort with every small 'grain' of hop being exposed to wort maximising the surface area in contact with wort is optimal for hop utilisation. One reason I don't like the idea of hop spiders that constrain hops and minimises surface area contact.

 

[MashBag]

Everyone has the own way.

I run the pump during the hopstand with the hops in a spider.

But thats the real point... There is no one way, understand the steps and then apply them how you see fit.

Also know I am a weirdo (be told) for fermenting on trub & break in the mash kettle. No filtering. No chilling, just plenty of chillin'

 

[jof]

You will need to whirlpool in your Maischfest, as you can't fit a bazooka filter on the inside of the tap thread as the malt pipe legs are too short to sit above it.

 

[fluketamer]

my vevor doesnt need whirpooling. my false bottom in combination with my bazooka does just fine. but i still do a little whirpool at the end just because i always have . but defiantely no whirpool arm with recirc pump.

if a recipe called for whirlpool hops i would either do 0 min addition/ hop stand or dry hop or hop tea. instead,. i understand that these may not be the exact same thing.

 

[SMB]

I brew in a Klarstein and have started whirlpooling in my last few brews. As mentioned by others, just get in with a spoon/paddle and stir vigorously in a circular motion for about a minute, then leave the trub to drop. For me this takes 10 to 15 mins.

One thing I would add is to draw off about a half a litre of wort into a jug before starting the transfer to your fermenter. This gets rid of the trub that will have accumulated directly around the tap. Also, keep an eye in the Klarstein as you get close to the bottom. You'll see the "trub cone" in the centre, and a clearing around the tap. As the level of wort gets very low you'll see the trub start to move towards the tap - this is when to close the tap off.

 

[MashBag]

Get a bouncer.