Working whirlpool design

[imark]

Has anybody successfully built a kettle that they use to whirlpool in? Specifically, can it be used as a means of making a cone of hops and break material?

If you have, can you post pictures/video please. I've heard lots of talk of it being difficult to achieve in a home build so I'd like to hear if anybody here has had success before I waste too much time trying to put one together.

[HomeBrewWest]

I'd say its probably quite hard to do; otherwise Speidel would have done it in their 20 and 50 litre units. Its only implemented in the 200 and 500 litre models.

[Jacob]

Looks pretty easy 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpbgUJtwDCI

[Ciderhead]

You just need a good pump and some silicone hose, piece of p.

A reduced head into the boiler and it would really push

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvK9pccI6pI

[Ciderhead]

I prefer Jacobs idea much simpler, that would work with a paddle in a drill too.

[imark]

I think the thing about the one you posted Jacob is that the kettle doesn't have any immersion chiller in there. So, it doesn't have anything obstructing the vortex. The next one doesn't really look like it's getting a vertex going at all. It's hard to tell where the material is dropping out.

[Hop Bomb]

I made a whirlpool arm & bought a solar pump for it but could never a decent whirlpool with the chiller in there. Now I use a plate chiller (i recirc the wort from BK to chiller & back to the BK for 20 mins) & just give it a few good stirs with my big spoon. Seems to leave everything behind as I dont get any break material in my carboys anymore.

[Jacob]

I think the thing about the one you posted Jacob is that the kettle doesn't have any immersion chiller in there. So, it doesn't have anything obstructing the vortex. The next one doesn't really look like it's getting a vertex going at all. It's hard to tell where the material is dropping out.

Well that's the video I found. In my setup I'm using solar pump and arm, something similar to that one posted by John.
Using it just to speed up chilling process.
With false bottom and fine sieve there's nearly no break material and no hops going into fermenters.

[Damien M]

I reckon my solar  pump is not beefy enough to get a good Whirlpool going and my cooling coil has too small a diameter and isn't  perfectly centered so it messes with the vortex generation!! I reckon with a Chugger or March pump and a larger diameter coil centered collection from the outside and a heap of leaf in the inside is possible. None of the vids show the vessel empty s owe cant see the a heap in the center. My last couple of batches there is a kinda heap of hops in the center rising to an imperfect cone. 

Any body know a place to get a bigger pump  !!     

[imark]

My solar pump crapped out after attempting to whirlpool. I'm getting a chugger but I'm concerned about shite getting stuck in the head.

So there are two aspects of the whirlpool that I'm interested in. Firstly, the ability to cool the beer quicker. Secondly, improved wort clarity to fermentor. I currently use a 12" bazooka in the kettle and it works reasonably well with leaf hops. Hop pellets would be a different matter.

Are you guys using pelets? in a spider? and what sort of false bottom/bazooka/etc are you using to prevent material exiting the kettle?

[DEMPSEY]

It is really hard to get it right with the small kettle we have. Best idea is to use a second whirlpool vessel. After you first have cooled the wort in the kettle then it flows with hops and cold break into second vessel at an angle to create the vortex just getting a little too complicated.
If I was starting again to build a kettle with whirl pooling in mind using pellet hops I would'nt start from where I started me present kettle

[imark]

I agree. Can't wait to get my chugger 

[Alex Lawes]

I whirlpool in a separate fermenter.

Cool down the wort in your kettle as you would normally do, then pour the whole lot into a sterilised FV tank.

Get your paddle out, sterilised of course.

Set a timer and spin that mixture hard for about 5 minutes.

Cover over with cling film and leave it to settle out for a half hour.

Then siphon off the clear wort as the trub and break have been spun out of the mixture and have settled to the bottom.

You could also get a stainless steel whisk from a DIY shop to do the same job with a power drill.

Completely sorted my chill haze issues and I get industry standard clarity with some lagering and finings.

At homebrew quantities you'd be over complicating things by using pumps which are going to clog and really won't give you as hard a whirlpool as you'd get with a bit of muscle.

Each to their own though.

[imark]

This only works on pellets though, right? I presume they pass through the 1/2" valve without blocking?
The swirling in a seperate vessel sounds practical.

[DEMPSEY]

The problem with using a pump is the bore hole size of the pump that the wort passes through. You use a large enough tube and it all gets stuck at the pump. Oh and new designed all in kettle cooler on the way.prototype is in my head ATM :