[Bozinator]

Whirlpooling:
 I hear a lot about it, what exactly am I to do ? I am using extract right now and will be doing all grain by the end of the year but not exactly sure if Im doing it correct or not stirring long enough or not letting it settle long enough just doesn't seem I get enough hot break in the bottom of my boil pot. I do you a wort chiller that is hooked up to a submersible pump in a cooler full of ice and water, so it cools it very quickly. Just some more thought and ideas.

 Thanks the BOZ

[Kevin]

There are a couple of reasons to whirlpool. To spin the solids into a single point in the center of the kettle (often referred to as a cone). This allows you to have a pick up tube at the edge of the kettle to draw off clean wort without those solids. The second reason is for hops. An addition of hops will be added when the wort cools down to a specific temperature that is held for a set amount of time. This is to extract volatile hop oils without adding to the bitterness. You can do this mechanically with pumps and tubing or you can simply stir with a spoon.

[ynotbrusum]

When you move on to all grain brewing, the hot and cold break will be more obvious.  The stirring will be able to center up much of the matter as it settles on cooling.  At least that was my experience.  YMMV.  Best of luck.

[chinaski]

Don't stress about it.  Another thing borrowed from professional (large) breweries that work with large volumes in large vessels.  As far as settling out stuff, at our scale I've found that a stir of the pot and a LOT of time will allow settling if you don't want to transfer trub and hop matter.  I tend to not worry about it.

The other piece of it from the professional side is whirlpool hop additions- search "hop stand" to see the analogue for homebrewers.

[Bozinator]

Kevin:

  Are you saying I should be transferring as I'm whir pooling? I thought i stir and stir and then stir some more let that rest and then transfer??? Or are both of those correct??

[Homebrew_kev]

Kevin:

  Are you saying I should be transferring as I'm whir pooling? I thought i stir and stir and then stir some more let that rest and then transfer??? Or are both of those correct??

In large professional breweries, they have specific whirlpool vessels where they pump wort from the kettle into the whirlpool kettle, but in homebrew (and most craft breweries) it's not necessary. You can just stir your wort with a large spoon. Don't worry too much about contamination, the wort is still pretty flippin' hot - and the spoon will become pasteurized in no time. Just make sure the spoon is clean.

I have a pretty advanced set up with a pump. What I do is after the boil I'll recirculate my wort through a counterflow chiller and back into my kettle for about 20 minutes, or until it reaches about 165f and if the recipe calls for it i'll throw in more hops. If the recipie does not call for more hops, i'll try to knock out as much heat as I can this way before kicking it into the fermenter. This will allow more hop character without the bitterness. If you can't be as precise with the wort temp as I am, you can still add in whirlpool hops but between boiling and about 170f isomerization will happen and cause more bitterness. Keep that in mind when designing your recipe.

But honestly, you could just take a big spoon or mash paddle and give it a good stir, toss in the hops, then let it rest for a good 20 minutes. If your wort is in that zone above 170f then be careful how much time you let the hops sit in the whirlpool - less is better.

But the main point of the whirlpool is that as the wort cools down, the solids fall down and since it's circulating in the kettle - all the solids will collect to the middle and make it more difficult for that junk to make it into the fermenter.

[Kevin]

Kevin:

  Are you saying I should be transferring as I'm whir pooling? I thought i stir and stir and then stir some more let that rest and then transfer??? Or are both of those correct??

No. Whirlpool... settle... then transfer. Or for whirlpool hops: chill to desired temperature... hold that temp, add hops... whirlpool in place for desired time... then finish chilling before transferring.

I only attempted to aanswer the question as posted without adding more information than asked but @chinaski is right... there are many processes in brewing that work at the commercial level that homebrewers think they must do too. But many of those processes simply are not practical, helpful or even useful at the homebrew level. If you choose not to whirlpool you will be just fine. I am not saying you "should be" doing anything. I personally do not whirlpool.

[Bozinator]

THANKS!!!

  Fr all the thoughtsa and advise. Im sure Im over thinking it it, its just that I hear "whirlpooling" a lot