I’ve never been able to get a very effective whirlpool in my kettle (10 gal polarware kettle). I don’t have a pump to recirculate the wort. I use an immersion chiller which makes it difficult for me to whirlpool with a spoon. I was wondering if anyone had ever attached a small paddle to a motor to sit over the top of the kettle and stir/form a whirlpool while chilling?
i have an old electric rc motor from a old rc boat. with the propeller. i actually thought of hooking this up to the side of my kettle for fun. not really worth the effort for me but fun
I’ve kicked an idea like that around in my head from time to time. Need to address issues like avoiding aeration when it’s still too hot, making sure no ‘motor goop’ (lubricants, etc.) drips into the wort, etc. Never have gotten around to actually doing anything, though.
I feel like I’ve seen someone build something like this on some forum somewhere. I envision a small paddle on a central shaft attached to a motor either directly or by belt all mounted on a frame that sits over the kettle. Seems like it would be a fun thing to try and build but that being said it might be a lot easier to just buy a pump and recirculate to make the whirlpool…
You can run a paint mix-stir on a drill. Just run it slow so you don’t aerate the wort. You will get a good spin going in no time. Won’t cost much if you already have a drill.
I just remove the IC and stir with a sanitized spoon to whirlpool.
But if you want to build something go for it.
I’d actually like to have the whirlpool to speed up the chilling process. Like you said, for the hop cone, a spoon does just fine.
I’ve thought about it. You don’t need much movement to help out the chiller, so pretty much any small motor would do.
Recirculating the wort with a March pump has cut my cooling times by more than half. Definitely recommended for the chill, but I don’t use it to whirlpool.
I still use an IC, so I do what Mort described above (chill, pull IC, whirlpool, let stand for 15 min, run off).
I have a Street 90 elbow that faces down on my kettle outlet, and I dont need a scrubbie/filter to get clear beer, even with IPAs. I don’t get a perfect cone, but all the trub settles around the elbow and only the first bit of liquid out of the valve has trub in it. The rest comes out clear.
I stir while chilling as well. makes a huge difference in chilling time, but I am not worried about creating a good whirlpool. in fact, for chilling you want maximum turbulence so there is lots of change over in the wort that is actually contacting the chiller. but yes, when it’s time to form, or attempt to form, a schmut cone I pull the IC out and then it is not hard to get a good whirlpool going.
I’m sure that’s technically true, but I imagine the chilling gain decreases quickly. Thermal gradients are not hard to break up so I’d think you get most of the chilling gain even from gentle stirring.
I am sure you are correct. Simply pointing out that for cooling purposes the effect the IC is going to have on the flow of the wort is a positive.