CF chiiler and trub/hot break

[Guido]

Is there anyway to eliminate carrying over the trub and hot break from my counterflow chiller into my fermenter? (I bag my pelletized hops.) I realize I can't do anything about the cold break. My beer always clears eventually, but it would be nice if I could leave all that crap in the boil kettle. By the way, I sterilize by re-circulating hot wort (I use a pump.) through my CF during the last few minutes of the boil. I then flush the CF at the end of the session with a hose. I haven't had any problems with sterilization yet, but is there a better way to do things? Thanks in advance!

[BeerPal]

I had great results using a Hopstopper but that was with a gravity system. The Hopstopper will clog when used with a pump.

[Quin]

You might try pumping through the CF and back into the kettle creating a whirlpool ala Jamils whirlpool immersion chiller. After chilling the entire batch down, let it settle for 15 minutes and transfer to your fermentation vessel. It may help to increase batch size by 0.5-1.0 gallons to have enough wort to transfer before getting into the trub.

[GlassblowersBrew]

Maybe it is a dumb question but, whats the big deal with having the hot break material in the fermenter? Does it have a negative effect on the final product?

[ajdelange]

Gosh I hope not because my local supplier tells me he can't get much leaf any more and the last batch I did was done with pellets the residue of which (or at least a fair amount of it) whizzed right through my hopback and chiller and into the fermenter. The beer tastes fine so far but we'll see in the end.

More to the point the usual objection to hot trub is that the oils (feel it - it's greasy) in it may saponify giving the beer a, well, soapy taste. There are others who will argue that the oils are taken up by the yeast and used for cell membrane construcion.

[Guido]

I've been told that the trub does provide some yeast nutrients, but it also needs to be kept to a minimum for better clarity, stability, and to prevent off-flavors. I prefer whole hops too, but usually have to go with the pelletized ones, whcih can clog your CF chiller and create a general mess. I always bag the pelletized hops. The bags can be re-used, so the expense isn't bad at all.

[SacoDeToro]

I use a Blichmann Therminator, which is obviously a type of CF chiller. I do my whirlpool with a large stainless spoon for 30 seconds to 1 minute after I cut the flame. I typically wait 15 minutes before "knocking out" to my fermenter. I use the same March brand pump that everyone else uses. I also have a diverter plate in my kettle, which helps tremendously. I'm sure you could get one of these welded in at your local welding shop for a nominal fee. My friend got his done for $20. I'm almost always able to leave behind a very dense trub pile. Pulling a little bit of hot break over is not an issue - larger amount are. I've never had any issues with hop debris getting pulled over. As a note, when I started doing water treatment about 4 years ago, I noticed a significant change in my hot break forming denser, more cohesive piles. I also never use bags for pellets in the boil kettle, even on double IPAs or other beers with a shitload of hops. Still, no issues there. The only time my trub piles aren't super great is when I'm doing high gravity dark beers, such as impy stouts or baltic porters. In those cases, the low pH of the wort tends to inhibit protein (hot break) coagulation.

Personally, I would advise against recirculating hot wort to sanitize your CF chiller. It sounds like an easy way to get hop debris stuck in there. Towards the end of my boil, I recirculate StarSan solution through my CF chiller and all "cold side" lines simultaneously. I'm very meticulous about cleaning my CF chiller immediately after brewing. That way I have a very clean chiller that I can bake in the oven for a few hours before my next brew day as an added level of sanitation. That always does the trick.

[Guido]

Personally, I would advise against recirculating hot wort to sanitize your CF chiller. It sounds like an easy way to get hop debris stuck in there. Towards the end of my boil, I recirculate StarSan solution through my CF chiller and all "cold side" lines simultaneously. I'm very meticulous about cleaning my CF chiller immediately after brewing. That way I have a very clean chiller that I can bake in the oven for a few hours before my next brew day as an added level of sanitation. That always does the trick.

Interesting, Julian. Bagging the hops keeps the pellets from clogging my CF chiller. As far as cleaning the CF chiller, I flush water through it immendiately afterwards. I can't really think of any other way to clean it other than a soak in PBW or something. The bake in the oven idea might have some merit. Thanks for the input.