Whirlpooling

Whirpooling employs 2 methods of seperating the trub from the wort. The first one is sedimentation, which means the trub will sink to the bottom when left alone. The second one is centrifugal force which forces the trub into the center of the pot. If both methods are used, the trub will be collected in a nice trub-cone in the center of the pot. This is the main trub seperation technique that is used in commercial breweries before the wort is chilled. In a home brewing set-up, whirlpooling can be used before or after the wort is chilled. The latter also allows for the partial removal of cold break before the wort is transfered to the fermenter.

Just sedimentation would work to. But since the trub would be evenly spread on the bottom of the pot, you cannot siphon as low as you can if the trub is collected in a cone.

Whirlpooling After Wort Chilling

These are the steps for using whirlpooling after chilling the wort.

Chilling the wort

The wort is chilled with an immersion chiller. Note that the spoon has been left in the boil which sanitizes it for later use.

Bring the wort into rotation

Then the pot is moved into an elevated position. The whirlpool can be started with a sanitized spoon or with an oxynation wand. The latter is very practical since no spoon has to be sanitized and the oxygenation of the wort is already done during the whirlpool. After the whirlpool has been started it must not be moved or distubed in order to allow for an even rotation of the wort.