I’m having alot of trouble getting any kind of cold break through a CFWC and recirculatining back into the boil pot while chilling. my return tube is straight.
I guess I don’t know what the visual difference between hot break and cold bread is?
Hot break occurs during the first phase of boiling when iirc the O2 is finally depleted and the surface tension of the fluid no longer will support foaming.
Cold break occurs when the hot wort is cooled down to somewhere like ~< 65°F or somewhere around that. It will look like a cloud formation forming then fall to the bottom of the fermenter.
John
Try setting your pickup tube so it pulls higher up off the bottom of the kettle. I have a weldless fitting on mine so I can just turn it so the pickup is higher off the bottom, and then down when I want to get all the clean wort off I can. I’m recirculating/whirlpooling with an IC so I don’t have the back pressure of a CFC.
What kind of pump are you using? If its a March 809 they make a new impeller that pumps faster, that might give you the ability to blow more solids through the system. And how long/what diameter is the wort line in the CFC? The answer might be to use a larger ID for your CFC (if its homemade), although thats not a cheap fix.
Lenny,
Where did you get the new impeller for the 809?
John
Ebay, I think the kit is $25.
Why are you recirculating back into the boil pot? The wort doesn’t come out cool enough the first time? I have seen a set-up where the CFWC goes into a second cooper coil (in an ice bath) which empties into the fermentor. One shot so shorter and a faster cool which is required for a good cold break… I think?
That is exactly what I do and I raise and lower the secondary coil to control the temperature coming out…
John
John,
Do you just let gravity do its thing or use a pump? I am hoping to set mine up using only gravity.
Recirculating is nice because you can get your cold break and then let it settle out and leave it behind. Not a huge deal but it removes a half gallon of volume that won’t be beer in the end, and it makes it easier to harvest clean yeast later.
If you use gravity you just have to have the kettle up high enough so theres room to run the wort through the CFC (and whatever else you have in line) and into your fermentor. The more stuff you have inline, the slower its going to run.
For you single pass CFCers, do you ever have plug-ups? and how do you unblock things when this happens?
[quote=“Zube42”]John,
Do you just let gravity do its thing or use a pump? I am hoping to set mine up using only gravity.[/quote]
I use a pump.
John
[quote=“tom sawyer”]
For you single pass CFCers, do you ever have plug-ups? and how do you unblock things when this happens?[/quote]
I whirlpool and all the hops go to the center of the pot so there is nothing really going through the CFC but hot wort usually… well sometimes my wit will plug with all the bitter orange peel and that is a PIA. Next time I’m going to use some kind of bag for the bitter orange peel. I just pumped backwards with a little water from the HLT to clear the plug.
John
