Considering Adding a Whirlpool Port to Kettle

I think if you use a spider it would probably be beneficial to whirlpool it. I have a SS mesh one and I'm just damn scared that I won't get everything I'm expecting from the hops when I use it, so I usually let it all go commando.

 

Use the biggest bag you can find with your hopspider if you are going to use one. For me a simple extra "arm" for the whirlpooler attached to an immersion chiller with a hose clamp up top seems to be the best of both worlds. I use a CFC in addition to the immersion chiller for faster cooling and I didn't have to drill another hole in my kettle.

 

1. No, IMO the best approach is to combine the two.
2. You can use a simple flexible silicone tubing that goes over the top of the kettle if you have a means to attach it to the inside (IC, stainless arm, maybe the spider itself). This is the simple approach.
3. I would say midpoint of a normal brew volume or maybe slight lower, ideally it would direct the flow to follow the contour of the kettle.
4. No reason this would not work, would make your existing recirc port redundant but no harm in that.
5. Interior gaskets will never get above 212, never had a hint of a problem with exterior gaskets (ball valve, thermo, sight gauge).

My guess is you are thinking about a "hard-plumbed" opening which takes the return wort from a pump and creates a whirlpool jet in your kettle. I went simpler and have the pump supply a 3/8" silicone line that enters the kettle by going over the top. It can be anchored to an immersion chiller or I just changed mine by attaching to my hop spider. Ideally it will jet the wort to follow the curvature of the kettle. Advantages are it's simple, quick, and easy . . . but it looks like an add-on, certainly not a permanent look. I've had good results with whirlpooling late hops and sometimes I can even get the trub to form a nice cone in the middle.

 

I soldered together a copper whirlpool arm. It's like a very narrow upside-down "U", with a camlock on the outside of the kettle, a 90 to send the copper vertical, a 90 to go over the lip of the kettle, a 90 to go back down the inside, a 90 to go horizontal, and a short length of pipe I gently bent to the same curvature of the kettle. Not only did this mean I could avoid modifying the kettle, but I had never soldered copper before so it was a fun project to learn that skill. I'll take pictures tomorrow if I can remember.

The wort out is fairly low in the kettle, I think it would be better higher but too high and it limits the batches I can use it on. In combo with an immersion chiller I get 12g of wort under 140 in <5m.