Whirlpool (brewery)

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In the brewing industry, a whirlpool is a vessel that is used to clarify the wort during beer preparation. In this process, the undissolved hop components , coagulated protein, are removed from the brewing malt and malt residues from the wort by a sedimentation process , triggered by a rapid rotating movement of the liquid body ( to whirl ) .

Process of wort clarification

After the wort has been boiled, the hopped wort is pumped from the wort kettle into the whirlpool. This is done via a tangentially arranged inlet. With this arrangement, the body of liquid in the whirlpool is set in rotation. The interaction of buoyancy, centrifugal force , centripetal force and gravity stimulates a sedimentation process. The geometry of the vessel plays a role as does the friction between the vessel wall and the liquid. In the middle of the vessel, a cone of sediment is washed ashore on the dome (highest point of the bottom, which is slightly conical upwards). The lees consist of coagulated protein , hops and malt residues . On a smaller scale, this sedimentation can also be observed in a tea cup after stirring with a spoon, of course only if there are remains of tea leaves.

After about 20 to 30 minutes - after the liquid has come to rest - the wort is gently pumped out through an opening slightly raised above the bottom of the vessel ( avoid cavitation shocks ). When the liquid level is increased, the turbidity cone is not yet compact due to the buoyancy; this is only the case when the liquid level has dropped. For this reason, the rest of the wort is only pumped out at the lowest point of the whirlpool. After the intermediate station in the whirlpool, the wort is brought to fermentation temperature with a heat exchanger .

Historically, the whirlpool has replaced the refrigerated ship . The cooling ship largely fulfilled the same purpose as the whirlpool, but was a rectangular copper vessel approx. 50 cm deep and had to have a surface area corresponding to the capacity of the brewhouse .

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