Heat EX getting clogged with IPAs. What. In. The. F**kity. F**k.

[Alphaacid]

So every single, motherfucken, time I try to do an IPA, the fucken HEX gets fucking clogged, causing me to contemplate suicide by boiling wort. I whirlpool for 15mins, rest 15 mins. then clog. Clog!

Am I not letting it rest long enough? Should I put the initial wort that's in hose from whirlpool back into top of BK to make sure no hop particles are there? Or should I just dunk my nuts into the boiling wort, then jump in front of a bus?

This time I had to by pass my HEX and send it into the FV hotter than Beelzebub's scrotum. Hopefully the glycol can cool it down fast enough so I can pitch yeast on it. Most of the time I send it to the FV at molasses pace, and then my IBU's go through the roof, and the beer isn't what I had planned.

[jebzter]

Do you have a pre-screen before your HX? If you don't, you need one, make sure the holes are 1/16" or slightly smaller, too small and it will plug up just as fast. Also, a 10 min wp, with 20 min rest may get a more dense trub pile, but that depends on your kettle and how good of a wp you get.

[CPESystems]

What kind of heat exchanger are you using? It does make a difference.

[kabrewku]

Do you have a trub gate? Where is the port you are pulling from?

[mmussen]

I would say you may want to rest a bit longer before you try to send it through the HX. Also, I have found that dumping what is in the line after the rest, until the wort starts to run clear makes a HUGE difference in keeping the HX flowing.

It would be good to know where you're pulling your wort from in the kettle - and if there's another port that may minimize the amount of trub pulled through. Also I've found a hop damn in the bottom of the BK to make a big difference in keeping hops out of the lines.

Cheers and good luck.

[MikeyB]

Echo what Manuel said. After whirlpool and stand, you need to blow the trub out of the piping and pump before the heatex. Ideally, you have a tee right before the heatex where you can blow trub until you see clear wort. This will make the single biggest improvement in your results, I'd bet.

[Alphaacid]

I have no pre-screen before my port, I figured that would clog up right away. What's a "hop damn"?

I'm pulling from port under a 4" port on the front of the BK. See attached pic.


Heat EX - See pic attached

[mmussen]

A hop damn is a raised piece of stainless inside the kettle - several inches from the outlet of the kettle, usually curved to match the shape of the kettle itself. The damn on the inside prevents the trub pile from breaking up as early as the liquid coming out of the BK won't be getting pulled straight from the trub pile.

I used to have a kettle with a similar outlet system to yours. On mine I had a reducer on the 4" part and drew wort off from there. That way the bottom valve is a dedicated drain valve. I would use that to pull some of the really thick crap off the kettle before sending any wort to the HX.
As MickyB said you can do this even better by adding a tee and a couple valves before the inlet to the HX. Open the drain valve until the wort runs clear before you start sending the wort through the HX and you should have way less clogging.

[MrTravis]

Why not just dump the first few gallons before the HEX until it runs pretty clear?

[grnis]

So every single, motherfucken, time I try to do an IPA, the fucken HEX gets fucking clogged, causing me to contemplate suicide by boiling wort. I whirlpool for 15mins, rest 15 mins. then clog. Clog!

Am I not letting it rest long enough? Should I put the initial wort that's in hose from whirlpool back into top of BK to make sure no hop particles are there? Or should I just dunk my nuts into the boiling wort, then jump in front of a bus?

This time I had to by pass my HEX and send it into the FV hotter than Beelzebub's scrotum. Hopefully the glycol can cool it down fast enough so I can pitch yeast on it. Most of the time I send it to the FV at molasses pace, and then my IBU's go through the roof, and the beer isn't what I had planned.

http://www.process-controls.com/York_Fluid/top_line/TL_Strainer_2_0002.jpg

Install a strainer or two in parallel before the heat exchanger.

[panadero]

When I forget the whirlfloc I need a longer rest after whirlpool, and the hop cone breaks up much sooner, slowing things down. In other words, whirlfloc- or whatever you use - is not to be forgotten! no big deal on a lager or stout, but heavy hops require it, at least on the systems I have used.2 cents. Cheers.

[Domestic]

There is some good advice in here

http://discussions.probrewer.com/sho...Whirlpool-Help

[MastaAce]

Put a trub plate in the kettle, it's a life saver. No need to fuss after that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[fturw]

I don't know if you solved your problem but I encountered something very similar at a brewery I use to contract brew at. The first few times we did the IPA, it would clog as well, and the kettle didnt have a trub plate either. we did figure it out tho and never had a problem with the IPA. here's our process

-15 min whirlpool
-20 min rest
- slower transfer speed of wort through HE, I wanna say we did it at around 30 hz, and this is what made the biggest difference. took a little while longer to get wort into the fermenter but worth not having to deal with a clogged HE

hope this helps. Cheers!