When should the whirlpool be done?

Whirlpooling is great for clarifying the beer from hops and other things.

As far as I understand, this whirlpool step is usually done right after the boiling, by making the wort rotates and leaving it alone for 20 minutes. My concern is that not chilling the wort right away is going to entirely modify the intended hop profile (bitterness and aroma), as the hoppy wort is going to stay above 80 °C for an uncontrolled amount of time.

My question is : is it indeed the right way to do it (can you then explain my "uncontrolled hop profile" worry) or should it actually be done after the wort is chilled?

Topic chilling hops homebrew

Category Mac

1
answered at

It is totally up to you. Whirlpool isn't even necessary. I've only done it once I think out of 150 batches. If done hot, you'll get more IBUs, equivalent to as though you had boiled all the hops for about an extra 5-10 minutes. If done cold, no risk of that. So, it depends on what you want, and maybe on what recipe you're brewing. In an IPA, maybe you want more bitterness. In other styles, maybe not. But if you plan for it in advance, and use a slightly smaller hop charge or add hops earlier or later in the boil, you can account for all this. Just more tools and methods available that you can do what you want with.

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