Do plate chillers really suck this much?!

So here's the deal - I've had a 30 plate chiller for about 8-10am batches now, thinking I'd be upgrading from my IC. I can't see how this is better! How does anyone justify or even use these!?

Here are my main problems:

1. I have a pump and try to whirlpool with it. Problem is that I want to whirlpool to keep the debris out of the ch iller, but have to sanitize the chiller during the boil, leaving me with a clogged chiller with any APA or IPA amount of hops.

2. How do you clean them after? I've flushed with hot PBW for 20 min and still see stuff coming out.

3. It seems by design that cold break sets inside the chiller as the beet cools... Leading to - more clogs!

I'm about ready to sell this thing and go back to my immersion chiller if I can't figure it out. How do you guys use these things successfully? Any tips?

I clean mine with acid. And pre-filter the hops with a rice hull loaded hopback.

Works for me and it chills in a single pass.

I made a hop quesadilla to filter

wegz15 said:

I made a hop quesadilla to filter

Click to expand...

Don't you worry about getting tortilla bits clogging your chiller?

I don't have a plate chiller (yet). We still use an immersion chiller and siphon beer out to the fermenter out of the kettle. But as I understand things, you have to either swap fittings or valve in the plate chiller once the whirlpool is done and *then* transfer to the fermenter, right? What would keep you from sanitizing the plate chiller with your sanitizer of choice, then hooking it up? If it stays wet inside with sanitizer, it's not going to suddenly become unclean.

If you *don't* have the ability to discharge out of your pump without going through the chiller, it sounds like time to do a little pipefitting and redo your system.

Lastly, if that's not a good option...what do you want for the chiller?

>1. I have a pump and try to whirlpool with it. Problem is that I want to whirlpool to keep the debris out of the chiller, but have to sanitize the chiller during the boil, leaving me with a clogged chiller with any APA or IPA amount of hops.

OCBrewin said:

So here's the deal - I've had a 30 plate chiller for about 8-10am batches now, thinking I'd be upgrading from my IC. I can't see how this is better! How does anyone justify or even use these!?

Here are my main problems:

1. I have a pump and try to whirlpool with it. Problem is that I want to whirlpool to keep the debris out of the ch iller, but have to sanitize the chiller during the boil, leaving me with a clogged chiller with any APA or IPA amount of hops.

2. How do you clean them after? I've flushed with hot PBW for 20 min and still see stuff coming out.

3. It seems by design that cold break sets inside the chiller as the beet cools... Leading to - more clogs!

I'm about ready to sell this thing and go back to my immersion chiller if I can't figure it out. How do you guys use these things successfully? Any tips?

Click to expand...

Welcome to the wonderful world of plate chillers. I bought a blichman therminator 4 years ago, went through all you describe, then shelved it and built a double 50 imersion chiller from 5/8 copper. anyone want a therminator cheap just PM me.

OCBrewin said:

leaving me with a clogged chiller with any APA or IPA amount of hops.

Click to expand...

Be glad you didn't try it with a pumpkin beer - if you think an IPA is bad, you ain't seen nothing.

I use a hop spider with the chiller and back flush with the hose - much higher pressure than the pump. That said, you're probably better off whirlpooling without it, connecting, running San star or boiling water through, then reconnecting.

It's amazing when you can chill a 10 g batch in 10-15 min, but I'm not sure the headaches are worth it.

I have had a Therminator for a couple years Actually, getting close to 3 years now. Cools my beer to the cooling water temp in a single pass. I've never had it clog. I do clean it with PBW solution after every brew day, and although I am sure there is still some material in there, I am just as sure that it has no effect on my beer because I recirculate it for 15 minutes before the end of the boil, and I haven't had any infections in my beer that I didn't put there deliberately. I use mesh bags for my hops or other spice/fruit/whatever additions, which you ought to do, but it sounds like you are not.

In short, you are doing it wrong.

Thanks for all the replies. Weirdboy, what about the cold break forming in the chiller? That's what happened to me today. Seems if you're going from boiling to fermentation temps the cold break has to form in the plates.

Either way, it just seems like I made good, consistent beers with less hassle (bagging hops, worrying about utilization, switching fittings, etc...) With the IC... I don't want another step during brewday and don't want to complicate things.

OCBrewin said:

Thanks for all the replies. Weirdboy, what about the cold break forming in the chiller? That's what happened to me today. Seems if you're going from boiling to fermentation temps the cold break has to form in the plates.

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I am dead positive I get cold break in the chiller, but I haven't ever had an issue with that causing a clog. My guess is that you got hop material in there as well, which can certainly cause a clog. I have had hops & cold break clog the 1/2" intake on my kettle before. That is why I always use hop bags now. Cold break by itself is a little sludgy but generally not viscous enough to be a problem. Cold break with hop material in there is sludgy and extremely viscous.

dwarven_stout said:

Don't you worry about getting tortilla bits clogging your chiller?

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I used flour tortillas as opposed to corn. Corn brakes easier. So I'm not too worried

I use a stainless braid in my pot (just like the one in my mash tun). That works fine for leaf hops. If I use pellets, I toss those in a mesh bag. Cold break has never been a problem for me.

As far as cleaning, I backflush after every use and bake my plate every few batches and backflush with hot oxyclean. That seems to keep it clear.

I've read about the problems with plate chillers, and how it takes some extremely strong acid to clean them out; too much trouble IMO. I've got a 50' copper immersion chiller that I got off Amazon for $80; planning on eventually getting a nice little compact counterflow chiller, something like this: http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/review/product/list/id/1210/category/72/

do you have a valve on your pump to control flow...I made that mistake when I first got mine....now that I control the flow works like a champ...
Also are you whirl pooling with the chiller attached? I personal whirl pool with my large paddle and skip using the pump

I've been using one for two batches now without any severe trouble, and definitely no clogging issues. I use a hop spider to keep the hops out though, so I'm just dealing with cold break.

To clean mine, I've just been backflushing it with a garden hose immediately after use. I have very high water pressure, but I imagine I will need to start pumping PBW through it at some point to keep it clear.

I use a generic plate chiller that I haven't been particularly happy with because it takes too long to chill with the high ground water temps here in Florida, but I haven't had any problems with it clogging. I whirlpool/recirculate with it starting at 15' remaining in the boil, all the way down to ~85-90 degrees temp. Right now it goes through a Blichmann hop blocker; before that, I used a Kettle/Bazooka screen as well as hop socks. They are impossible to clean perfectly, which is why running boiling wort through them is important for sanitation.

I did have to pull out my immersion chiller for my pumpkin ale I brewed on Tuesday, but that was only because the pumpkin clogged the hop blocker and prevented flow to the pump, which I kind of expected.

Schumed said:

do you have a valve on your pump to control flow...I made that mistake when I first got mine....now that I control the flow works like a champ...
Also are you whirl pooling with the chiller attached? I personal whirl pool with my large paddle and skip using the pump

Click to expand...

Yeas I have a valve for flow. The problem really comes from clogging. I've made a spider (all stainless) but it doesn't reach down far enough for ky 5 gallon batches in my kettles.... Any tips?

How do you sanitize you pump and chiller if you're whirlpooling without them?