Trub/Hop Filter from BrewersHardware

Today I put an 8 oz brew through this filter. It was 50/50 whole leaf and pellet hops. I have a 40 plate chiller with 1/2 '' through put. It took about 30 minutes to chill the entire ten gallon batch. The filter became partially obstructed by hops as expected. Before runoff I ran a quick whirlpool, and the entire runoff cooled to 63 degrees F. I would have knocked out quicker than this, but the filter prevented it.

My procedure for checking post boil gravity is to close the valve on the conical and sample whatever is left in the hose running there. Today was the first time that I noticed any hop matter in this sample. It was very minimal and only prevented me drinking the very end of the wort pint. This product saves my plate chiller from excessive hop matter, and only allows very "bright" wort into the fermenter.

I figured I'd post my experience with the filter. I've used mine twice now with no issues. Mine is a five gallon system. I stirred the wort at flame-out and let everything settle for about 2 minutes. I then gravity fed the wort to my pump, then pumped through the filter, then to my plate chiller, then to my fermenter. I have a ball valve on the pump output so I use that to regulate the downstream flow rate. Both brews used pellet hops but neither called for more than 2 ounces, so nothing too challenging yet. Both times it did a great job of filtering. I usually use a conical fermenter and I'll dump a lot of the yeast after primary fermentation. The yeast is noticeably cleaner (hardly any hop material) than without the filter. I'd say it does a great job of filtering and it's giving me peace of mind knowing it's keeping a lot of material out of my plate chiller

I will say that I did have a lot of problems with this filter UNTIL I put it after the pump which was pushing the wort through the filter instead of pulling. I did a huge IPA this weekend and it did great.

amsped180 said:

Well today I put this filter to the test. I brewed a Double Cascadian Dark Ale with 8 oz's of pellet hops and at least one more ounce of leaf hops. If you've read through my other posts thus far, I have yet to have a real issue with the filter (kinked hoses are another story). This brew really put the hop filter through it's paces, and it is most likely because I intentionally filled it with leaf hops! When I first looked into purchasing this unit, it was so that I would have a hop back to add to my system. The decision came down to the blichmann hop rocket, building my own hop back, or the brewers hardware hop filter. I really liked the price on the BH filter, and the fact that it would function to filter any hops out, whether or not they were "hop back" hops, before they reached my 40 plate chiller was the deciding factor. The good news is, that despite the fact that I had packed the filter housing full of leaf hops, I never had my flow stop! As always I have no fittings inside the bk>filter>pump>chiller this time to carboy instead of conical. The flow was slow, but it allowed me to chill my wort to 63F in about 20 minutes for a 6 gallon batch! I don't think that I will ever attempt to use this filter as a hop back again, as it was packed tight when I opened it, but I still stand by the fact that this is a great piece of equipment that I have yet to have any real issues with!:rockin:

Click to expand...

20 minutes is unreal and I was having those problems. Use it as a hop back and put the filter after the pump. If you have any whole leaf hops in the kettle just make sure they are in a cloth of some type so you don't have to worry about the whole leaf hops going through the pump. Should work.

Time for me to jump is as I've used mine 3 times now. All 6 gallon batches, all pellet hops, always a quick whirlpool before chilling, ball valve on pump output to regulate flow.

First time: 3 oz of hops, BK-pump-filter-plate chiller-carboy, 0.3mm screen on. Worked flawlessly. Not much trub in the carboy and clear beer. Not a whole lot of hops in the filter, still a lot in the kettle.

Second time: 1 oz of hops, BK-pump-filter-plate chiller-carboy, 0.3mm screen on. Clogged once, disassembled and cleaned, clogged again, disassembled and cleaned, removed the screen, worked fine after that. A little more trub in the carboy but super duper haze. Still not a lot of hops in the filter, a lot in the kettle.

Third time: 4 oz of hops, BK-filter-pump-plate chiller-carboy, no screen on. Worked great until close to the end, the flow really slowed down. I mean, really really slowed down at the end, but never stopped or fully clogged. Good amount of trub in carboy and clear beer. Not much hops in the kettle but the filter was jam packed I mean packed.

Fourth time: I think I'll do the same set-up as the 3rd time and I'll update if anyone's still interested.

I'd be interested to hear how it came out. I've got the filter as well and I've been having issues. The first time I tried using it, it was a mess. Of course it was my fault to try and run my wort through it as I was whirlpooling. It got stuck pretty quickly and its not fun dealing with hot wort and a very hot SS filter. Anyway, after thinking about it a bit, a light bulb came on in the attic and I realized I wasn't supposed to use it until after I whirlpooled and let things settle a bit (approx 20 min). So I used it on my last beer which is an clone of Dogfish Head's Indian Brown. Things went much better this time, but towards the end it clogged on me again. I only had a little left in the kettle, so maybe next time I'll make a 6.5 gallon batch to make up for what I lose. I had started filtering it slowly from the kettle but by the time I got to the end I had the ball valve on the pump wide open and was only getting a trickle. Any suggestions/tips are appreciated. I use a keggle with a side angled pickup tube.

Really glad I found this thread. I am probably not going to buy this product, but the fact you guys are draining most/all the contents of your kettles into a device is good news for me. This gives me great hope about using my centrifugal juicer as a filter and hop-back now.

In you guys opinions from this products use, do you foresee any problems with gravity draining through a 1/2" centrally located pick-up tube to a grant/pump combo and then through a chiller back to the kettle? You guys all have some sort of suction right after the kettle to help you suck the hops/trub out, so I wonder if a gravity pull would be enough to empty the kettle? I don't whirlpool, so if I started draining right at flameout all the hops should be suspended enough to not clog the pick-up tube... right? I am hoping not, and since clean wort is going back into the kettle it should serve to further diffuse the hops and spacing out what goes into the pick-up tube... right? Hope you guys see where I am wanting to go so you can give me your input. The juicer is free, so why not use it. Plus, it wrings the hops nearly dry so as to not worry about loss as much.

WortMonger said:

Really glad I found this thread. I am probably not going to buy this product, but the fact you guys are draining most/all the contents of your kettles into a device is good news for me. This gives me great hope about using my centrifugal juicer as a filter and hop-back now.

In you guys opinions from this products use, do you foresee any problems with gravity draining through a 1/2" centrally located pick-up tube to a grant/pump combo and then through a chiller back to the kettle? You guys all have some sort of suction right after the kettle to help you suck the hops/trub out, so I wonder if a gravity pull would be enough to empty the kettle? I don't whirlpool, so if I started draining right at flameout all the hops should be suspended enough to not clog the pick-up tube... right? I am hoping not, and since clean wort is going back into the kettle it should serve to further diffuse the hops and spacing out what goes into the pick-up tube... right? Hope you guys see where I am wanting to go so you can give me your input. The juicer is free, so why not use it. Plus, it wrings the hops nearly dry so as to not worry about loss as much.

Click to expand...

If you use only gravity to drain the brew kettle then you will have a lot of wort and trub left in the kettle if you're not whirlpooling. Why do you need a grant for the brew kettle before the pump anyway? The juicer sounds like a pretty smart idea but I know some people are going to pipe in about HSA and of course some people think it doesn't exist so that's really up to decide if you want to do that or not. I'm interested to see how it works though, so give us an update when you try it out. I would say just whirlpool by hand with a spoon while draining and run the wort straight into the pump from the pickup tube with no grant, and out of the pump into the juicer. If anything, put the grant (w/ a float switch maybe) after the juicer so that the pump after the juicer doesn't go dry (if you have one after it).

millaj92 said:

If you use only gravity to drain the brew kettle then you will have a lot of wort and trub left in the kettle if you're not whirlpooling. Why do you need a grant for the brew kettle before the pump anyway?

Click to expand...

I planned to have a whirlpool eventually, just not at the first part of draining the kettle. I am doing this to try and avoid a bunch of hops/trub being at one spot, like when you do whirlpool, but after things get going a whirlpool will form and funnel stuff to the center pick-up tube later (when I want it too). This way I can avoid clogging the dip-tube.

I have my pump hooked to my grant out of system use. I like it that way because I can use it as a gravity break for mash run-off to avoid a stuck sparge, or simply use it to fill my HLT without having to climb up and hook up a water hose to it. Since it is already set up that way I roll with it, and need to set up other ideas based off this initial setup.

The juicer sounds like a pretty smart idea but I know some people are going to pipe in about HSA and of course some people think it doesn't exist so that's really up to decide if you want to do that or not. I'm interested to see how it works though, so give us an update when you try it out.

Click to expand...

I'm not worried about HSA because the beer will go from the juicer>to the grant/pump>and then immediately to a Therminator hex before being returned to the kettle.

I would say just whirlpool by hand with a spoon while draining and run the wort straight into the pump from the pickup tube with no grant, and out of the pump into the juicer. If anything, put the grant (w/ a float switch maybe) after the juicer so that the pump after the juicer doesn't go dry (if you have one after it).

Click to expand...

I wouldn't need that much liquid entering the juicer like what a pump would push into it. This is why I thought of gravity feeding the juicer and then pumping what was collected back to the kettle. Since I am able to pump full strength back to the kettle, I aerate inline as I am starting a whirlpool (at this point collecting the rest of the solids from the kettle hopefully).

Hope that helps paint a better picture of what I plan. So saying this, does anyone think I will have a problem gravity draining my kettle and avoiding a clogged dip-tube?

Well that's definitely an interesting setup. I say give it a go and let us know how it turns out!

update, i used this filter again, after the pump and with the finest sock screen he sells for it. I used it on a recipe that only has 2 ounces of hops in it and it caught most of anything that was in the wort. I had made the same recipe 2 weeks before without the sock screen and it didn't catch anything. The point is, if you use the filter after the pump, the pump is going to push everything through the holes in the filter. If you use the sock screen it does a pretty good job. I'm finally starting to really enjoy this filter.

So, you are applying a screen to the actual filter?

WortMonger said:

So, you are applying a screen to the actual filter?

Click to expand...

He's referring to the 0.2mm screen that is sold as an optional accessory for the filter from brewershardware. The pore size for the filter as it comes is 0.5mm.

Cool, I guess I didn't read well enough to understand it has extra filtering options like these socks. Does the smaller micron sock catch cold break?

WortMonger said:

Cool, I guess I didn't read well enough to understand it has extra filtering options like these socks. Does the smaller micron sock catch cold break?

Click to expand...

In my experience, none of the sizes catch much if any of the hot break but I've also not had any problems with it flocculating out in the primary leaving clear beer.

Good to know. I really like this device, but since the juicer is free I will experiment with it first. I will say this device, if used with the sock and another device connected to it filled with hops, would make the ultimate filter and hop-back it seems to me.

I can't wait to read more experiences with this filter, I just wish it could be made out of a cheaper material as a more economical version. I do love stainless though!!!

pola0502ds said:

update, i used this filter again, after the pump and with the finest sock screen he sells for it. I used it on a recipe that only has 2 ounces of hops in it and it caught most of anything that was in the wort. I had made the same recipe 2 weeks before without the sock screen and it didn't catch anything. The point is, if you use the filter after the pump, the pump is going to push everything through the holes in the filter. If you use the sock screen it does a pretty good job. I'm finally starting to really enjoy this filter.

Click to expand...

When using the .2 mm screen, is it still allowing some of the trub through for healthy yeast and fermentation (as some think is a required).

Not to go way OT, but I used a 100 micron bucket filter when pouring into the primary. It worked exceptionally well at collecting the hops. I didn't see any floating in the bucket afterwards. We'll see how much i get for loss and it'll be good seeing as it was a partial extract (some specialty grains but only 2.5lb). I should have very, very minimal trub. The only thing is that I had to keep stirring in order to get the wort to flow into the bucket.

I think I might modify my setup to just whirlpool if anyone in the Dallas area is interested in purchasing my filter...

Here is an update on some changes I made recently and the results.
I wanted to re-plumb my system in order to place the filter on the output side of the pump and orient both pumps vertically to make them easier to prime. The wort pump on the bottom is mounted in rubber feet so when the tri-clovers are tightened, it pulls the pump upward slightly so it is not supporting the weight of the filter. My major concerns were pumping upwards into the filter and whether that would pose a problem or not. Well, it did. Apparently after I stopped recirculating the mash and sparging, the flow was flawless by the way, everything that was captured in the filter settled back into the bottom at the pump. So after the boil was complete and recirculation started, the filter nearly plugged completely. I had a very long and painful experience of trying to get the wort into the fermenter, taking nearly an hour to drain the BK.
Examining the filter, I found what couldn't have amounted to much more than a couple of tablespoons of grain and hop residue on the filter. WTF?!?! Apparently, after everything settled when the sparge finished, restarting the flow stirred it all up and gave it the perfect opportunity to find every single opening in the filter to plug.
So, it seems to be quite important to flow into the top of the filter. I believe when the flow stops in this configuration, the particulate settles to the bottom. Then when flow starts again, it would sort of rinse what is already in there off the screen to some degree freeing up more surface area to handle any newly introduced particles.
Fortunately, the plumbing is just temporary and I haven't cut and bent any more stainless yet. So I am going to move the wort pump to just above the water pump and dump the wort into the top of the filter, then exit the filter into the bottom of the HEX instead of the top. That will make draining the system completely easier as well.
I may try mounting the filter horizontally as well if I can get it to fit just to see if there are any benefits.
Don't be too critical on some of the tubing bends. I cobbled this together with what I already had on hand and had to re-bend some tubing to get everything to fit. Besides, I find that wort doesn't really care it tubing has a little ripple in the tubing wall.

bull8042 said:

Don't be too critical on some of the tubing bends. I cobbled this together with what I already had on hand and had to re-bend some tubing to get everything to fit. Besides, I find that wort doesn't really care it tubing has a little ripple in the tubing wall.

Click to expand...

First sign off shoddy workmanship is wrinkles in the duct tape!

Duckfoot said:

First sign off shoddy workmanship is wrinkles in the duct tape!

Click to expand...

Ha ha.
It is hard as crap to duct tape insulation on a rounded surface without a wrinkle or two. That must be the piece that I let my 5 year old put on. Yeah, that's it. It was someone else.

I get that this is one beautiful piece of equipment, and that with the use of a plate chiller it will help with cleanup etc. but I use a counterflow chiller and am trying to figure out what real difference this makes for the beer itself.

After a recirculation chilling, I whirlpool and then off it goes to the fermenter leaving behind a nice cone of trub and hops. We all know that some trub is needed for the yeast, so why use this filter? Doesn't the little trub and hop particulate just drop out into the fermenter?

Long story short, what is the advantage of adding this type of filtration system to the process?

FYI: here is my system My system

pilzner said:

I get that this is one beautiful piece of equipment, and that with the use of a plate chiller it will help with cleanup etc. but I use a counterflow chiller and am trying to figure out what real difference this makes for the beer itself.

After a recirculation chilling, I whirlpool and then off it goes to the fermenter leaving behind a nice cone of trub and hops. We all know that some trub is needed for the yeast, so why use this filter? Doesn't the little trub and hop particulate just drop out into the fermenter?

Long story short, what is the advantage of adding this type of filtration system to the process?

FYI: here is my system My system

Click to expand...

It basically just filters out hop particles and things like grain bits/husks that may have made their way into your kettle. I don't think it really does much in regards to hot/cold break...they can still pass through.

I added it at the same time I added a plate chiller. My biggest concern was just keeping hop particles out of the chiller. I whirlpool as well and let it rest for a couple minutes so the majority of solids are left behind in a nice little cone. But I was surprised by the amount of hops particles that this still manages to catch even after whirpooling. It's not absolutely necessary, but it gives me peace of mind knowing that those hop particles aren't getting trapped in my plate chiller.

microbusbrewery said:

It basically just filters out hop particles and things like grain bits/husks that may have made their way into your kettle. I don't think it really does much in regards to hot/cold break...they can still pass through.

I added it at the same time I added a plate chiller. My biggest concern was just keeping hop particles out of the chiller. I whirlpool as well and let it rest for a couple minutes so the majority of solids are left behind in a nice little cone. But I was surprised by the amount of hops particles that this still manages to catch even after whirpooling. It's not absolutely necessary, but it gives me peace of mind knowing that those hop particles aren't getting trapped in my plate chiller.

Click to expand...

microbusbrewery hits the nail on the head here. He is exactly right.

So if you don't have a plate chiller, this does not really have any advantage?

Too bad if true....It looks really cool

pilzner said:

So if you don't have a plate chiller, this does not really have any advantage?

Too bad if true....It looks really cool

Click to expand...

Well, not exactly. What I meant at least, is that if there is anything that does not get left behind in the trub pile, the filter will definitely catch it.
Even though the majority of the hop crud and grain particles will be avoided with your method, you will still be surprised by the amount of stuff that actually finds its way into the fermenter. You seem to only be thinking of "after the boil". However, a lot of consideration should be placed on what enters the BK to begin with. Even small grain particles and husks can contribute tannins to your beer if boiled.... In my opinion, your money will not be wasted if you decide to purchase one of these filters.

Got you, but I have no issues with grain particles. I recirculate my mash which ends up making a great pre-boil kettle filter.

And in regards with what makes it to the fermenter, what shouldn't be in the fermenter? The little hop particles and trub that make it in can't possibly make much of a difference. After all the big guys don't filter prior to the fermenter do they? Don't they just whirlpool for the most part?

I just want to know if this makes better beer.

pilzner said:

And in regards with what makes it to the fermenter, what shouldn't be in the fermenter? The little hop particles and trub that make it in can't possibly make much of a difference. After all the big guys don't filter prior to the fermenter do they? Don't they just whirlpool for the most part?

Click to expand...

Based on what I've read, you want to avoid as much hot break as possible but like you said this can typically be done by whirlpooling then giving it enough time to settle out. Hop particles are commonly grouped in with what we refer to as trub, but I've never read anything that suggested that hop particles in the fermenter are beneficial to yeast health. My understanding is it's the proteins, carbs, etc from cold break that's beneficial to yeast health. For all-grain brewers there's typically an abundance of cold break, much more than the yeast can utilize. As mentioned before, cold break will pass through this filter so you'll still get planty of cold break. If you're harvesting yeast, filtering out hop particles is beneficial as you'll have a cleaner yeast cake.

Re the pro's, I'm not one but I've seen a few posts in pro forums where they talk about trying to remove a lot of the cold break. I can't remember all the reasons but I remember two of them were shelf life/stability of the finished product and repitching clean healthy yeast. Some of them use coolships, horizontal tanks, etc, to try to remove a lot of the cold break before the wort is transferred to the fermenter. So it sounded like they were still getting some cold break in the fermenter, but not more than was needed.

pilzner said:

I just want to know if this makes better beer.

Click to expand...

I'd say it depends on a lot of different variables like your process, your system, and maybe even the style of beer you're brewing. In my opinion it's not a yes/no answer. It's kind of like asking if a custom brew sculpture will result in brewing better beer...maybe. My completely subjective answer is it wouldn't make things any worse. That is assuming cleaning, sanitizing, and storing another piece of brewing equipment isn't an issue.

All that said, if you're not using a plate chiller and you're not harvesting yeast and your equipment/processes havn't resulted in excess hop particles in your fermenter, then I'd spend my money elsewhere.

I have been thinking getting this filter for a while now. I don't care so much about getting cold break in the fermenter, but I do care about the hot break. Is it safe to say that this filter with the 0.2 mm screen will remove the hot break?

For easier clean up (collecting most the hops) would cycling the system kettle>pump>filter>pl.chiller>kettle work? Might help a bit with aerating too. Am I way off on my thinking?

Your connection sounds like the right way to go, but I am not so sure the filter, even with 0.2mm screen will remove any break material. That stuff is slimy and stringy and will probably cruise right on through.

It seems like most people are doing 5-10 gallon batches with this filter. Anybody doing larger batches with it at all? 20 to 40 maybe?

From reading the posts, it's roughly sounding like 10 gallons of a decently hopped batch might be about the limit per filter maybe?... that's an assumption on my part... Glacier Tanks has a similar filter, but with slightly larger holes.. 1/16" or about 1.6mm vs the .5mm of Brewers Hardware.

Anybody think that if you ran those inline with the 1.6mm hole filter before the .5mm hole filter, that you may catch some of the thicker stuff first to help with flow (and maybe filter bigger batches), or do you think it might just all flow right through the first one and still all end up in the smaller filter anyway?

My other thought was to perhaps put a "Y" or two in the line to the filter, and just run 2 or more filters in parallel and then bring them back to one line again before the plate chiller.

Anyway, just wondering if anybody has ever tried anything like that or if they seemed like they might work or not.... Thanks....

Kyle..

bull8042 said:

Here is an update on some changes I made recently and the results.
I wanted to re-plumb my system in order to place the filter on the output side of the pump and orient both pumps vertically to make them easier to prime. The wort pump on the bottom is mounted in rubber feet so when the tri-clovers are tightened, it pulls the pump upward slightly so it is not supporting the weight of the filter. My major concerns were pumping upwards into the filter and whether that would pose a problem or not. Well, it did. Apparently after I stopped recirculating the mash and sparging, the flow was flawless by the way, everything that was captured in the filter settled back into the bottom at the pump. So after the boil was complete and recirculation started, the filter nearly plugged completely. I had a very long and painful experience of trying to get the wort into the fermenter, taking nearly an hour to drain the BK.
Examining the filter, I found what couldn't have amounted to much more than a couple of tablespoons of grain and hop residue on the filter. WTF?!?! Apparently, after everything settled when the sparge finished, restarting the flow stirred it all up and gave it the perfect opportunity to find every single opening in the filter to plug.
So, it seems to be quite important to flow into the top of the filter. I believe when the flow stops in this configuration, the particulate settles to the bottom. Then when flow starts again, it would sort of rinse what is already in there off the screen to some degree freeing up more surface area to handle any newly introduced particles.
Fortunately, the plumbing is just temporary and I haven't cut and bent any more stainless yet. So I am going to move the wort pump to just above the water pump and dump the wort into the top of the filter, then exit the filter into the bottom of the HEX instead of the top. That will make draining the system completely easier as well.
I may try mounting the filter horizontally as well if I can get it to fit just to see if there are any benefits.
Don't be too critical on some of the tubing bends. I cobbled this together with what I already had on hand and had to re-bend some tubing to get everything to fit. Besides, I find that wort doesn't really care it tubing has a little ripple in the tubing wall.

Click to expand...

Bull, sweet setup. I also live in fort mill. Got a e-herms setup with this trub filter too. We should brew together man. I'm in Baxter.

I think I'm going to pull the trigger on this finally.

My goal is to run in the following order: BK > Pump > Filter > PL Chiller > BK (Whirlpool).

I will run this till my temp in BK is close to pitching. Then let rest. Sanitize fermenter, and then drain BK > Pump > Filter > Primary. I think this should reduce the most trub/break material possible before it reaches my primary.

My only question is... Will a heating element interfere with the whirlpool?

Never mind I found this. Looks like it will work too.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/whirlpool-electric-kettle-202947/index3.html

BDB said:

I think I'm going to pull the trigger on this finally.

My goal is to run in the following order: BK > Pump > Filter > PL Chiller > BK (Whirlpool).

I will run this till my temp in BK is close to pitching. Then let rest. Sanitize fermenter, and then drain BK > Pump > Filter > Primary. I think this should reduce the most trub/break material possible before it reaches my primary.

My only question is... Will a heating element interfere with the whirlpool?

Never mind I found this. Looks like it will work too.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/whirlpool-electric-kettle-202947/index3.html

Click to expand...

I tried this on my last batch and I clogged it twice. Normally I just do BK > pump > filter > plate chiller > fermenter. It's the only time I've ever managed to clog and I think it was probably my own fault - didn't let it sit long enough to things settle out. Also I just held my return line in place and I think it was stirring up the cone. It should work if you design it right, but my impromptu method obviously wasn't the best way to do it.

My plan involves one of these hooked right to the outlet of the BK, so it will go BK, filter, pump, HERMS (chiller), fermenter.

Yeah you can't put the wort through it twice because then all the cold break will clog the filter (unless maybe you cleaned the filter out between the runs)

I use a "grant" to recirculate my wort while chilling it. Immediately after flameout, I transfer the hot wort to a modified corny. I have a hop filter in the kettle. It takes about 5 min. to do this. I then hook the modified corny up to my chiller and pump and let it rip. Chilled wort goes back into the corny. Cold break is no problem for the plate chiller. It is the combo of hop debris plus HOT and cold break that cause plate chillers problems - that is why I get rid of them first.

mors said:

Yeah you can't put the wort through it twice because then all the cold break will clog the filter (unless maybe you cleaned the filter out between the runs)

Click to expand...

Are you saying that this continuous cycle wont work?

BK > Pump > Filter > PL Chiller > BK (Whirlpool)

I would only plan to run this way till my temp is at pitching. I could then let settle and go

BK > Pump > Fermenter.

I don't actually own one of these, but as microbusbrewery stated when he did this he clogged his. I would think you could go:

BK > Pump > Filter > PL Chiller > BK (Whirlpool)

just fine. It would probably work out ok as long as most the cold break was left behind in the whirlpool. Cold Break is what always clogs things up for me...