Advice needed on Chillers Plate or Counterflow

[canmorebrewguy]

Hello All,
I would like to poll the minds of HBT about chillers, I have only used a plate chiller once or twice and I am looking for advice on it the plate chiller or counterflow chiller is the way to go. I have very limited experience as I have used a friend rig only.

How many people have clogged a plate chiller?

Cheers,
CBG

 

[SilverZero]

You're going to get votes for both. There are dozens of threads comparing the two, and in the end it comes down to personal preference. They're really the same thing in terms of counterflow heat exchange, just different shapes.

CFC is easier to build yourself if you're into that, and cheaper. Plate chillers are compact and just as efficient, but that depends on your chilling water anyway. If you go for a plate chiller, get the longest one you can afford for efficiency. More plates is better, of course, and more expensive. If you filter relatively well during the brew and clean well after you'll be fine with the plate chiller. You'll need a pump for either one, gravity just won't do it (in my experience) unless you're high off the ground.

I personally built a CFC out of copper and PEX that will also be my HERMS coil (counterflow HERMS system). I haven't tested it yet because I've been on hiatus since August, but I've seen similar systems that allegedly work well.

 

[iijakii]

Even if a plate chiller was twice as effective (theyre not) it still wouldnt be worth the cleaning or potential clogging issues.

 

[Moose_MI]

After at least 20 batches where I used home made IC with a 2nd home made pre-chill IC I finally got a used Duda plate chiller. Have used it twice and it's one of the most satisfactory pieces of equipment that I've bought. I bag hops and whirlpool which I think lowers my risk of clogging and I'm careful to pump oxy clean through it in reverse for several minutes after so I'm not to worried about it clogging.
I'm not sure I would have one without a pump but that's just my opinion. I also think a really high quality IC (like from Jaded) used properly can be just as effective.
Like most things in this hobby it sort of depends on what you want to do but given how many folks use plate chillers I wouldn't let the fear of clogging be the biggest factor in your decision.

Brew on!

 

[saazall]

I have used plate chillers for about 10 years. As long as I used a little filtering like a SS scrubby over the dip tube, I have never had any clogging issues. I have been running a Duda chiller with a pump system without a filter lately with no real issues, but I use hop extract and a spider.
As far as sanitation, I pump PBW through it right after use and pump boiling wort through it 10 minutes before flameout. NEVER had an infected batch. Before I had the pump, I just boiled it in water for 30 minutes in the kettle. The important thing is to back flush it out right after you use it, hot water then PBW.

 

[augiedoggy]

Even if a plate chiller was twice as effective (theyre not) it still wouldnt be worth the cleaning or potential clogging issues.

in some cases this is true but in others depending in hardware its not really...
I use a stainless hop spider and additional braided stainless filter on my dip tube and after 2 years of using my plate chiller I can say I've had zero issues or evidence of ever having any solids in it at all... and my fermenters are trub free for the most part.
I love my Duda diesel plate chiller...
That said counter flow chillers have the advantage in many systems because they are more forgiving when it comes to trub and easy to clean...

I pump pbw through my plate chiller every few brew sessions. I do also pump hot wort for a couple minutes prior to chilling water to sanitize.

 

[Duda_Energy]

Counterflow is certainly easier to clean. But if you use a good hops filter and backflush after each batch, you shouldn't have clogs in the first place. By and large the people who clog their plate chillers don't have a hops filter at all (usually planning on getting one down the line, but haven't yet).

And I'd also argue that plate chillers can be 20 times more effective than a CFC - it just depends on how long of one you buy.


But then I'm probably a bit biased in this conversation.

 

[cod3ck]

I went with an IC Hydra from Jaded. Primary reason was leaving cold break in the BK and stupid easy/fast to clean (just hose it down when you're done!).

If you have a pump, a whirl pool arm (I attached mine to my Hydra) makes this solution just as slick as a CFC or plate chiller.

 

[hbohnet]

I have a cheap 10 plate chiller from Ontario Beer Kegs and after 10+ batches through it have not problems what so ever. I use a hop stopper and there is a small amount of hops that makes it through but no issues with plugging. Canmore water is quite cold this time of year and can chill 12 gal in well under 5 min.
If I had some extra cash I would buy a good quality CFC simply because they are easier to clean and there is almost zero chance of plugging if somehow a slug of hops made it out of the BK.

 

[hio3791]

Both do the job equally well... My CFC worked like a charm for years. Recently, I got a long 30 plate Duda. In my last brew, I ran the pump wide open, wort was coming out at 62F. I never chilled 11 gal so quickly. With the CFC, I always had to throttle the pump back.

 

[stevehaun]

I have used both. I used a CFC for years. When I switched from 15 gallon batches to 30 gallon batches, I needed the efficiency of a plate chiller. I have a good filtering system and use whole hops. I have never had any problems and I have used it for over 5 years.

 

[LandoLincoln]

Hello All,
I would like to poll the minds of HBT about chillers, I have only used a plate chiller once or twice and I am looking for advice on it the plate chiller or counterflow chiller is the way to go. I have very limited experience as I have used a friend rig only.

How many people have clogged a plate chiller?

Cheers,
CBG

Quite a few times. I hate those things. I tried quite a few different ways to filter out the hops but my chiller still gave me problems. Getting a clogged chiller at the end of a brew day royally sucks. Cleaning them is a royal pain as well.

I made my own counterflow chiller and it made a world of difference. No need for filtering anymore. Easy as pie.

 

[augiedoggy]

In a nut shell you have different people with dramatically different experiences with the same products here... one guys idea of filtering may not be the same as another and so on....
I have had absolutely zero evidence of any trub in my plate chiller... I will Guess? its because im doing something thats working well? I guess it would help if I share what DOES work well with my plate chiller.

I drain my kettle in one pass through my plate chiller directly to my fermenters. I know I have good filtering because there usually no real trub to speak of when I open my drain valve on my conical fermenters..

I also use a small dc 24v pump and usually pump the wort through my chiller at about 1-1.5 gallons per minute depending on ground water temps. maybe that makes some sort of difference?

I also recirculate my mash which means totally clear wort goes into my boil kettle. Like I mentioned before some trub gets through my hop basket but the 30" braided line attached to my dip tube and wrapped around the circumfirence of my boil kettle seems to catch pretty much all of it.
Oh yeah I also use a different port to pump my wort into the kettle than the one thats attached to the diptube for draining...

here is a pic it looks dirty but its just water. Well besides the grubby looking hop screen I cant seem to get clean even with long pbw soaks..

the hose from my boil kettle to my chiller input at the bottom of the chiller where the pump is attached is missing but you get the point.