Chill 30 gallons of wort?

[Butterstuffs]

Anyone know of an efficient way to chill 30 gallons (unless I get a bigger fermenter then 55 gallons) of wort?

I use a block chiller for my 10 gal setup and it works like a dream. With the block chiller though I'm always worried about how clean it really is. I sanitize it really good but what if some stuff was left behind, ya know. I also use a wort chiller (little spiral coil thingy).

So whats the best way to chill this much wort to pitching temps?

Just curious and have come into a sum of money that I plan on using to expand my brewery to a larger level.

Thanks for your help Also if anyone knows of any sites that sell brewing equipment for cheap let me know I always love a deal. If not Ill just use northern brewer lol.

 

[evandena]

I think the same cooling methods apply, it will just take longer.
Personally, I use and am happy with a counter flow chiller.

 

[day_trippr]

If a "block chiller" is aka "plate chiller", you can always strip off all its fittings and gaskets and bake it in the oven long enough to assure that if there was anything left in it, it's been rendered inert.

Any chiller will benefit from immediate cleaning after use, and plate chillers in particular benefit from high-flow reverse-flushing of the wort side. But, worst come to worst, a good bake should provide extra assurance of sanitation...

Cheers!

 

[Golddiggie]

I circulate boiling hot wort through my plate chiller before turning on the chill water. I also recirculate while it's chilling, initially, to get the batch to a lower temperature before I send it to the fermenter. You could use this same method for your batches, provided the plate chiller is of the correct size. Look at Duda Diesel for the plate chiller to do the job with the size batches you want to make. I have the long 40 plate chiller now, which I believe won't have any issue chilling 30 gallons (or more). It just takes a bit more time to run the wort through it.

BTW, chill water hose ID is an important factor for getting plate chillers to work better. Higher chill water flow rates make for higher efficiency. Duda Diesel has a chart showing the GPM rate of the source to how long it takes to chill the wort (10 gallon batch size if I recall). By getting the flow rates where they need to be, you can get very efficient chill rates/times.