biertourist
Well-Known Member
This weekend I was lucky enough to get to test out what is likely the final prototype of a new counterflow chiller from BrickRiverBrew.com. I don't want to spoil Kenny's big reveal so obviously the final chiller might be slightly different and I'm not going to give away the current proposed name but I'm going to post my initial testing results and why I've been so excited about this chiller.
Prototype Specs:
The reasons I settled on BrickRiverBrew's hopefully soon-to-be-released UBER chiller:
Things I would change:
Kenny should REALLY start using lead-free brass or stainless fittings on the production chiller. I'm pretty sure he's going to as I believe that he does that on his current production chillers; I think I was just extra lucky because I was beta testing a prototype. -"Pickling" brass is ok, but I'd really prefer to not worry about lead at all.
Testing Results:
Chilling Testing:
My water is 50F here in Seattle. I was chilling 5.5 gallons of boiling water with the wort-out ball valve 100% open; this was a recirculated chilling test that dumps the cold water out of the chiller back into the kettle to bring the total volume of water down in temperature -this is a worst-case test and should take longer than a direct pitch to the fermenter-style chilling. This is how I plan on using the chiller so it's what I tested.
1 minute - the boil kettle thermometer was down to 164F and the temperature on the chiller's "wort out" was reading 79F
2 minutes- the boil kettle thermometer was down to 138F -now below the DMS formation temperature and really this is as far as you need to recirculation chill -I can pitch straight to my fermenter at this point if I want; "wort out" was reading 76F"
3 minutes- the boil kettle thermometer was down to 120F and the chiller's "wort out" was reading 71F
-At this point in my actual brew day I'd let the kettle rest for 10-15 minutes to form a good hop/trub cone and my side pickup tube could then pull off only clear wort and go one last pass through the counterflow chiller into the fermenter with the ball valve opened at about 25% -to slow the flow so that I don't disturb the trub pile and to really get the lowest possible pitching temps for lagers. -For ales, I will have to actually slow down the water flow so I don't chill down too much.
At this point I wanted to test closing the wort flow ball valve down to 75%, 50% and 25% and test the temperature on the way to the fermenter; again at 100% open I was still hitting 71F but everything happened so fast that I had already emptied the kettle at this point. Needless to say a slower flow would have you rapidly approaching the water temps.
HERMS Test
Well, I should've thought out my test methodology a bit better as I picked a slightly high-ish mash temp and then set my HLT to 175F. So i had the mashtun @ 153F and the HLT @ 175F (not a huge temp difference to show off the perf) -I should've started at protein rest temps in the MLT... -Oops!
Regardless within 90 seconds both vessels were within 5 degrees of each other. I tested with only 5 1/2 gallons in each vessel and if I would have been thinking I would've put a larger quantity in the HLT. From this point I cranked the HLT up to 100% electricity output (4500 watt electric element) and the HLT and MLT rose together as if they were one vessel; honestly I think one of my thermometers is slightly off and they were likely much closer in temp -I have an insulated mashtun so almost all heat loss is in the HLT keggle.
Not the greatest test for this part, but I think it highlighted the insane efficiency that the temps converged in less than a minute and a half and both vessels rose in temp as I applied heat to the HLT with no appreciable lag time.
Very, very happy with my choice and I hope that Kenny makes it available as a for-sale product AND that he goes with 100% lead free fittings and solder.
Adam
It's just crazy that in 2 minutes I can be BELOW DMS formation temps with 5.5 gallons in the kettle; I'd estimate 4 minutes for a 10 gallon batch with 11 gallons in the kettle and this is in a worst-case recirculation chilling. Then with the wort valve open 100% I was hitting 71F temps straight o the fermenter; I can't wait to see what temps I can hit @ 25% open I'm hoping to chill to near lager temps within minutes!
Prototype Specs:
- 20 ft of copper & PEX heat exchange surface
- Copper is 1/2" OD
- PEX tubing is 1"
- The water side of the chiller (between the outside of the copper tubing and the inside of the PEX tubing) contains BrickRiver's "special sauce" 10 gauge non-metallic co-helical wire wrap. It creates increased turbulence and results in a longer flow trip around the the outside of the tube this dramatically increases the efficiency of the heat exchange. It begins to approach the efficiency levels of convoluted copper but only the water side has this co-helical tubing which means that the wort side is still incredibly easy to clean. (don't forget that it's almost twice as long as typical convoluted counterflow chillers, too)
- Came with a stainless ball valve and threaded 1/2" NPT fittings for the wort side and garden hose connectors for the water side.
The reasons I settled on BrickRiverBrew's hopefully soon-to-be-released UBER chiller:
- I wanted a very high efficiency counterflow chiller that could double as both a chiller and a heat exchanger (HEX) for my HERMS system.
- Because I'm using the counterflow chiller as a HERMS HEX I needed it to be food safe for hot water; this ruled out any garden hose-based counterflow chillers and makes PEX a perfect materials choice.
- I wanted a chiller that is easy to clean. Convoluted counterflow chillers are still better than plate chillers in this regard but they have lots of nooks and crannies where crud can hide; this chiller's wort side is just normal, smooth 1/2" copper tubing.
- I was afraid that the 12' maximum length of most convoluted counterflow chillers wouldn't be enough to give me the performance levels that I was looking for.
- Most counterflow chillers restrict flow considerably. I whirlpool chill in my boil kettle at the end of the boil to maintain maximum hop aroma and to rapidly get below DMS formation temps so I needed a really good flow to create a strong whirlpool; the new experimental chiller I tested had 1" PEX tubing which prevents restrictions on the cold water side AND has less restrictions on the wort side as the inside of the copper tubing is smooth. (increased wort flow vs. convoluted tubing)
- I brew indoors as I have an electric brewery so UV light exposure isn't a concern in my brewery and I can easily cover the coils in aluminum wrap if I so desire.
- Leaving Trub and Hops Behind: Hop separation was a MASSIVE problem in my previous brewery so a whirlpool keggle was a "must" in my new brewery; the MAXX chiller lets me get a good whirlpool which not only settles hop pellets but also (see next bullet)
- Rapidly chilling the whole volume- this is the huge benefit of immersion chillers and generally counterflow chillers are horrible at it, but when you have a chiller that doesn't restrict flow you can recirculation chill back into the kettle and still get a good whirlpool and chill rapidly
- It let's me leave Trub / Cold Break proteins behind in the kettle and transfer cold wort
- Dropping straight to lager temps: I have 50F water here in Seattle and this chiller can get me down to a 50F pitching temperature. -I actually have to continue recirculating in the boil kettle for longer than it takes to chill the beer so that I can get a good trub/hop pile. The chiller isn't the bottleneck; good cone formation is. (Crazy to say that.)
Things I would change:
Kenny should REALLY start using lead-free brass or stainless fittings on the production chiller. I'm pretty sure he's going to as I believe that he does that on his current production chillers; I think I was just extra lucky because I was beta testing a prototype. -"Pickling" brass is ok, but I'd really prefer to not worry about lead at all.
Testing Results:
Chilling Testing:
My water is 50F here in Seattle. I was chilling 5.5 gallons of boiling water with the wort-out ball valve 100% open; this was a recirculated chilling test that dumps the cold water out of the chiller back into the kettle to bring the total volume of water down in temperature -this is a worst-case test and should take longer than a direct pitch to the fermenter-style chilling. This is how I plan on using the chiller so it's what I tested.
1 minute - the boil kettle thermometer was down to 164F and the temperature on the chiller's "wort out" was reading 79F
2 minutes- the boil kettle thermometer was down to 138F -now below the DMS formation temperature and really this is as far as you need to recirculation chill -I can pitch straight to my fermenter at this point if I want; "wort out" was reading 76F"
3 minutes- the boil kettle thermometer was down to 120F and the chiller's "wort out" was reading 71F
-At this point in my actual brew day I'd let the kettle rest for 10-15 minutes to form a good hop/trub cone and my side pickup tube could then pull off only clear wort and go one last pass through the counterflow chiller into the fermenter with the ball valve opened at about 25% -to slow the flow so that I don't disturb the trub pile and to really get the lowest possible pitching temps for lagers. -For ales, I will have to actually slow down the water flow so I don't chill down too much.
At this point I wanted to test closing the wort flow ball valve down to 75%, 50% and 25% and test the temperature on the way to the fermenter; again at 100% open I was still hitting 71F but everything happened so fast that I had already emptied the kettle at this point. Needless to say a slower flow would have you rapidly approaching the water temps.
HERMS Test
Well, I should've thought out my test methodology a bit better as I picked a slightly high-ish mash temp and then set my HLT to 175F. So i had the mashtun @ 153F and the HLT @ 175F (not a huge temp difference to show off the perf) -I should've started at protein rest temps in the MLT... -Oops!
Regardless within 90 seconds both vessels were within 5 degrees of each other. I tested with only 5 1/2 gallons in each vessel and if I would have been thinking I would've put a larger quantity in the HLT. From this point I cranked the HLT up to 100% electricity output (4500 watt electric element) and the HLT and MLT rose together as if they were one vessel; honestly I think one of my thermometers is slightly off and they were likely much closer in temp -I have an insulated mashtun so almost all heat loss is in the HLT keggle.
Not the greatest test for this part, but I think it highlighted the insane efficiency that the temps converged in less than a minute and a half and both vessels rose in temp as I applied heat to the HLT with no appreciable lag time.
Very, very happy with my choice and I hope that Kenny makes it available as a for-sale product AND that he goes with 100% lead free fittings and solder.
Adam
It's just crazy that in 2 minutes I can be BELOW DMS formation temps with 5.5 gallons in the kettle; I'd estimate 4 minutes for a 10 gallon batch with 11 gallons in the kettle and this is in a worst-case recirculation chilling. Then with the wort valve open 100% I was hitting 71F temps straight o the fermenter; I can't wait to see what temps I can hit @ 25% open I'm hoping to chill to near lager temps within minutes!
