Therminator and Hopback questions

[PitsPale]

Hey everyone -

I'm trying to improve my wort cooling process - I currently use an immersion chiller.

I'm looking at the therminator - any good?
1) Is it easy to sanitize? Can you just run boiling wort through it for a few minutes to handle sanitation?
2) Would a pump definitely be better than gravity?
3) What about the cold break? Any impact?

Also - it would seem that you need to filter out hop particles... I've seen a "hop back" mentioned. What is it? I was thinking about using a bazooka tube to handle most of the filtering. Would that work?

Thanks,
Andy

 

[Brooklyn-Brewtality]

I have no experience with plate chillers, but i can answer some of what you asked.

A hopback is not for filtering hops out of wort, but as a means of forcing the wort through a bed of hops on its way to the fermenter.

And i would not recommend the bazooka tube if you will be using pellet hops (and who isn't these days). it clogs very easily

 

[PitsPale]

Do you have a recommendation to filter out hops (yes, I'm using pellets)? What works?

 

[raceskier]

I use a Shirron plate chiller. I have a homemade hopstopper and have had no problems plugging the chiller with hops or cold break material. I clean by backflushing, soaking in take your pick: Oxyclean PBW, B-Brite and sanitize with Starsan or Iodophor. Gravity feeding, I cool 5.5 gallons from boiling to 80F in 20 minutes.

My only comment would be on pellet only hops. My hopstopper will not work with pellets only. It will plug up. Using as little as a quarter ounce of leaf hops with the rest pellets, provides a sufficient filter bed to keep the hopstopper from plugging. Someone here, can't recall who, reports using large paint strainer bags for siphoning from the kettle with pellets only, with good results, however, I believe that's with an immersion chiller.

 

[ScubaSteve]

You should use the search function for this. There's a LOT of info available, much more than any one person can provide you with. Bottom line, if you're doing anything but large batches (20+) a Shirron will work very well for you.

It has been shown that plate chillers work fantastic for cooling, but still harbor significant amounts of organic materials and residues in spite of vigilant cleaning. Whether or not these residues truly impact the quality of your beer remains to be seen, but some people have reported problems with infections related to their plate chiller.

Bottom line, if you get a plate chiller, you better be ready to spend some time cleaning it, as well as working with some nasty chemicals (like caustic) to do the job.

 

[billtzk]

ScubaSteve, what caustic to folks use? Regular ol' Washing Soda (sodium carbonate)?

 

[ScubaSteve]

No, I think the closest thing for household use is Lye. But it can be dangerous stuff. I've never used it, so maybe someone else can comment. Apparently, you gotta clean the hell out of those chillers. Brewboard.com has the infamous plate chiller thread here:Think your plate chiller is clean? Think again. - BrewBoard

 

[PitsPale]

Bottom line, if you get a plate chiller, you better be ready to spend some time cleaning it, as well as working with some nasty chemicals (like caustic) to do the job.

That's fine... but why couldn't you just pump boiling wort through it for a few minutes prior to flame out, much like people do to "sterilize" their immersion chiller? I currently use an IC, and get it as clean as possible before brewing and in the last 5 minutes or so of the boil, put it in the pot. Been doing it for years with no issues whatsoever. Again, I get all vegetable (hop) matter and anything really gross off the chiller BEFORE dropping it in.

Why wouldn't the same technique work for a plate chiller and a pump? instead of running cold water through it, you just run hot wort throuth it and back into the kettle? Seems that would work well..

 

[PitsPale]

Bottom line, if you get a plate chiller, you better be ready to spend some time cleaning it, as well as working with some nasty chemicals (like caustic) to do the job.

That's fine... but why couldn't you just pump boiling wort through it for a few minutes prior to flame out, much like people do to "sterilize" their immersion chiller? I currently use an IC, and get it as clean as possible before brewing and in the last 5 minutes or so of the boil, put it in the pot. Been doing it for years with no issues whatsoever. Again, I get all vegetable (hop) matter and anything really gross off the chiller BEFORE dropping it in.

Why wouldn't the same technique work for a plate chiller and a pump? instead of running cold water through it, you just run hot wort throuth it and back into the kettle? Seems that would work well..

 

[ScubaSteve]

A lot of people do that....you can even put a plate chiller in the oven if you want. You'll probably kill everything that's in there, but you'll never get everything out. There's just way too many channels. You can't really compare it to an IC, the surfaces are all exposed on an IC and can be inspected/cleaned. If it doesn't bother you, have at it...I just thought I'd let you know that they can be labor intensive.