Ultimate Counterflow Chiller Perf & Value: Fight!

[biertourist]

There are some pretty interesting options in the high efficiency counterflow chiller world these days; some of which there just isn't much feedback or data on.

These are the 4 most interesting ones available currently, IMHO:

• Bargain Home Brew Copper Convoluted $169 (+shipping)
  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...SIN=B0064OE20A&linkCode=as2&tag=hombrefin-20
  Pros/ Cons Pretty unbeatable price except pretty much the same as William's stainless version. I'd LOVE to see side-by-side chilling perf numbers but all I see is rumors and conjecture of how they MIGHT perform side-by-side on this and other forums; no real data to back it up. ; (
  
• Williams Brewing's Stainless Convoluted $180 (+shipping)
  http://www.williamsbrewing.com/STAINLESS-CONVOLUTED-COUNTERFLOW-CHILLER-P3452C107.aspx
  Pros/Cons: Great price for a stainless convoluted CFC, BUT I can't find ANY information on it's performance; I love that it can be used to recirculate back into the kettle to chill the total volume of wort and whirlpool and that it's pretty clog resistant and easier to keep clean than a plate chiller. I'm looking for chilling DATA and I wish they had a TC version. I'm curious about mounting camlocks on the wort sides, too.
  
• Jaded Brewing CFC $185 with MPT ends
  http://jadedbrewing.com/products/the-jaded-cfc
  Pros/Cons: Claims 300% faster chilling than top of the line convoluted counterflow chillers (shouldn't be too hard as the convoluted CFCs are only 12' in length). Unfortunately it takes up more room than a convoluted CFC but the ease of cleaning is definitely a bonus. I'm not sure that the cost is quite justified but it really depends upon the total feet of copper. This is certainly a great option but my guess is that it reduces flow pretty significantly and can't be used to recirculate back into the kettle.
  They would be perfect for me except that their money back guarantee is only valid up until you actually use the chiller..!?! -If I could test out the Jaded CFC and turn it in for the recirc model if it didn't fit my needs that would probably push me over the edge to getting this option.
  
• Jaded Brewing Cyclone CFC (recirc) $150 with MPT ends
  http://jadedbrewing.com/products/the-jaded-cfc
  Pros/Cons: I REALLY like this one except compared to the larger JaDeD CFC, which uses twice as much copper the price seems a bit "off"; they also charge $20 for the MPT fitting on this model and only $10 on the larger CFC. The question is really for me whether my kettle hop filtration could even support recirculation into a whirlpool without clogging; the combination of hops AND all break material and a fast flow rate makes running at a fast enough rate to get a whirlpool pretty tough.

Jaded Brewing seems to have pulled their performance data from their website on their new CFC models although the (dead) link is still there; this makes me think that maybe the perf estimates were questioned.


I'd LOOOOVE to see some real performance data on the Jaded and William's chillers if anyone's got it but it seems pretty difficult to come by...



Adam