Best chiller

[Hamsterbite]

I may be wrong about this, but it seems to me that achieving faster chill times has much more to do with surface area and wort movement than how cold your chill water is, assuming its at least as cold as your desired pitch temp.

I say this because I've tried IC chilling starting from ice water temps an starting from low 70's. It didn't seem to make any appreciable difference in the time it took to get to low 70's.
I know this isn't scientific, but that's my gut feeling.
There may be very small efficiency advantages when you use water colder than desired pitch temps, but I have a feeling it's non linear and has diminishing returns.

 

[ScubaSteve]

The strengths of the plate and counterflow chillers are that they bring a small amount of wort near the coolant. It's a 1:1 exchange....very efficient. They can also be bolted into place as an integral part of the system. But they can be fussy, and I don't care what anyone says, they take more time to clean! After I got my plate chiller, I was mesmerized by how much crap came out when I back flushed it. It was like a game to see if I could get it super clean, and I couldn't leave it alone.

The IC can basically do the same thing as the other two, but you have to either move the chiller or the wort to pull the heat away. Cleanup is a quick scrub, just like your kettles.

I dug these videos up from a test I did with a 50' 1/2" IC. That thing dropped the ENTIRE wort volume almost a degree a second! Pretty dang close to any plate chiller.

[ame]http://youtu.be/OVGJab8SesA[/ame]

[ame]http://youtu.be/sp2M0hCjMBk[/ame]

 

[Hamsterbite]

Good stuff Scuba.

BTW, you wouldn't happen to frequent aquatic reef hobyist forums by the same handle would you?

 

[ScubaSteve]

Nope! But I get that a lot

 

[tarromantis]

Great feedback. I'm still going back and forth on what to get.

Question for you plate chiller users: Are your chilling times faster using a pump or gravity feed with your PC?...what kind of times are you getting at home compared to manufacturer claims?

Also, I've recently seen several posts describing the multiple steps needed to clean and sanitize a plate chiller. Since this many steps for sanitization wouldn't be a concern with an IC, is it worth the extra time since "claimed" chill times are basically equal?

 

[SligoDrinkingClub]

I looked around too and figured the best option was a Chillzilla, but like a cheap ass I wanted to buy one second hand. Too bad no one ever sells them.

After waiting too long I went with this;
http://www.dudadiesel.com/img/items/HX2340BWGH_ID1477-L.jpg

The DudaDiesel B3-23A 40 plate beer wort chiller. I have well water in NH that is cold! And my house pressure is 35ish psi, that cools 10 gallons of boiling wort as fast as my March pump can turn it over. I feel like the March pump is no challenge for it at all.

After I'm done With my brew day I cycle water through the plate chiller wort side to flush anything out, then I cycle my sanitizing water through, maybe 6 to 10 gallons worth. After that I just let it sit. At the start of brew day I boil around 5 gallons just to clean and sanitize everything, that water sent through the chiller has always came out clear for me and left me happy enough to feel it was clear and ready.