BIAB chilling options for 10g batches

[pretzelb]

What chilling options are people using for doing 10g batches? I recently upgraded to a single vessel (20g kettle) and I can't decide how I want to chill these 10g batches. I keep reading how CFC and chill plate users will run boiling water or sanitizer through the CFC prior to chilling, but with just a single biab kettle, I can't really do that during my boil without getting another vessel of some kind (which isn't single vessel anymore). I thought about a new giant IC that I could combine with my whirlpool but I can't find many posts about success stories with an IC and large batches. Plus I'm not sure how the large IC would work if I decided to do a 5g batch in my 20g kettle. I'm driving myself crazy on this one.

 

[Bobby_M]

I don't run boiling water through my plate chiller. I run the wort through for a minute or three at the end of the boil without the coolant so that every thing gets hot. Same would be done in tube in tube cfc.

 

[pretzelb]

I don't run boiling water through my plate chiller. I run the wort through for a minute or three at the end of the boil without the coolant so that every thing gets hot. Same would be done in tube in tube cfc.

I thought about that at first but then I feared getting hop material stuck in the plate chiller. I had thought a CFC would avoid that until I read some brew day procedures where they used hot water.

 

[bsperr]

I keep reading how CFC and chill plate users will run boiling water or sanitizer through the CFC prior to chilling, but with just a single biab kettle, I can't really do that during my boil without getting another vessel of some kind

You can do it without a second vessel. I also have a 20 gallon BIAB, and towards the end of the boil I pump the boiling wort through my CFC and back into a recirculation port on the kettle. After a few minutes of that, the CFC is sanitized. I can then adjust the water flow on the CFC to cool the entire batch down to hop stand temps if needed. When ready, I just rearrange my hoses to pump from the kettle through the chiller and into the fermenter and chill in a single pass.

 

[pretzelb]

You can do it without a second vessel. I also have a 20 gallon BIAB, and towards the end of the boil I pump the boiling wort through my CFC and back into a recirculation port on the kettle. After a few minutes of that, the CFC is sanitized. I can then adjust the water flow on the CFC to cool the entire batch down to hop stand temps if needed. When ready, I just rearrange my hoses to pump from the kettle through the chiller and into the fermenter and chill in a single pass.

I was going to lean toward the CFC and follow that step but I watched Darin from BrewBoss with his chilling procedures and it sounded like he used boiling water before using the CFC. Maybe he meant wort. I also thought I read Kal from Electic Brewery did the same but I can't find that now - plus he uses the hop blocker.

Do you filter your hops? Without a filter I would assume even a CFC would get gunked up during whirlpool.

 

[iijakii]

I do an IC for my BIAB and have done 10gal batches, works fine. I dont time it so I'm of no help to you. CFC would definitely be faster and more efficient, but I'm too cheap and lazy to get one, filter hops etc.

 

[Psylocide]

I throw it in the bucket after flameout and let science take its course.

 

[pretzelb]

I do an IC for my BIAB and have done 10gal batches, works fine. I dont time it so I'm of no help to you. CFC would definitely be faster and more efficient, but I'm too cheap and lazy to get one, filter hops etc.

Did you make the IC? I see some beefy ones for sale but no real stats behind them. Jamil claims with whirlpool it is fast but I can't find user experiences.

 

[iijakii]

I just bought a generic 50ft one. I dont even whirlpool anymore, but I stir with the chiller.

 

[TexasWine]

I do the same as @Bobby_M. 6 gallon batches with a plate chiller. Chills in no time with reasonable ground temp water, which is about 2 months of the year in Houston. And I do use something to hold my hops, be it my arbor fab strainer or Wilder bag.

 

[bsperr]

Do you filter your hops? Without a filter I would assume even a CFC would get gunked up during whirlpool.

I don't use a filter, and there's definitely a lot of hop gunk,trub, etc. in the kettle towards the end. The CFC hasn't plugged up during recirculation though (even the convoluted inner tube is at least around 3/8" ID I would guess). During my last batch, something got plugged up towards the end as I was pumping to my fermenter, but I don't think it was the CFC.