Building a counterflow chiller

[jpuf]

Hi Folks,
I'm considering building a counterflow chiller. Anyone know where I can find a plan or instructions on how to do so? I hear a lot of folks use and love them.

Thanks,
Jpuf

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

Ummm, maybe...

 

[jpuf]

Well......duh....... Thanks!

 

[Bernie Brewer]

OK cheyco I have a question. All the posts I've read state that you can cool your wort in 5 mins or so with your CFC. That's great. Now when you add the time of running Star-san through before and after and also rinsing after, how much time is actually spent??? My immersion chiller cools the wort in about 20 mins, but all I have to do is drop it into the wort when hot. I am trying to figure out if I will truly come out ahead by building one of these or not. Keep in mind that, living in WI and having a well, water temp isn't an issue, even in summertime. I'd hate to go spending $70+ on a CFC and be really no better off than I am. What'cha think???

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

It's a bit more work for sure. The thing to remember is the the prep work is done while you're still boiling and the cleanup is done after the wort is in the fermenter. So, the time to chill the wort is quicker - you just have more to do before and after you do the chilling.
My ground water is also extremely cold, never above 40F even in the dead of summer, so my CFC works great with even the slightest trickle of cooling water.

Edit: With our water always so cold, I would build the next one with 1/2" tubing instead of 3/8" to get the wort through even faster.

 

[Reverend JC]

Running star san through the CFC is easy. Attach beer line to one end and the other to the spigot on the mash tun you have just sanitized. open the valve and BANG, you have a sanitized CFC. that takes 3 min. So 3 plus the 5, that i can verify(thanks for the design Chairman), you can sanatized, then cool boiling wort to 60 degrees in 8 min total.

Great design. the only way i would go back to an immersion is if i get off my ass and turn the 20 ft of 5/8 copper into and immersion chiller when i start doing bigger batchs, 15 gallons plus.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

Thanks guys. Now one more question: What about the cold break? With the immersion chiller I can let everything sit and settle for a few minutes before I transfer to the fermenter. With the CFC all the trub and hops will go into the fermenter, right? Or am I missing something??? Honest, guys I'm not trying to knock your CFCs, cuz they look great, I'm just trying to weigh all the pros and cons.

 

[the_bird]

You could filter out the hops with a bazooka screen or whathaveyou, but that wouldn't help with the cold break material. Cheyco, you ever have issues with the CFC clogging due to the cold break?

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

You will get cold-break into the fermentor. However, there really isn't that much material when compared to hot-break and hop debris. You will need to have some type of filter when running into the CFC. I use a kind of homemade hopstopper which I made out of SS window screen and it works fantastic.

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

Cheyco, you ever have issues with the CFC clogging due to the cold break?

Never, cold-break is usually very fine. It's really more of a cloudiness as opposed to the huge chunks of hot-break we're all accustomed to.

 

[Hopfan]

I built the CFC from Chairman's design and it works great. I built a homemade hop-stopper using washing machine lint trap screens. You can get them at any hardware store. The package I bought had 2 stainless screens and I put one inside the other as the mesh was a bit large. I was able to get all but 1/2 cup of wort out of my kettle and very little debris came with it.

 

[D*Bo]

I've been using the bazooka-T with very poor results.
Pelets-no flow
Plugs-very low flow. Takes longer to drain the kettle than cooling 10 gallons with a 3/8"x20' immersion chiller.