Can a plate chiller be hassle-free?

[bduane]

I really like the concept of a plate chiller but I really don't want to deal with clogging or difficult cleaning, even if it is only every once and a while. Is there a way to completely prevent that? I've read about hop spiders, but it sounds like some people still occasionally have a problem with them clogging. What further steps can you do to be sure it wont clog... ever? Impossible?

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

From what I have read you really are best to have a pump if you use a plate chiller, not just for the sake of faster transfer but also for the sanitation and cleaning (You run hot wort through the chiller to sanitize it before chilling). You also flush the chiller with cleanser after the transfer.

I looked at plate chillers with careful consideration a few weeks ago. All in all, I decided that despite its size, a CFC is the most convenient option for all but the fanciest homebreweries.

They are neat, they are small, and they take up less space assuming you already have a pump and an electrical source that you are using for other things. Otherwise, the CFC isn't far off from a performance standpoint.

 

[mikescooling]

IMHO, I have a pump but don't use it all the time. I flush the plate chiller for about ten min after each time I use it. On days where I clean stuff I soak it in PBW and run it through the dish washer. Before brew day, I pressure cook it for 15 min. It saves lots of time on brew day. If someone did not clean it after brewing, it would be hard to clean then. Most who start using a plate chiller, from then on will not use anything else. It is just so fast and easy. IMHO

 

[koopa]

40 batches with my plate chiller thus far and no problems at all. I do use a hop spider and after the brew day I back flush the chiller for 2 minutes, forward flush it for 2 minutes, then fill it up with warm pbw water and let it soak for an hour or two before draining it. When I'm feeling ambitious, I'll recirculate warm pbw through it with a pump for about 15 minutes but that only happens maybe every 5 batches or so.

 

[TopherM]

I don't think anything that you have to clean is "hastle free."

On the cooling scale, I'd rate the various methods as follows:

1) Overnight cooling - Hastle free, debatable santitation and off flavor downsides
2) Ice bath - most hastle, IMO, moderately efficient
2) Immersion Chiller - Low hastle, moderately efficient cooling
3) Counter flow chiller - medium hastle when it comes to cleaning, 2nd most efficient
4) Plate chiller - medium hastle when it comes to cleaning, most efficient cooling

SO, it is all give and take. I personally have a 30 plate chiller that I gravity feed, and have never had a problem with clogging using pellet hops. It takes me about 5 minutes during brewday and 5 minutes after brewday to clean and sanatize it. Given that I can cool 5 gallons of wort to about 75 in 12-13 minutes, I could care less about the hastle of 10 minutes of cleaning.

 

[DPBISME]

I bought a Blichmann therminator about a year ago... and have had a few problems..

NOT Blichmann's FAULT since I never worried about trub in my fermenters and had not yet developed any technique to fix this.

BUT you need to develop some technique to keep the "hops and trub out" before brew day.

• Use a Hop Spider, I use a 6 inch Spice Ball.
• Do the whirlpool
• Leave some wort behind with the hops and trub...

But like I said do this before you brew because when it is time to cool down the wort it is to late to figure out how NOT to clog up your "plate".


... and we all know you can have a DMS problem if the wort cools down slow...

 

[WVbrewer]

I've gone back and forth on this issue. I initially loved the plate chiller for it's efficiency and compact size. I used whirlfloc and whirpooled, and had virtually sediment free wort run through the chiller. It never clogged, but some hop bits would go through. I rinsed back and forth for several minutes, then starsaned and air dried after the brew session. 30 batches in and problems arose (about 6 infected batches). I pbw'd the chiller, baked it in a 500 degree oven, and rewashed with pbw. I used it again with no infection issues, washing with pbw after each brew. Then I had another series of infections despite trying to be meticulous about cleaning. I went back to my immersion chiller and have had not a single infection since. I know many people have never had a problem with their plate chiller, but until I can buy a homebrew size chiller that can be dissassembled and cleaned, I'm sticking with the immersion chiller.

 

[djdixon1995]

I have a 30 plate chiller and no pump and have been experimenting with ways to use a plate chiller and not use a hop spider (i.e. toss the pellet hops into the kettle with no filtering device). So far, the best method i've found is this: after boil, free drain the kettle into an ale pail lined with a paint strainer (all sanitized of course). Remove the strainer which now contains all the hop material etc and pour the wort back into the kettle and gravity feed through the plate chiller. That worked like a champ for me.

 

[pensphreak]

I've been using the Blichmann plate chiller for the last 10-12 brews and I love it. On brew day, I let the plate chiller sit in a bucket of StarSan prior to chilling. I use a hop spider and I whirlpool to avoid getting as much non-wort crap in the chiller. After the wort is chilled, I pump hot PBW through the chiller with a cheap fountain pump for about an hour. Then I air dry and store it for next time.

All in all, it's really not that much more work than I was doing previously. I just have to remember to cycle the PBW through right after I'm done.

 

[newbe]

I love my plate chiller... I use a hop spider and back flush after I'm done. Soak it in sanitizer and flush it once again on brew day.

Oh and I also have my plate chiller high enough so that when it falls into my carboy/bucket, it gets nice and aerated.

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

I have a 30 plate chiller and no pump and have been experimenting with ways to use a plate chiller and not use a hop spider (i.e. toss the pellet hops into the kettle with no filtering device). So far, the best method i've found is this: after boil, free drain the kettle into an ale pail lined with a paint strainer (all sanitized of course). Remove the strainer which now contains all the hop material etc and pour the wort back into the kettle and gravity feed through the plate chiller. That worked like a champ for me.

Clever. Maybe try getting a Stainless Steel or steel wool scrubby, dropping it into the wort, and then use a racking cane pressed directly against the scrubby to siphon.

 

[TopherM]

I have a 30 plate chiller and no pump and have been experimenting with ways to use a plate chiller and not use a hop spider (i.e. toss the pellet hops into the kettle with no filtering device). So far, the best method i've found is this: after boil, free drain the kettle into an ale pail lined with a paint strainer (all sanitized of course). Remove the strainer which now contains all the hop material etc and pour the wort back into the kettle and gravity feed through the plate chiller. That worked like a champ for me.

This is just a more difficult method than putting the hops in a strainer bag/hop spider in the boil in the first place!