Chiller recommendations for 1bbl system

[kcinpdx]

Hi all - I’m looking for some ideas for chilling large batches. I’ve been using the cyclone from Jaded for 10 gallons but it’s slow and wasteful for 1 bbl. I borrowed a plate chiller but it clogs easily and seems slow too. I may be using it wrong..... I’d like to find something easy to clean and fast/efficient. I’m not convinced that copper is the boogie man, so material is not super important.

 

[Moose_MI]

Ive been thinking serious about going to Cyclone to replace my Therminator for 15G. You’re not happy with it?

 

[day_trippr]

Big-bore counter-flow chiller might work. Certainly much less prone to capturing hop fragments...

Cheers!

 

[SanPancho]

Stout makes a CFC that is supposed to be ok for 1bbl batches. Dexpends on your water temp obviously. It works well if you intend to drop temps for WP before knockout.
otherwise its the sabco plate chiller, which works well but requires adapters to go from 3/4 tc to standard 1.5 tc. (Or whatever you use). but it’s not cheap.

not uncOrmon for folks to string two cfcs inline.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Bigger batch needs bigger immersion chiller. Otherwise, a heat exchanger (whether plate or counterflow) is your only real option. Unless you feel like shelling out for a plate heatex you can break apart periodically (most of the small ones I've seen are fused, though at 1bbl the little homebrew ones are probably a bit small), I would go big counterflow, or string together two of em or something.

 

[coolitfast]

Hi all - I’m looking for some ideas for chilling large batches. I’ve been using the cyclone from Jaded for 10 gallons but it’s slow and wasteful for 1 bbl. I borrowed a plate chiller but it clogs easily and seems slow too. I may be using it wrong..... I’d like to find something easy to clean and fast/efficient. I’m not convinced that copper is the boogie man, so material is not super important.

Please check out our Brutus or Maxx either sounds like they will work for you
https://www.exchilerator.com/

 

[Jtvann]

Please check out our Brutus or Maxx either sounds like they will work for you
https://www.exchilerator.com/

I swear this looks almost too good to be true. I've got a jaded hydra for my 12 gallon batches and love it. I'd be scared of going too much bigger. It would work for a 1bbl, but it would be a lot of water waste.

If I ever go bigger, I'm going to try you guys out. The blue version looks very nice and the price is good for what it advertises.

 

[kcinpdx]

Ive been thinking serious about going to Cyclone to replace my Therminator for 15G. You’re not happy with it?

I actually like it but just won’t cut it for 1 bbl. 10 was good though

 

[kcinpdx]

Please check out our Brutus or Maxx either sounds like they will work for you
https://www.exchilerator.com/

The Brutus is on my radar for sure. My ground water is 60 or so. Any idea on cooling times for 1 bbl sizes?

 

[kcinpdx]

Bigger batch needs bigger immersion chiller. Otherwise, a heat exchanger (whether plate or counterflow) is your only real option. Unless you feel like shelling out for a plate heatex you can break apart periodically (most of the small ones I've seen are fused, though at 1bbl the little homebrew ones are probably a bit small), I would go big counterflow, or string together two of em or something.

I can’t stomach the cost for a real one right now. We need to buy more kegs first!

 

[kcinpdx]

I thought of a new idea. What if I combine the two I already have? The cycl is great for knocking down the temp for hop stands. I could recirculate during hop stands, cooling or not. When done with hop stand, or when I’m down to a certain temp, Place the return hose into a hop spider to catch debris. At some point use a three way valve to switch to the plate chiller and into the FV. So cyclone w recirc, then recirc into spider, then switch wort and water flow to plate chiller into FV.

 

[Jtvann]

I had a thread on here a long time ago asking how breweries chilled their wort. I wanted to try to replicate it on my system. The reason I asked is because of my plate chiller always clogging. If you whirlpool good and create a solid cone, plate chillers work great. If you dont, they clog.

Use your cyclone to get below 160-170. Whirlpool and let a solid cone settle down. Then you should be able to slowly recirculate and chill without messing up the cone.

I was choosing to go one pass through the plate chiller into the fermenter after making the cone.

I've since got a jaded hydra and said screw making a cone and just pump it all on in. That's for my 12 gallons batches though.

 

[Moose_MI]

I’m surprised to be hearing that cyclone is not effective for 10-15G batches. Is this really true? I was seriously about to pull the trigger. I’m doing 15G and I like to get my wort down to around 80F when going into FV. I let the freezer take care of getting it into the 60s. My therminator probably takes about 50G of water and 30min to do this. I collect most of the hot water for washing. Overall this is acceptable for me...I’m just tired of the plate chiller cleaning and clogging and restricting my whirlpool recirculation.

I used a pre-chiller when I did 10G and had an IC. Worked really well but a bit of a pain to set up.

 

[kcinpdx]

I’m surprised to be hearing that cyclone is not effective for 10-15G batches. Is this really true? I was seriously about to pull the trigger. I’m doing 15G and I like to get my wort down to around 80F when going into FV. I let the freezer take care of getting it into the 60s. My therminator probably takes about 50G of water and 30min to do this. I collect most of the hot water for washing. Overall this is acceptable for me...I’m just tired of the plate chiller cleaning and clogging and restricting my whirlpool recirculation.

I used a pre-chiller when I did 10G and had an IC. Worked really well but a bit of a pain to set up.

Sorry I was not clear. It’s great for 10-15 gallons. But it has struggled with 31+ in terms oof how long it takes I do recommend it for the smaller sizes.

 

[Moose_MI]

Sorry I was not clear. It’s great for 10-15 gallons. But it has struggled with 31+ in terms oof how long it takes I do recommend it for the smaller sizes.

Cool..thanks..apologies for hijacking your thread. Bump me if you want to sell your cyclone.