Chillers

[tommy24a]

which is the most effective at bringing down wort temps CF chiller or Plate chiller? Have CF now and here in northeast with the hot weather we have been having the water only cools the wort to about 80 degrees. Dropping that to pitching temp is a real bear. Another issue is Fermenting in a conical with a temp coil (spike cf30) and water source to circulate is a container of water in chest freezer. Freezer is set to 37. Basement temp about 80 degrees.

 

[Vale71]

which is the most effective at bringing down wort temps CF chiller or Plate chiller?

Whichever is largest.

Another issue is Fermenting in a conical with a temp coil (spike cf30) and water source to circulate is a container of water in chest freezer. Freezer is set to 37.

That won't work, you need the cooling coils to actually be in the cooling fluid.

 

[easttex]

which is the most effective at bringing down wort temps CF chiller or Plate chiller? Have CF now and here in northeast with the hot weather we have been having the water only cools the wort to about 80 degrees. Dropping that to pitching temp is a real bear. Another issue is Fermenting in a conical with a temp coil (spike cf30) and water source to circulate is a container of water in chest freezer. Freezer is set to 37. Basement temp about 80 degrees.

Run tap water through your CFC until it maxes out at 80°F. Then switch over and pump ice water through your CFC to get the temperature lower.

You can only cool your wort to just above your chiller water temp and if your tap water is 80°F, that's about all you'll get. No matter what design you use, you have to get the chiller water colder than pitching temp to bring your wort down as low as you want.

 

[Golddiggie]

I'm pulling my chill water from the faucet in the furnace room. Which means it's NOT running through ~100 feet of hose outside before getting to my plate chiller. With the water much closer to well temperature I'm chilling batches in less than 10 minutes (8-9 gallons in about 5-6 minutes) to pitch temperature or between 60F and 70F. I chilled a 12 gallon batch (so about 13-1/2 gallons into fermenter) in April running through the hose outside, in 9 minutes.

I'm using a 12" wide, 40 plate chiller from Duda Diesel. It's mounted to my brew stand, making things easier. I DO have a wort strainer between the pump and plate chiller to keep it from getting clogged with hop matter (whirlpooling in the BK).

I'm in Pelham, NH for location reference. For this part of the country, I see zero point in doing any kind of chill water changing to get to pitch temperature. Especially with getting chilled wort as fast as I am even in the middle of summer. I'm brewing a batch tomorrow where I plan to have 8-9 gallons going into my CF10. Chill water runs full blast, wort flow is adjusted to hit my target temperature into fermenter (simply with a valve at the wort out port of the chiller).

 

[oakbarn]

Plate Chillers vs Counter Flow?
Plate Chiller hands down. The bigger the better. Texas. We use tap water down to about 100F before switching to cooled water. In winter, we can just use tap water. We chill while whirlpooling and can then pump into fermenter as fast as we can. We do have a trub filter in front of the plate chiller and clean it very well. We also sanitize during the boil for about 45 minutes prior to whirlpool. We turned our CF chiller into a wort heater to control the Mash.

 

[Jtvann]

There’s a lot of posts that can be searched for chiller types.

Your water temp dictates how cool you can get, and how fast you can get there.

Immersion chillers- easiest to clean, least efficient of all. Look at jaded hydra type chillers though as they are very fast. Recirculation is a must.

Counter flow chillers- harder to clean than immersion, but still pretty dang easy. Just flush and back flush and run cleaner through and flush again. They are very efficient, but not quite as good as plate chillers. Very close though.

Plate chillers- hardest to clean and easiest to clog. A clogged plate chiller won’t work well. Filtration, whirlpooling, or something is needed to keep hops out. Super efficient, but only a little more than counter flow.


Nothing is going to get you to pitch temps with 80 degree ground water. You can choose to chill in fermenter or chill by pumping ice water.

 

[Golddiggie]

I have my [two] CF10 chill coils hooked up to the Icemaster Max2 glycol chiller for controlling fermentation temp as well as for yeast harvest and carbonating. Since it's using a glycol solution, I can get that to below freezing to get to the desired temperatures no matter what the room temperature happens to be. This time of year, that is usually in the 78-85F range. I keep thinking about getting another fermenter, but then I'd need either a second chiller, or get one that supports up to four fermenters (the Max4).

As far as I know, using the freezer with water to control fermentation temps will only get you so far. Once you switch to an actual glycol chiller (using 30% or more solution strength) you'll have a much easier time getting to the temperatures you want.

 

[tommy24a]

thanks guys for the tips I will have to try and decide what adjustments I need to make.

 

[superiorsat]

which is the most effective at bringing down wort temps CF chiller or Plate chiller? Have CF now and here in northeast with the hot weather we have been having the water only cools the wort to about 80 degrees. Dropping that to pitching temp is a real bear. Another issue is Fermenting in a conical with a temp coil (spike cf30) and water source to circulate is a container of water in chest freezer. Freezer is set to 37. Basement temp about 80 degrees.

If you have an old immersion chiller laying around hook it in line after the cfc before you run your hot pass to sanitize your cfc, and when you hit your 80F threshold drop the IC in a bucket of ice water for a second stage. It works good. Move it around once in a while to keep the ice cold water mixed with the water that is getting warmer for the best results. I usually freeze a milk jug of water per batch I need to chill in the hot summer months. Smash it off the concrete floor a couple times and slice it open into the bucket with the IC and add water.

 

[Golddiggie]

Used my plate chiller just a little while ago to get my wort to pitching temp.

Configuration post whirlpool:

Wort flowing through the strainer and then plate chiller then into the CF10 via the dump port (closed system filling).

Took about five minutes to get about 8-1/2 to 9 gallons of wort from 195F to 65F in a single pass. I also infuse the wort with O2 as it comes out of the chiller (before the ball valve).

Today's batch was an English bitter which should be about 3.5% ABV. Very easy drinking with really nice flavors and hop character.

 

[T Murph]

@tommy24a you've received some good options and advise here. As you see folks have their favorite way to get the job done. I've used all the methods explained here and now days I'm back to an immersion chiller. But I don't use household water from a garden hose. Rather I use a 20gal vessel with approximately 10 gallons of ice water pumped through my IC via a submersible fountain pump from Lowes. Works perfectly and easy to clean and sanitize. I use the same method to maintain fermentation temperature in a CF5 conical.

 

[tommy24a]

Used my plate chiller just a little while ago to get my wort to pitching temp.

Configuration post whirlpool:View attachment 739201

Wort flowing through the strainer and then plate chiller then into the CF10 via the dump port (closed system filling).
View attachment 739202

Took about five minutes to get about 8-1/2 to 9 gallons of wort from 195F to 65F in a single pass. I also infuse the wort with O2 as it comes out of the chiller (before the ball valve).

Today's batch was an English bitter which should be about 3.5% ABV. Very easy drinking with really nice flavors and hop character.

what filter are you using before the chiller?

 

[Golddiggie]

what filter are you using before the chiller?

https://www.brewershardware.com/1_5...-Strainer-with-3-OD-Body.html?category_id=295
You want the strainer/filter to be at a pretty high angle so that it fills completely before you start the pump. Without measuring I'd say I have it at about 75 degrees.

Brewers Hardware has models that are for use in systems up to 10bbl in size. The current one will work at least until I get to over 30 gallon batches. Next step up goes form 30gal to 2bbl.

Here it is after taking it apart to clean.

 

[Rob2010SS]

https://www.brewershardware.com/1_5...-Strainer-with-3-OD-Body.html?category_id=295
You want the strainer/filter to be at a pretty high angle so that it fills completely before you start the pump. Without measuring I'd say I have it at about 75 degrees.

Brewers Hardware has models that are for use in systems up to 10bbl in size. The current one will work at least until I get to over 30 gallon batches. Next step up goes form 30gal to 2bbl.

Here it is after taking it apart to clean.
View attachment 739278

If you want to save money, don't get the brewers hardware version. I bought this one and it's half the price and works great.

https://www.amazon.com/DERNORD-Inch...s=dernord+wort+strainer&qid=1629132748&sr=8-2
EDIT** Not sure why it says 2". It's not... it didn't say that before when I bought it. Here's a pic of it on my tank.

 

[Golddiggie]

I've done not a small amount of Business with Curtis (from Brewers Hardware) over the years. Especially since kicking off brewing again early last year. The fact that I can email him and get information/help quickly is worth the extra $$. Customer service from Brewers Hardware is among the ranks of the top notch companies I buy from.

I have to wonder why you would need something like this coming out of your conical into keg. I'm getting VERY clear beer simply by dropping the yeast, chilling to carbonate, letting it 'rest' for a couple of days and then pushing into keg.

@Rob2010SS If you want to reduce/eliminate the condensation on your glycol chiller lines (if you chill to carbonate temperatures or below 40F) change that thin insulation with 1/2" wall (or thicker). The 1/8" insulation on the lines doesn't help when you get close to 40F (or go lower). I got tired of having puddles in my fermenting area, as well as having the dehumidifier (in that room) running more when chilling that low.

 

[Rob2010SS]

I've done not a small amount of Business with Curtis (from Brewers Hardware) over the years. Especially since kicking off brewing again early last year. The fact that I can email him and get information/help quickly is worth the extra $$. Customer service from Brewers Hardware is among the ranks of the top notch companies I buy from.

I have to wonder why you would need something like this coming out of your conical into keg. I'm getting VERY clear beer simply by dropping the yeast, chilling to carbonate, letting it 'rest' for a couple of days and then pushing into keg.

@Rob2010SS If you want to reduce/eliminate the condensation on your glycol chiller lines (if you chill to carbonate temperatures or below 40F) change that thin insulation with 1/2" wall (or thicker). The 1/8" insulation on the lines doesn't help when you get close to 40F (or go lower). I got tired of having puddles in my fermenting area, as well as having the dehumidifier (in that room) running more when chilling that low.

No doubt on brewers hardware, def not questioning that. For a filter, I just couldn't justify the cost when it was readily available for such a big discount. Typically I go through them for other stuff I need.

I use that on my tank for heavily hopped IPA's (2oz/gal dry hops). I had tried multiple times to just crash and dump and let everything settle out and I always have clogging issues on my NEIPAS regardless of how much I crash and dump them. This filter eliminated that. Purged it with CO2 and didn't have a single clog while filling 3 kegs off of that. Worked beautifully. Some people say overkill but to not have a clog and have assurance that it will keg easily is worth it to me.

Thanks for the recommendation on the chiller lines! I had kind of thought that condensation just came with the territory regardless of what you did. I"ll look into it. Thanks man.

 

[Golddiggie]

No doubt on brewers hardware, def not questioning that. For a filter, I just couldn't justify the cost when it was readily available for such a big discount. Typically I go through them for other stuff I need.

I use that on my tank for heavily hopped IPA's (2oz/gal dry hops). I had tried multiple times to just crash and dump and let everything settle out and I always have clogging issues on my NEIPAS regardless of how much I crash and dump them. This filter eliminated that. Purged it with CO2 and didn't have a single clog while filling 3 kegs off of that. Worked beautifully. Some people say overkill but to not have a clog and have assurance that it will keg easily is worth it to me.

Thanks for the recommendation on the chiller lines! I had kind of thought that condensation just came with the territory regardless of what you did. I"ll look into it. Thanks man.

I plan to dry hop the English bitter that went into fermenter yesterday, with 2oz (pellets) at about 10-14 days (from start). That will be after I drop the yeast (I chill to about 45F to do that). I'll be using a CO2 purging hop drop method. Last time I used 3oz but that was a tight fit into the sight glass I have to use. Figured 2oz will go in easier. I'll let them sit for a day, or so, then start carbonating the batch. I let things settle for a couple of days (still at carb temperatures) before transferring out.

For the chiller lines, I found it easier to put new tubing through the thicker insulation than try to pull the old from the thin insulation. Even then, it took some doing to get the lines through. IMO, well worth it though.

I'm probably a month (or so) away from selling my IceMaster Max2 chiller so I can get the Max4 chiller. Especially since I want another fermenter for when cider season starts. Since batch after next is going to be a wee heavy, which will be in fermenter for a while. Right now I have one tied up oak aging the old ale (for a couple more weeks). I want that in keg and can before the end of September. Planning another "Brew 'n Q" for the last weekend in September and want it on tap for then. Will have the bitter and my IPA on tap then too (IPA is on deck for the coming batch).

I need to get some more space cleared in the room I ferment also before getting the third conical. Probably about time to get a small storage unit and shifting things to there that I don't access much. Or start tossing out (or selling) more things. Currently selling off the kegmenters I have empty. Need to pull the mead out of the other ones and see if anyone wants those too.

 

[tommy24a]

https://www.brewershardware.com/1_5...-Strainer-with-3-OD-Body.html?category_id=295
You want the strainer/filter to be at a pretty high angle so that it fills completely before you start the pump. Without measuring I'd say I have it at about 75 degrees.

Brewers Hardware has models that are for use in systems up to 10bbl in size. The current one will work at least until I get to over 30 gallon batches. Next step up goes form 30gal to 2bbl.

Here it is after taking it apart to clean.
View attachment 739278

Thanks for the info!