Cleaning a counterflow chiller

[AHammer16]

What do you all use to clean the wort path of you counterflow chillers? I know not to use bleach because of the corosion issues. What say you?

 

[PT Ray]

So far I have just run plenty of hot water through it and then stored with sanitizing solution in it. Next time I will either run a solution of automatic dishwashing detergent or a caustic such as Greased Lighting through it.

 

[tnlandsailor]

There is a large amount of trust in threads like this because you have no idea what the beer from advice giver in question tastes like. I've tasted plenty of homebrew that was obviously spoiled that the brewer swore up and down was the best beer he ever tasted. With that said......

Like PT Ray, I flush my CFC with water and store it full of sanitizer (Iodophor). I use some plastic screw protectors that fit tightly over the ends so that there is no air at all inside the wort path, just sanitizer. At times, I've kept the chiller stored for up to 2 months like this with no discernable ill effects. The sanitizer pretty much kills anything beer-spoiling in the water, then the absence of air will prevent anything from growing inside even if the sanitizer breaks down. On brew day, I'll drain out the old sanitizer, fill it with new sanitizer and let it sit for at least 10 - 15 minutes, then drain it out right before I need to chill. Afterward, it's flush, fill, and store again. About once a year (one time I went 2 years) I'll run PBW through it.

Use this procedure as a data point in developing your own procedure. Anything that you do over and above what I listed above will decrease your odds of having a problem, and knowing that the above works will give you confidence that you own procedure will work as well or better.

Prosit!

 

[AHammer16]

Thanks for the info. will follow your lead.