considering a Shirron plate chiller...

[Pickngrin]

My wife wants to know what to buy me for an anniversary gift, and I was actually at a loss for what to tell her. I still use a homemade immersion chiller, and am thinking that a Shirron chiller might be good form me, particularly because I want to step up to 10 gallon batches. A search of the forums pulled up all sorts of opinions on them (and plate chillers in general). I currently connect my immersion chiller to my kitchen faucet -- can I do the same with the Shirron? Is the cleaning/sanitation issue a PITA with these things?

Thanks

 

[Reelale]

I use one, and it works great to get the temps. down to the input water.temps. After that, I have to run pre-chilled water through it. I CIP, so the chiller is just another piece of equipment that gets the PBW/rinse routine. But I do blow it out with compresssed air before I store it.

 

[HarkinBanks]

It does a decent job but not a bad ass as I thought it would be. I like it for my system because it is inline, I brew indoors, and I use a pump. But you have to be careful with trub and debris. I filter out my hops and would highly suggest you do so as well. If you brew outside, I would probably just build a bigger IC copper chiller for 10 gal batches. If you really want a nice present, I'd probably suggest getting a therminator, but you still have the trub and cleaning issues that you have with a shirron.

 

[Pickngrin]

I'm still on the fence about this. I'm not sure how I can incorporate it physically into my setup (currently using turkey fryer kettle with heatsticks indoors, but upgrading to 15.5 gal keggle). I don't have a brewstand, as I store my equipment in the basement and bring it upstairs to brew in the kitchen. I'm wondering if it will be feasible for me to have enough height for gravity feed.

 

[Captain_Bigelow]

Do you have a valve on your kettle? I think that is pretty much a must if you are going to go with a plate chiller.

If you are having a problem with the gravity feed, you can still get a pump without a stand. I have seen threads in the DIY section about someone who has made a pump mount from an ammo can and also a tool box with wheels.

I just picked up one of those $105 40 plate chillers from eBay. I am waiting on some fittings and won't be able to try it out for another couple of weeks. For me the chance of cutting 30 minutes off the process by switching to a plate chiller swung it for me.

 

[knightbeer39]

I love my shirron. Never had an issue of any type with it. I can't believe I brewed 13 years with a CFC--never again. I highly recommend it.