Done with the plate chiller....

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With the advent of no chill brewing fast chilling is outdated and proven unnecessary.

Proven? That's debatable isn't it? I was under the impression that no chill while adequate for some styles will definitely effect the hop flavor in hoppy beers, no?
 
I really hate my Duda Diesel plate chiller.....really hate it. I think it has clogged every single time I've brewed with it no matter what I do. I brewed a batch this evening with 4oz of pellet hops that were in Lowe's paint strainer bags and it still clogged from the stuff that made it through the bag. I know a lot of people use plate chillers, there must be something I'm doing wrong.. I flushed the damn thing out after the last time it clogged and it seemed to be flowing freely so I don't think it was old hop debris that caused the problem. Thinking about buying a counterflow chiller, any recommendations?

I have one of these as well, and was excited to use it. Needless to say I don't really use it anymore its a pain in the ass to keep up with and it does clog especially if your brewing IPA's. I went back to using just my ole immersion chiller a lot less of a hassle. So, I feel your pain man.
 
Proven? That's debatable isn't it? I was under the impression that no chill while adequate for some styles will definitely effect the hop flavor in hoppy beers, no?

What I meant by fast chilling is chilling beer in record time to prevent an infection has been proven unnecessary. I blended no chill into that...probably shouldn't have. The IC chills plenty fast to stop hop isomerization and not add bitterness.
 
I use a 1/2" 50 ft copper IC for 10 gallon batches. I actually have 2 that I used to run thinking I would need it. I stopped using the 2 because it was sort of a pain with 2 pond pumps running. With the one I have no issue chilling 10 gallons. Its winter here and the tap water is cold and I actually got it down to 50 deg for pitching a lager yeast.

With the advent of no chill brewing fast chilling is outdated and proven unnecessary. I chill all my ales to around 100 deg and that goes really fast with the single IC. I pitch the next day when the temp naturally drops to 65 in the ferm chamber....never had a single infection or issue.

IC's are stupid easy to use and clean....and they work

I wont diagree that an IC works but my plate chiller is even easier to clean as I see it because all I have to do is turn a valve and turn on a pump at the end of my brewday and pump some water from my HLT through it to flush it out...

every few brews it get the benefit of a pbw CIP as does my whole brewery..
unlike the people who try to pump solids and make ipas with them with no filtration I dont have the issues... Plate chillers get a bad rap and it really boils down to how people are implementing them and the lack of understanding that solids get stuck very easily in the thin 1/16 on an inch or less tall channels especially with all the sharp turns and nooks and crannies. pushing hops through a plate chiller is just asking for trouble.
 
What I meant by fast chilling is chilling beer in record time to prevent an infection has been proven unnecessary. I blended no chill into that...probably shouldn't have. The IC chills plenty fast to stop hop isomerization and not add bitterness.
Yeah but you method is just as much work because your still using a chiller to get to 100 and then you have an extra days delay before adding yeast as well. How is that better than just chilling to pitch temp in 10-15 minutes and adding the yeast to freshly oxygenated wort? and how much cold break do you get by stopping at 100 degrees? if you dont cool your wort fairly quickly to at least 80 degrees dimethyl sulfide will continue to be produced in the wort and that can produce off flavors at well as increased oxidation.. (according to John Palmer anyway)

http://howtobrew.com/book/section-1/boiling-and-cooling/cooling-the-wort
 
How is that better than just chilling to pitch temp in 10-15 minutes and adding the yeast to freshly oxygenated wort? and how much cold break do you get by stopping at 100 degrees?
Doesn't help any more than shaving off some time chilling. Winter is not a big deal but summer brewing with warmer tap water it shortens the brew day by a decent amount...again I'm brewing 10 gallon batches with a 50 ft IC. It gets to 100 quick but that last 35 deg takes awhile in the summer. Cold break doesn't matter to me. Everything gets sucked up into the fermenter.
The OP states he's done with his plate chiller and after a few responses he was concerned about his 10 gallon batches and would the IC's work...my point was they will...
 
... Plate chillers get a bad rap and it really boils down to how people are implementing them and the lack of understanding that solids get stuck very easily in the thin 1/16 on an inch or less tall channels especially with all the sharp turns and nooks and crannies.

I agree that plate chillers require different, some say more advanced techniques to have the highest success with them. I find I need to whirlpool and hop filter bag or spider to keep hops out, pump to recirculate hot wort to sanitize pre chill, pbw flush at least occasionally, drain and dry if sitting for extended periods.

IC is simple, robust, nearly fool proof ..... so the question is why PC? Do I get something for the techniques I employ?

Trying to be objective, I do think it made my beer better (meaning clearer) by forcing me to whirlpool to keep bits out of my fermenter. It also chills very quickly which may help with cold break.

But mostly I use it because I have it and the biggest downside is that I need to be more mindful in my brew sessions. There's more to think about. Once, I forgot to run hot wort through my PC to sanitize it until I was just about to pump to my fermentor. I recovered and corrected this, but 10 to 15 extra minutes at 200F plus changed that beer (more IBU's and less hop aroma)
 
I agree that plate chillers require different, some say more advanced techniques to have the highest success with them. I find I need to whirlpool and hop filter bag or spider to keep hops out, pump to recirculate hot wort to sanitize pre chill, pbw flush at least occasionally, drain and dry if sitting for extended periods.

IC is simple, robust, nearly fool proof ..... so the question is why PC? Do I get something for the techniques I employ?

Trying to be objective, I do think it made my beer better (meaning clearer) by forcing me to whirlpool to keep bits out of my fermenter. It also chills very quickly which may help with cold break.

But mostly I use it because I have it and the biggest downside is that I need to be more mindful in my brew sessions. There's more to think about. Once, I forgot to run hot wort through my PC to sanitize it until I was just about to pump to my fermentor. I recovered and correct this, but 10 to 15 extra minutes at 200F plus changed that beer (more IBU's and less hop aroma)

I only run boiling wort through my chiller for 2 minutes or so to sterilize it... never had an infection from it so YMMV.
Points made, Im not trying to give reasons why not to consider a IC but rather clarify that problems with the PC are often self inflicted and can be avoided giving you its advantages along with other advantages..
People stated there chillers are plugging up even with a hop spider and im wondering why their results were so different than others including myself.
For me the clearer beer has a lot of advantages. I sometimes harvest my yeast with the jaybird canning jar attachment for my conical so less hop solids is better. also I dont have to disassemble my kegs to clean them because my beer is clear and free of hop debris when it goes int the kegs.. so no debris or nasties in my poppets when I clean them by forcing sanitizer through. I also believe I may get clearer beer with less or no chill haze as a result... My old IC was a pain in the ass for me and im glad im done with it.
 
I really hate my Duda Diesel plate chiller.....really hate it. I think it has clogged every single time I've brewed with it no matter what I do. I brewed a batch this evening with 4oz of pellet hops that were in Lowe's paint strainer bags and it still clogged from the stuff that made it through the bag. I know a lot of people use plate chillers, there must be something I'm doing wrong.. I flushed the damn thing out after the last time it clogged and it seemed to be flowing freely so I don't think it was old hop debris that caused the problem. Thinking about buying a counterflow chiller, any recommendations?


Recmmmendation - buy a counterflow.

I have a Therminator and while I manage to keep it flowing I still hate it. Makes me nervous!!! I'm also moving to a counterflow chiller the next time I want to drop $300 on something I only use once a month.
 
I have a plate chiller and an immersion chiller with whirlpool(both of which I no longer use). I went back to a CFC and it works great, never clogs and uses much less water than the IC. It's whatever works for you. I think IC's are the easiest, and PC's the most problematic from what I've seen.
 
I guess it's a matter of opinion, some like Hefeweizen, some like DIPA, some like Helles. Everybody is right for their own reasons.
 
Recmmmendation - buy a counterflow.

I have a Therminator and while I manage to keep it flowing I still hate it. Makes me nervous!!! I'm also moving to a counterflow chiller the next time I want to drop $300 on something I only use once a month.

Therminators are not really a good comparison... The design contributes to clogging vs a longer or normal non "winding path" plate chiller.. just saying, with the therminator not only do you pay double,(or in your case apparently triple) you get a 40 plate chiller that performs less effectively than the longer 20 plate models sold for less than $100 AND you get the added benefit of their winding path tech which apparently clogs easier than anything on the market:mug: the fact that you dropped an extra $100 ($300 really?) for it doesnt really say much for your homework skills.

in short the terminator sucks but has a big namebrand behind it making it the most commonly used (and hated) plate chiller and likely the biggest reason for the plate chiller bad rap.
 
Therminators are not really a good comparison... The design contributes to clogging vs a longer or normal non "winding path" plate chiller.. just saying, with the therminator not only do you pay double,(or in your case apparently triple) you get a 40 plate chiller that performs less effectively than the longer 20 plate models sold for less than $100 AND you get the added benefit of their winding path tech which apparently clogs easier than anything on the market:mug: the fact that you dropped an extra $100 ($300 really?) for it doesnt really say much for your homework skills.

in short the terminator sucks but has a big namebrand behind it making it the most commonly used (and hated) plate chiller and likely the biggest reason for the plate chiller bad rap.

How many times do you need to repeat the same thing, we get it, you aren't a Blichmann or Therminator fan. I feel like I've read you post this same thing dozens of times on different posts.

I've used my Therminator for dozens upon dozens of batches, and it's never clogged on me. I also did a bunch of research up front and knew ahead of time I needed to account for hop material regardless of which brand of plate chiller I chose to use. If you don't filter your wort some way you have a much higher chance of clogging regardless of the brand/design, that's a fact.

I enjoy cooling to pitching temp in a single pass in a matter of a couple of minutes with a plate chiller. What I don't enjoy is the extra cleanup time and hassle, so I am considering switching to the Hydra IC. I've used CFCs before and the performance wasn't there for me. I also don't have very cold ground water so there's that.
 
Well, I think instead of spending more cash on a different chiller I'm going to give the plate chiller another chance. But, first I'm going to make some changes to my dip tube arrangement and, the paint strainer bags are going in the bin! Thanks for all the responses, lots of good info.
 
How many times do you need to repeat the same thing, we get it, you aren't a Blichmann or Therminator fan. I feel like I've read you post this same thing dozens of times on different posts.

I've used my Therminator for dozens upon dozens of batches, and it's never clogged on me. I also did a bunch of research up front and knew ahead of time I needed to account for hop material regardless of which brand of plate chiller I chose to use. If you don't filter your wort some way you have a much higher chance of clogging regardless of the brand/design, that's a fact.

I enjoy cooling to pitching temp in a single pass in a matter of a couple of minutes with a plate chiller. What I don't enjoy is the extra cleanup time and hassle, so I am considering switching to the Hydra IC. I've used CFCs before and the performance wasn't there for me. I also don't have very cold ground water so there's that.

Well its a different thread with different readers who might not know this about the therminator... Sorry you have to keep hearing it but the fact that so many keep buying them for so much money and then complaining about them shows maybe im not repeating it enough. and since this has turned into another chiller "x" vs chiller "Y" these design differences are kind of important to mention for the folks who try to base their decision on how a products designed and works and not based on the marketing.

Longer plate chillers work better than shorter ones with more plates to make up the difference. They also have less potential to plug and the blichmann uses a special winding path design which likely doesnt help either.. These are important things to know before judging all plate chillers by experience with it.
 
Well, I think instead of spending more cash on a different chiller I'm going to give the plate chiller another chance. But, first I'm going to make some changes to my dip tube arrangement and, the paint strainer bags are going in the bin! Thanks for all the responses, lots of good info.

This might help too and for $30 shipped vs the $80 they sell for from most resellers its a minimal investment to try it out.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/13-...lgo_pvid=3d34b941-526b-41c7-9b98-7aa5fa901064
 
Well its a different thread with different readers who might not know this about the therminator... Sorry you have to keep hearing it......
This is how I feel about flow control faucets. I heard more than once "again with the flow control, what are a spokesman".
Where other people say "I didn't know about those Thanks" Its all about sharing info and whose listening
 
This might help too and for $30 shipped vs the $80 they sell for from most resellers its a minimal investment to try it out.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/13-...lgo_pvid=3d34b941-526b-41c7-9b98-7aa5fa901064

I don't want to hijack the thread but how would this do straining break material and hop material as I'm racking to a fermenter? I have bigmouth bubblers so I could hang this on the rim and rack into it.

I'm not afraid of the trub--I usually dump it all in--but since I'm using fermenters with spigots, reducing what goes into the fermenter so it doesn't come near the spigot is something I'd like to do. Generally not a problem but this looks like an easy way to capture some of that stuff.
 
Therminators are not really a good comparison... The design contributes to clogging vs a longer or normal non "winding path" plate chiller.. just saying, with the therminator not only do you pay double,(or in your case apparently triple) you get a 40 plate chiller that performs less effectively than the longer 20 plate models sold for less than $100 AND you get the added benefit of their winding path tech which apparently clogs easier than anything on the market:mug: the fact that you dropped an extra $100 ($300 really?) for it doesnt really say much for your homework skills.

in short the terminator sucks but has a big namebrand behind it making it the most commonly used (and hated) plate chiller and likely the biggest reason for the plate chiller bad rap.

LOL. I can't recall what I paid for the Terminator...whatever they charge on morebeer for it. I was talking about $300 on a counterflow. My homework skills....shut your mouth boy.

By the way, I have never once clogged my Therminator, so you're off base there too. I've brewed huge IPAs chilled with it and not a single clog.

I hate it because it never seems to empty of water and wort no matter what I do.
 
LOL. I can't recall what I paid for the Terminator...whatever they charge on morebeer for it. I was talking about $300 on a counterflow. My homework skills....shut your mouth boy.

By the way, I have never once clogged my Therminator, so you're off base there too. I've brewed huge IPAs chilled with it and not a single clog.

I hate it because it never seems to empty of water and wort no matter what I do.
your the one that made the statement implying you paid $300 for the one you already have.. when you said " the next time I want to drop$300 for a chiller I only use twice a month" ... To me it seems your just backpedaling here making the rest of your statement less credible but that just how I see it.

The friend I brew with often have a therminator and he brews IPAS with it as well with no hop filter , just whirlpooling and has fought with flow slowing to a trickle as a result. The crazy amount of threads and anti plate chiller sentiment also supports this very real phonominum of self inflicted problems when allowing too much hop matter into the chiller.

And really you hate because it's difficult to let the water run out of it?. Well that's a new one... and likely an issue isolated to the model chiller that you have as I have no such issues with my permanently mounted plate chiller
 
I don't want to hijack the thread but how would this do straining break material and hop material as I'm racking to a fermenter? I have bigmouth bubblers so I could hang this on the rim and rack into it.

I'm not afraid of the trub--I usually dump it all in--but since I'm using fermenters with spigots, reducing what goes into the fermenter so it doesn't come near the spigot is something I'd like to do. Generally not a problem but this looks like an easy way to capture some of that stuff.
it would plug VERY quickly and fill to the top.. I know this from experience.
 
$300 counterflow?

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Yes. Well, I have the Qds, valve and thermo so $239 I guess.
 
your the one that made the statement implying you paid $300 for the one you already have.. when you said " the next time I want to drop$300 for a chiller I only use twice a month" ... To me it seems your just backpedaling here making the rest of your statement less credible but that just how I see it.
...

Recmmmendation - buy a counterflow.

I have a Therminator and while I manage to keep it flowing I still hate it. Makes me nervous!!! I'm also moving to a counterflow chiller the next time I want to drop $300 on something I only use once a month.

Dude, what is your problem. Less credible? What credibility is required to make a comment like this: I don't like my therminator becasue it makes me nervous that I can't get all the liquid out. Just shut up already.

And if your buddy is using a plate chiller with no hop screen of any sort, well, he's a doof. I bet you guys are just a barrel of monkeys together.
 
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Yes. Well, I have the Qds, valve and thermo so $239 I guess.

At the risk of being called a boy: if you do a little homework you can find a 12' convoluted all copper cfc for ~$150. I got one off of homebrewsupply.com with a promotional discount code.
 
@thekraken - Way to do your homework man! I'm proud of you for your internet navigation skills..and applying a promo code...oah man, you're light years ahead of the game. W. gave you guys a bad rap...you dun real gewd.
 
:confused: You're welcome, guy.

I guess the prospect of saving $90 is offensive to some people... Learn something new every day.
 
Dude, what is your problem. Less credible? What credibility is required to make a comment like this: I don't like my therminator becasue it makes me nervous that I can't get all the liquid out. Just shut up already.

And if your buddy is using a plate chiller with no hop screen of any sort, well, he's a doof. I bet you guys are just a barrel of monkeys together.

Your quote was worded slightly different because I was quoting from memory but it still implies the same thing when you said "the next time I" which implies you already did it once.. Its pretty obvious you need to work on your big boy communication skills here so I guess can see how you made the mistake.
 
I really hate my Duda Diesel plate chiller.....really hate it. I think it has clogged every single time I've brewed with it no matter what I do. I brewed a batch this evening with 4oz of pellet hops that were in Lowe's paint strainer bags and it still clogged from the stuff that made it through the bag. I know a lot of people use plate chillers, there must be something I'm doing wrong.. I flushed the damn thing out after the last time it clogged and it seemed to be flowing freely so I don't think it was old hop debris that caused the problem. Thinking about buying a counterflow chiller, any recommendations?

I like this CFC from JaDeD. It's cleanable, which is a big plus for me. I still have a Therminator plate chiller, which treated me well for a lot of years, but I've always been uncomfortable with the stuff that comes out of it a couple of weeks after I used it, regardless of how I cleaned it. For lots more of my reasons for changing, and a side-by-side comparison, I'll just put this link here.

Chiller Showdown: Blichmann Therminator vs JaDeD Brewing Cyclone
 
Came here to talk about my chiller but I think I rather get popcorn, sit and have a beer.

Please carry on.

It's like this on every forum. Won't ever change. I should go in and start deleting snarky dumb comments and childish posturing and off topic crap, stuff that brings the thread and the forum down, but I don't feel like it tonight. You see them, judge for yourself. Good luck with your 2nd attempt at making the PC work, check out my link there, I've been down that path and made a change.

The members above that did these things should see that their underdeveloped communication skills have ruined the thread and forced the OP to abandon it. But they won't. They'll look at their posts, see the glory in them, and just point to the others.
 
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