Glycol Chiller madness!

[BigMooseBrewing]

Hey guys,

So I am going to take my brewing to the next level and would like to purchase a glycol chiller for my two Spike CF10s. I have found a lot of older posts from years ago with users debating. I am not on a budget, I am looking for the best quality and bang for my application. I have been looking at penguin because they are made in the USA and I respect

 

[Zanatrik]

I have a Spike branded Penguin chiller that I was gifted and it certainly does the job, though I’m running a single Flex+. I have so far only been able to get it to hold at about 37 degrees in the fermenter for cold crash but that works for me and I know there are likely beefier and newer models that Penguin makes.

That said, if money is no issue I think the new Spike chiller is quieter and the Penguin chiller lid is a bit annoying to seat correctly. I brew in the house with pets so those two things matter to me more than they may to you.

 

[BigMooseBrewing]

I have a Spike branded Penguin chiller that I was gifted and it certainly does the job, though I’m running a single Flex+. I have so far only been able to get it to hold at about 37 degrees in the fermenter for cold crash but that works for me and I know there are likely beefier and newer models that Penguin makes.

That said, if money is no issue I think the new Spike chiller is quieter and the Penguin chiller lid is a bit annoying to seat correctly. I brew in the house with pets so those two things matter to me more than they may to you.

Do you know if spike actually makes the chiller or are they ordering from somewhere and rebranding?

 

[Deadalus]

I have a Brewbuilt Icemaster 100, which is the same base unit is the Ice Master Max 4. The Max 4 reconfigures the ports and adds on pumps and digital controllers. The difference in price is $200. It would cost you probably the same amount to add the same pumps and digital controllers to the 100. But do you need all four? The Brewbuilts have more btus. The Spike unit is $1000, same as the Ice Master Max 4, but does not come with pumps or controllers. Now, I didn't want to mess with the electronics on the Max 4, and the controllers don't do heat. So I have three different heating and cooling controllers, all about the same price. They are all wifi so that bumped me a little higher than $50 a cooling line. A non-wifi controller and pump is roughly $45-$50 if you aren't buying the ones branded to the chiller manufacturer. The Icemaster 100 has an inside cover plus a top cover. In order to get the lines through, that required an extra pass through barb in my setup and some short pieces of silicon between the inside cover and the out ports. Those are minor costs but $5-10 a line. The items that I found to be somewhat expensive are the rubbery insulation on the lines and the valved disconnects on the glycol lines. Spike also mentions they have quick disconnects so I would encourage you to check those out closely. They are about $12-15 a pair (male/female) and you need two pairs per glycol line. Those are for the valved ones that prevent leakage when disconnecting. Mine are on the ends of my lines at the fermenter. This allows me to take the lines off the coils to clean the coils, leaving the lines connect to the chiller.

I have only run five batches through the system. Right now is the biggest load, I have two 7 gallon unitanks and a carboy connected. Not a problem but only 75% of your possible max. I don't expect it would have a problem at all though with your two CF10s. The biggest issue you might run in to is that you are going to be using cooling coils and there is the possibility to create a temperature inversion. This can make getting the temperature down below mid to high 30's challenging. What you need to do is to reverse the glycol flow to the coil. I'm still working that out as I keep forgetting which way the coils run.

One downside to the Brewbuilt is that it is in Celsisus. I'm good with mass and length in metric but temperature is harder to convert mentally. Not a big deal though.

The base bit of technology on these is just a compressor with coils that sit in a glycol tank.

You could possibly get by with a smaller unit. Spike says theirs can cold crash 60 gallons total. Half the btus might just be fine for two CF10s. You'd get a smaller footprint that way. I would want some real world anecdotes though with specific ferementer combinations myself before I'd consider that. I like that I am not particularly taxing my chiller as I don't foresee more than about 20 gallons at a time. You might want to expand for a smaller batch size perhaps or one more unit. It's one more set of everything beyond the base unit-lines, fittings, pump, controller.

 

[Zanatrik]

Do you know if spike actually makes the chiller or are they ordering from somewhere and rebranding?

I know it was designed by Spike but i believe they contract manufacturing.

 

[genotype]

Just got my Spike chiller up and running. The 1st unit they sent me wouldn't get under 77F. They called it a rare instance of refrigeration issues. Have a saison currently cold crashing in a Flex +. Sitting at about 39F. Like @Deadalus mentioned above, it could be a product of temperature inversion. Will need to look at that for the next batch.

Unit isn't too loud, but mine is in the garage, so not really an issue for me. One thing to be cognizant if is condensation. The coil top, lines where not covered by insulation and the Flex + have quite a bit of condensation. Had to put towels down. Didn't have a chance to put the sleeve on the fermenter yet to see how much better it is with it on.

 

[James_AZ]

I have an SS Brewtech 17G Fermenter (unitank 2.0) and a Spike GC. I have done a half dozen batches with it. GC set to 28F. I brew in my garage which has AC set to 78F. It held 55F lager ferment no problem. When I cold crash i drop 5F every 12 hours. I can get the single fermenter to 35F with the pump running continuously. I don’t think I could crash two 17G Fermenters at the same time.

 

[Zenmeister]

I have an older ~ five year old SS Brewtech Chiller. Works great even with two fermenters. I can cold crash to about 35 deg F, altho being in Seattle area, we really don't have super hot days, so it's not really stressing the chiller like it would if I was in Texas or thereabouts.
That said, it is a great chiller; only problem is the condensation on the hoses (even tho I insulate them) but that is not the chillers fault.

 

[Deadalus]

I have an older ~ five year old SS Brewtech Chiller. Works great even with two fermenters. I can cold crash to about 35 deg F, altho being in Seattle area, we really don't have super hot days, so it's not really stressing the chiller like it would if I was in Texas or thereabouts.
That said, it is a great chiller; only problem is the condensation on the hoses (even tho I insulate them) but that is not the chillers fault.

What size fermenters?

 

[Zenmeister]

15 gallon Unitank and 12 Gallon Chronical. Both SS Brewtech.

 

[Charles Parnell]

I'm looking at the SS Brewtech 1/5hp chiller. Anyone have opinion's on that unit. I have the 7Gal SS Brewtech Chronical 2.0 and the 10Gal brite tank. I'm very happy with the fermenter and brite tank, but want the chiller to get away from moving and taking space in the fridge. Right now I can ferment in the 50-55 degree area with a cooler with frozen mile jugs (grated, I'm changing them out a lot!). Then, to crash, I move to the fridge. I'd like to keep it all in one location and ferment, crash and condition using the chiller. Open to suggestions, haven't purchased yet.

 

[Deadalus]

Right now I have two X2 unis with coils and a carboy connected to an Icemaster 100. Started cold crashing the two unis which have ales in them from 68F down to 37F. It took 5 hours to hit 38F. Garage has been 72-78F. There are two graphs for the one uni (other uni was the same), since the app charts by day and then the garage temp graph. The carboy is a lager and currently set to 53F.

 

[LedZeppelin]

FYI Penguin chillers aren't made in the US. I realize they advertise that however it's an air conditioner that is made in China and they do some minor modifications. Maybe they could advertised "modified in the US" but that's about it.

 

[mac_1103]

FYI Penguin chillers aren't made in the US. I realize they advertise that however it's an air conditioner that is made in China and they do some minor modifications. Maybe they could advertised "modified in the US" but that's about it.

This is good for the OP to know since "made in the US" seems to be important to him, but Penguin advertises what they're allowed to advertise just like everybody else. Plenty of things "made in the USA" have plenty of foreign-made components. "Assembled in the US" would be a lot more accurate for a whole lot of "American-made" products.

 

[Broken Crow]

FYI Penguin chillers aren't made in the US. I realize they advertise that however it's an air conditioner that is made in China and they do some minor modifications. Maybe they could advertised "modified in the US" but that's about it.

This is good for the OP to know since "made in the US" seems to be important to him, but Penguin advertises what they're allowed to advertise just like everybody else. Plenty of things "made in the USA" have plenty of foreign-made components. "Assembled in the US" would be a lot more accurate for a whole lot of "American-made" products.

Personally I was hoping this thread would contain 'country of origin' reports from existing glycol chiller owners.. Domestically produced is a big deal for me as well and I'd gladly spend a bit more to sustain domestic quality of life for the next generation.

 

[Deadalus]

Personally I was hoping this thread would contain 'country of origin' reports from existing glycol chiller owners.. Domestically produced is a big deal for me as well and I'd gladly spend a bit more to sustain domestic quality of life for the next generation.

Are you talking made in Canada or made in North America?

If there were any doubts, the Brewbuilt Icemaster 100 is made in China per the label. It's the same base unit as the Icemaster 4 as well as Keglands G40 (Icemaster 4) and Keglands G40.1, with the G40.1 having an impeller pump in the upper compartment. Kegland also sells the G20, which is the Icemaster 2 but perhaps of greater interest, they sell G60 and G80 units which are larger than the G40. Kegland's webpage has additional information than can be found at sites that sell the Brewbuilt Icemasters in the US.

 

[Broken Crow]

Are you talking made in Canada or made in North America?

If there were any doubts, the Brewbuilt Icemaster 100 is made in China per the label. It's the same base unit as the Icemaster 4 as well as Keglands G40 (Icemaster 4) and Keglands G40.1, with the G40.1 having an impeller pump in the upper compartment. Kegland also sells the G20, which is the Icemaster 2 but perhaps of greater interest, they sell G60 and G80 units which are larger than the G40. Kegland's webpage has additional information than can be found at sites that sell the Brewbuilt Icemasters in the US.

I begin locally and work my out to continental and then major trading partners.

 

[Deadalus]

I'm looking at the SS Brewtech 1/5hp chiller. Anyone have opinion's on that unit. I have the 7Gal SS Brewtech Chronical 2.0 and the 10Gal brite tank. I'm very happy with the fermenter and brite tank, but want the chiller to get away from moving and taking space in the fridge. Right now I can ferment in the 50-55 degree area with a cooler with frozen mile jugs (grated, I'm changing them out a lot!). Then, to crash, I move to the fridge. I'd like to keep it all in one location and ferment, crash and condition using the chiller. Open to suggestions, haven't purchased yet.

I considered that one when I purchased mine and I felt it was kind of small for the price or expensive depending on how you consider it. If by price, you can get a bigger unit for the same price or a similar size unit for less money. Bigger meaning more hp, larger tank, more ports.

Maybe a good idea here to list available brands. There's Brewbuilt (Kegland), Spike, Blichmann, Penguin, SS Brewtech that I know of. Any others maybe non-brewing applcations?

 

[BigMooseBrewing]

FYI Penguin chillers aren't made in the US. I realize they advertise that however it's an air conditioner that is made in China and they do some minor modifications. Maybe they could advertised "modified in the US" but that's about it.

Hey man, do you have a resource on this information or something scholarly?