plate chiller or counterflow?

[ardonthorn5]

So my next step in building up to 10 gallon batches is a new wort chiller ... but what style? i'm (at least for the time being) going pumpless. i've seen plate chillers used via gravity on YouTube, and they seem to work. i'm just wondering what recoomendations HBT Nation might have?

 

[ImNoExpert]

I don't use either, but when I upgrade, I plan to go counterflow. Ease of use and cleanup simply outweigh the cost savings of a plate chiller for me.

 

[maida7]

I do 12-13 gallon batches and I use a 1/2"x50' copper immersion chiller and whirlpool with a pump. I'd recommend getting a pump for this size batch but if you really want to avoid the pump you can whirlpool with a spoon.

I like the immersion chiller for it's effectiveness, simplicity and easy to clean.

 

[mpcluever]

Plate chillers are definitely more efficient, but you really need to plan on spending some time cleaning them. I don't trust anyone on here who says they only flush with water for a couple minutes. I have a plate chiller and my roommate has a counterflow. The counterflow works just fine for the 10 gallon batches he's doing, but for my 20 gallon batches, a plate chiller really seemed the way to go.

 

[ardonthorn5]

thanks all. i'm really leaning toward a counterflow at this point. i may go pump eventually, i don't know. that's where i'm ultimately torn.

 

[mpcluever]

personally, I'd get a pump before I got either of those chillers

 

[Garyr2973]

I'd go with a pump also. Get the pump and then you can make a DYI counterflow for like $50.

 

[outside92129]

Yeah, as an owner of both - you'll need a pump.

Btw, i've pulled out some crazy stuff out of my plate chiller. Never had that issue with my counterflow.

 

[ardonthorn5]

any pump in particular you pumpsters recommend?

 

[mpcluever]

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/march-seal-less-pump-high-temperature.html
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/chugger-ss-inline-pump.html
http://greatbreweh.com/Beer_Pump.html
and no idea if this last one ships to US, but came across it and specs look OK
http://shop.solarproject.co.uk/sp2020-easy-connect-water-circulation-pump-£260-p-10.html

 

[jammin]

I have the 1st 3 pumps you listed. The SS, inline chugger is a step up from the honorable March. The chugger is quiter and faster than the march.

The greatbreweh pump is actually pretty cool and I use it on my 2.5 gallon electric kit. It's not cut out for 5/10 gallon batches though IMHO.


I also have MoreBeer's "chillus convolutus" CFC. It work very well and cleans up nicely.

Cheers

 

[kombat]

I've had great results with my plate chiller. My cleaning regimen is pretty straight-forward. After chilling, I pump the following through it for 5 minutes each, in this order:

• Hot water
• Hot PBW/Oxyclean solution
• Cold water
• Starsan
• Cold water

I then drain all the water out of it and cap the ports with aluminum foil until the next time I need it.

 

[ardonthorn5]

thanks all. i'm going to have to seriously consider a pump now. time to hit YouTube and watch them in action...

 

[bipster]

Sorry to change the subject on this thread, but I haven't found anything other than the mention of cleaning a couple posts ahead of mine. I think I have an infection in my cfc as many of my last few brews have dried out and have a little "off" flavor. I have kept the same sanitizing regimen since I have started so I think I have narrowed it down to my chiller. I have in the past run as hot of water as I can through the chiller and follow it up with star san. I have usually kept the starsan in the chiller for storage and prior to using it I drain it, run hot water through and run fresh sanitizer through. A few brews ago I noticed a large amount of hop material coming from the chiller when i was prepping it for use. I think this is where the infection is. Do any of you have any specific methods you would recommend to properly clean my CFC and sanitize it to remove this infection? Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[inthesound]

If you're using something like a plate chiller, I recommend using some serious chemicals on it. I would definitely use caustic, and recirculate it through the plate chiller for thirty minutes with hot water 150-170°. Rinse with hot water until you no longer feel the caustic's slippery slick feeling. Recirculate sanitizer through for a couple minutes, done. I would suspect the interior of the plate chiller to be stainless, if it's aluminum for some reason, don't use caustic. It will react violently. Use acid instead. If you have a super funky chiller, use caustic, then acid, then sani.

Also, if you're leaving your plate chiller packed with a chemical, use caustic. The sani may eventually turn into a medium which may be suitable for bacteria.

 

[mpcluever]

Sorry to change the subject on this thread, but I haven't found anything other than the mention of cleaning a couple posts ahead of mine. I think I have an infection in my cfc as many of my last few brews have dried out and have a little "off" flavor. I have kept the same sanitizing regimen since I have started so I think I have narrowed it down to my chiller. I have in the past run as hot of water as I can through the chiller and follow it up with star san. I have usually kept the starsan in the chiller for storage and prior to using it I drain it, run hot water through and run fresh sanitizer through. A few brews ago I noticed a large amount of hop material coming from the chiller when i was prepping it for use. I think this is where the infection is. Do any of you have any specific methods you would recommend to properly clean my CFC and sanitize it to remove this infection? Thanks a lot in advance!

I often hear about people using Star San to clean chillers and things. Star San is not a cleaner. If you recirculate PBW or Oxyclean through there or even just fill it and let it soak, you'll get most of the gunk out. Water and Star San will not clean it. Yes it's possible to sanitize it with the gunk in there, but not using a chemical sanitizer as it will never penetrate through the gunk. With a plate chiller, you can boil it or bake it, with a counterflow you could recirc boiling water through it, but with all these scenarios, you still have your wort running though a bunch of gunk. Yuk.

Regarding "caustic", PBW specifically says it's not caustic. Generally I see it referring to Sodium Hydroxide which will clean EVERYTHING out of there. That's what I use in my plate chiller after a round of PBW. Absolutely nothing comes out of there after that.

 

[Homercidal]

Sodium Hydroxide is the main active ingredient in Beer Line Cleaner. It's a caustic solution made to remove gunk.

I have been using a counterflow chiller for years. It works well. I can still get some hops and gunk stuck in the lines if I'm not careful about straining them prior. There are a lot of ways to keep the large particles out.

The only thing I dislike about it is that I can't see if it's clean inside. I've used a dip tube brush on it before and have found some grey sludge rinsed out, so I'm assuming that *something* is remaining in there even though I rinse it out well. With a plate chiller, you can bake it in the oven to sterilize it if you like, so that's an advantage.

And you CAN gravity feed a CFC, but a pump is really a nice upgrade because it makes setting up a chill much easier than having to lift heavy boiling wort up higher. And you can use it for other transfers during the process as well.

 

[bipster]

Thanks, all for the feedback. I knew I was playing with fire, but didn't have a pump to run pbw through. I just ordered one to fix this problem. I'm hoping I will see a dramatic improvement next time
I brew. I suppose I will start with pbw as that is what I have on hand. If I need to move to caustic I always can later . Thanks again!