Plate chiller set up

[mainiac116]

I have a new shirron plate chiller, chugger pump and lines/fittings to connect to my 10 gallon brew pot which also contains NorCal's hop stopper.
Can someone advise me on proper setup and explain recirculating the wort? It seems to me recirculating will just stir up the trub/hot break/hops and/or clog the hop stopper.
If I open the ball valve on brewpot a crack, do you think one pass through the chiller will drop the wort to pitching temp?
Lastly, will running boiling water through the new chiller/lines/fittings be adequate for sanitation?

 

[kenmcchord]

I too am new to using a chiller and pump, but I did brew last weekend and can tell you my experiences. I installed a kettle whirlpool with a bulkhead connection, and I have a blichmann hop blocker. I circulated the wort from the boil kettle, through the pump, chiller then back to the bk through the whirlpool. I did a 25 minute whirlpool hop addition at about 180* then turned on the chiller water.

It took about 3-4 minutes to chill the wort from the 180* range to 68*, which at that point I shut off the tap water to the chiller, then turned off the pump. I removed the camlock fitting off the whirlpool fitting and directed the cool wort to the fermenter and turned the pump on. The hop blocker got clogged up with about 3/4 - 7/8 gal of wort still in the boil kettle. The whirlpool did create a tub cone, but there was a good bit of hop material covering my hop blocker. I ended up using an auto siphon to get the remaining wort into the fermentor.

The chiller was very loaded with hop material. I backflushed the chiller for quite a while, then submerged it in 140*+ water with PBW. The last time I flushed out the chiller there was still a few particles of hop coming out. I am planning to soak it again then run boiling water through it. I did throughly clean the lines and camlocks. I still have to pull the pump head apart to clean that up well. Depending on the configuration of your pump(s) you may be able to get away with running the boiling water through and not having to dry them out, but I will be using compressed air once I clean mine to get the remaining fluid out of the pump head.

I am going to get a hop spider for the additions, I don't think the whirlpool will force the material into a tight enough trub cone to avoid running the material through your chiller.

Seems to me the more stuff I have the more stuff I have to clean, but I do like the whirlpool for the option of doing a hop stand. Good luck.

 

[nealperkins]

I guess that's why I don't have a plate chiller. I LOVE the idea of one, but all that cleaning and doubt about the final cleanliness is a concern.
Before I get flamed...I know there are many folks who just love the plate chillers.
I wish someone would make a small chiller with removable plates!

 

[chezhed]

I've had to change my hopping process slightly recently and went back to a spider and bagged hops combination. The wind is often too much for my burner so I have to supplement with a heat stick, which I worry would scorch hop bags, which I use to ease concerns about blocking my plate chiller. So now I remove the spider at flameout, remove the heat stick and whirlpool with hops in a bag. I don't have any issues with chiller blockage and it tends to easily flush. I have camlocks on my plate chiller so I simply attach a line I made with a camlock and a faucet adapter to flush my plate chiller with hot tap water. A brief soak/dip in sterilizer solution and it's stored for use. I make a fresh sterilizer solution on brew day, add it to the boil kettle and run into the pump, lines and plate chiller with a shutoff on the outlet...and let it sit till I am ready to run wort through it.

 

[Mellman]

I guess that's why I don't have a plate chiller. I LOVE the idea of one, but all that cleaning and doubt about the final cleanliness is a concern.
Before I get flamed...I know there are many folks who just love the plate chillers.
I wish someone would make a small chiller with removable plates!

the big breweries with plate chillers that can be disassembled that I know of don't really do it that often. They're such a pain to get put back together leak free!

my process is sanitizer and cleaner afterwards, rinse before brew with hose water, and pasteurize before chilling with the boiling wort for 15 minutes.

Just make sure you don't leave it outside after brew day in the winter time...they will freeze and crack with even a tiny amount of water in them, and then you'll need a new plate chiller.

 

[mainiac116]

Thanks for the replies. I too would like the simplest, easiest method of chilling/filtering wort available.
I switched to a plate chiller because it was taking over an hour using an ic to chill 5 gallons to 65F. I'm on town water/sewer and my bill is calculated by how much water I use.
In addition to the hop blocker, I have a dip tube for my bulkhead and was told many people use a stainless steel scouring pad on the end of the dip tube to contain what the hop stopper doesn't filter.
It sounds like the chiller is very fast and effective providing the water is cold.
Has anyone tried a one pass chill to the fermenter by barely opening the the ball valve on the brew pot? Would this burn up the pump?

 

[sandyeggoxj]

I guess that's why I don't have a plate chiller. I LOVE the idea of one, but all that cleaning and doubt about the final cleanliness is a concern.
Before I get flamed...I know there are many folks who just love the plate chillers.
I wish someone would make a small chiller with removable plates!

Like this? https://brewmagic.com/product/plate-pro-sanitary-wort-chiller/

I REALLY want one. But damn. I need some glycol chilled conicals first. haha!