Plate/Counter Flow Chiller & Trub

[dionbill]

Hey gang,

I am upgrading my immersion chiller to something more efficient and leaning towards a plate or CF chiller. I know there are people on both sides of the fence here and i'm done the research on which is "best", but i am wondering how people handle the cold break trub that's produced when using an inline chiller? I've always used an immersion chiller where this is not a problem as it sits in the bottom of the boil kettle, so this is new territory for me. Do people strain it out, not worry about, etc? I would really like to know what works here before i actually buy one or the other.

Also, is there a concern with the wort sitting at near boiling temps prior to going through the chiller?

Thanks Gang!!!

 

[Indian_villager]

I use a CFC and the stuff just comes out the other end. Every few months I pump bleach through my CFC to tear off anything that may have stuck.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Of the two, the CFC will be lower maintenance and require less pre-filtering equipment/techniques. But, it will still harbor stuff in nooks and crannies you can't reach. I would go for the CFC if you want something more "efficient"...but consider that a lot of people come full circle and go back to IC's because they are the lowest maintenance, least likely to infect options, and they can chill a 10 gallon batch in <10 mins if properly sized/stirred.

 

[jasonlonon]

Nobody really answered his quesiton - and I have the same one. I
am going to build my own CFC, but I'm curious what people do about the trub that usually settles out in the kettle using my IC. Now that stuff is going to fall into my fermenter. How do people handle this?

 

[Stovetop535]

I just leave it all to settle out in the primary. I do use a whirfloc tablet in the boil at flame out, the cold break settles out nicely.

On some beers I will allow the cold break to settle and then rack to a new carboy and pitch yeast, but not very often.

I use a duda plate chiller with a stainless hop spider for pellet hops or a false bottom with level 3 filter for whole hops.

I usually go one pass, straight from the kettle to the carboy. Winter months this is not a problem with ground water being cosiderably colder. During the summer one pass usually gives me wort in the carboy between 74-78 degrees. If I keep the plate chiller I will probably add a small pre chiller for the summer months.

Even though this is off topic, I feel obligated to post about cleaning. I did hot/warm oxy flush both backwards and forwards and everything in between before and after brewdays. After reading a few threads on people who used caustics to clean out the chiller I decided to give it a try to test my cleaing method. I had nasty goo like black chunks come pouring out of my chiller after a few soaks.

My advice for cleaning a plate chiller, soaks and re circulating water is not enough, no matter how long or how hot the water is. You must have additional force on the chiller to dislodge the gunk, something to create a water hammer effect. A ball valve on your water source does ok to create water pulses, but what I have found works best is my air compressor. I fill the chiller with water and the use the air hose to blow the water out. This, when doth both with and against the water flow does an excellet job of shooting debris out of chiller.

 

[IslandLizard]

I use a large 300 micron mesh filter around the dip tube in the kettle. Holds back most hop slush, leaf hops, cold and hot break. Been looking at a 6" hop basket to keep the hops more contained.

I have a Duda plate chiller. It does require cleaning each brew day (back washing both ways), recirculating very hot PBW back and forth when needed, plus a 2-hour baking period every 3-5 brews (in the oven with bread or pizza).

I recirculate/chill down to 180-190°F, do a hop stand, recirculate/chill more to around 80-120°F, and then the final pass straight into the fermentor (60-70°), often with help of ice.

 

[govner1]

Nobody really answered his quesiton - and I have the same one. I
am going to build my own CFC, but I'm curious what people do about the trub that usually settles out in the kettle using my IC. Now that stuff is going to fall into my fermenter. How do people handle this?

I whirlpool while chilling using a CFC. I have a 90° elbow on the outlet to my ball valve that I can move down as I fill my carboys. The trub ends up in a nice pyramid piled in the middle of the bottom of my BK. The elbow allows any at the edge to "slide" below the pickup. I get very little in my carboys.