Questions about Counterflow Chillers

[bmurph]

I'm at the point where I should probably upgrade to a wort chiller instead of the ice bath I've been using to cool down my brewpot. I think I can tackle building one myself but I'm not sure whether to go immersion or counterflow. I don't know if my equipment is advanced enough for a counterflow. In pictures of counterflow chillers in action, I always see the wort flowing from brewpot to chiller via a valve near the bottom of the pot. I use an 8 gal brewpot with no valve. Is this an absolute necessity for counterflow chillers, or could I get around this somehow?

Also, I understand that the faster the wort cools, the better cold break you get...well if you ran wort from kettle to chiller to fermenter, wouldn't the cold break go straight into the fermenter? Is it a better idea to go from chiller to say bottling bucket and then let the cold break settle first?

The answer to the first part may make the second part irrelevant to me, but I'd still like to know.

 

[wyzazz]

You need some sort of a bottom drain to use with a counterflow/plate chiller, there is almost no way around that. And yes, the cold break goes right in to the fermenter. This is how lots of homebrewers do things with no ill effects.

 

[bmurph]

And yes, the cold break goes right in to the fermenter. This is how lots of homebrewers do things with no ill effects.

Cold break going into the fermenter doesn't bother me because I know it will eventually settle to the bottom, but everything I've read so far says to leave as much as possible back in the brewpot. So it really doesn't matter?

 

[kal]

Some people say that cold break is actually beneficial for fermentation (yeast growth). Some say that with lighter lagers cold break may throw some off tastes.

I use a CFC and on some very light lagers I have tried racking off the cold break into the fermenters before pitching to yeast. I never really noticed any differences.

Kal