Should I be ok? Chiller crap inside question

[Matteo57]

So I ran hot PBW through my chiller before brewing for 20 minutes and then before finishing the boil, I ran boiling hot work through the chiller for about 10-15 minutes. Chilled worth down and everything just fine.
After I ran more pbw through and was cleaning up and noticed stuff coming out the beer in/out section. I ran some high pressure water through and a LOT of crap ended up coming out, some was a bit of Irish moss from today and other.... who knows.
My question is if I ran boiling water through for as long as I did would it kill any nasties in the crap/gunk stuck up in there or am I possibly screwed?
This was for a Solera project so.... if it’s a good possibility that it could get infected from it then I would probably just dump it... :/

Thanks all!

Matt

 

[RPh_Guy]

This was for a Solera project so.... if it’s a good possibility that it could get infected from it then I would probably just dump it.

Solera project? As in sour beer with Brett, Sacc, Lacto, Pedio, etc? That already fits most people's definition of "infected" so you have nothing to worry about.

 

[Matteo57]

True, I guess I should have worded it differently. Would there be anything nasty that wouldn’t work with all the funkiness (Brett, Pedro, lacto)?

 

[RPh_Guy]

Would there be anything nasty that wouldn’t work with all the funkiness (Brett, Pedro, lacto)?

It's next to impossible that any wild microbes would have survived and then go on to contribute undesired flavors.

Using wild microbes is the foundation of Belgian sour beer. Ever heard of a coolship (koelschip)?

 

[Alex4mula]

Clean plate chiller as quick as possible after brew and not before brew.

 

[dwhite60]

I love my immersion chiller. Easy to use, easy to clean, effective enough.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[seatazzz]

You can also try baking your plate chiller; there's a thread around here somewhere. Basically it turns all the crud inside the chiller to ash which is easily blown out with hot water. I do mine once every six months (which is why I can't remember what temperature and how long to bake it).

Do you backflush your chiller when cleaning? That can help as well; just run your cleaning solution through backwards. I backflush first after finishing the brewday, then run hot water through the correct way. Never have crud in my chiller.

 

[RPh_Guy]

OP didn't say whether it's a CFC or plate chiller, but I think it's funny that it's assumed to be a plate chiller when it's dirty.

 

[PrrCabin]

I clean my plate chiller by flushing city water at full blast through it both forward and reverse

I like flushing it right after a brew

After flushing it I put it the oven for 3 hrs at 300f.

I noticed that if I just flush it I can get mold inside. I guess from water sitting inside

Putting it in the over boils the water out

ymmv

 

[thisjrp4]

I have been using a plate chiller for over 10 years. After I brew I flush it with tap water thru my garden hose. I don't put it in the oven but stand it up so most of the water drains. On brew day I put one step cleaner powder in the beer side and slowly fill it with hot water and let it sit for 15 minutes. Then flush it with hot water and connect to my kettle and run a little boiling wort thru it. Never had any problems.

 

[Alex4mula]

I have been using a plate chiller for over 10 years. After I brew I flush it with tap water thru my garden hose. I don't put it in the oven but stand it up so most of the water drains. On brew day I put one step cleaner powder in the beer side and slowly fill it with hot water and let it sit for 15 minutes. Then flush it with hot water and connect to my kettle and run a little boiling wort thru it. Never had any problems.

I do this but use pbw at clean time. Before brew I just re-flush with hot water and then sanitize. Love cooling 5gal in 3 minutes