Stainless CFC's Anyone?

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TheMadKing

TheMadKing

Western Yankee Southerner and Brew Science Nerd
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So I'm looking for a stainless CFC and Northern Brewer has been out of stock for a month. I contacted them back in May and they said they would be back in stock on June 10th (today), and today I was told they will not have them again until July 17th.

So I'm getting kinda tired of waiting since I need it to complete my new Spike system. I've looked at other options and I was wondering if anyone has another options I've missed, or an experience to share?

I've identified the Kegco which has no fittings on the wort tubes and I don't want to fight with compression fittings.

Stout makes a really nice looking chiller with TC fittings but it's 50% more expensive.

There's one small company that makes them using a garden hose and stainless tubing but it looks like junk imo.

Those appear to be the 3 best options. Is the Stout chiller worth the money? Should I wait another month for the NB version? Is the Kegco one not so bad?

Any advice appreciated.
 
If you really like it what's 7 more days . Now hopefully it will be in stock by then . If not you might have to pull the trigger on something else .

Oh shoot just realized its July . ......decisions decisions
 
Jag75 said:
If you really like it what's 7 more days . Now hopefully it will be in stock by then . If not you might have to pull the trigger on something else .

Oh shoot just realized its July . ......decisions decisions
Click to expand...

Yeah if it was 7 days I would just wait, but I've already waited a month, and I brewed using my old plate chiller and a hop spider (which I'm selling and the buyer is waiting on it). My hop utilization sucks using a hop spider and I really want to not be able to have a constant fear of clogging my chiller.
 
Yeah I hear ya man. I'm done with the spider . Im going to bags . The one from NB ain't bad for the price . I'd probably just your plate chiller and muslin bags till it's back in stock. I just saw cfc on morebeer ( copper) and man those are pricey .
 
Why does it have to be stainless. Try the exchilerator. It’s the best addition I’ve ever made to my brewing.
 
Duda diésel sells a homebrew plate chiller that’s great if you can keep the hops out of it.

@shelbymedic beat me to it. You can use other material besides stainless. Hdpe and pex come to mind. DIY if so inclined
 
shelbymedic said:
Why does it have to be stainless. Try the exchilerator. It’s the best addition I’ve ever made to my brewing.
Click to expand...

SanPancho said:
Duda diésel sells a homebrew plate chiller that’s great if you can keep the hops out of it.

@shelbymedic beat me to it. You can use other material besides stainless. Hdpe and pex come to mind. DIY if so inclined
Click to expand...

Don't those still have a metal tube that runs through them? I found one PEX one that can have a stainless inner tube, but it was very expensive, and this may sound silly, but my entire system is stainless and I would prefer stainless just for looks.

I absolutely don't want copper to contact wort in my brew system at all - that's one thing that I agree with the lodo crowd on.
 
Various ways to build. Copper is easy as theres lots of parts and fittings available, easily soldered. You can solder stainless but fewer fittings are available.

The exchillerator has no copper if i recall correctly.

Have you looked into the chillers provided with grainfather or other all in one units? Maybe you can buy it separately from the system.
 
SanPancho said:
Various ways to build. Copper is easy as theres lots of parts and fittings available, easily soldered. You can solder stainless but fewer fittings are available.

The exchillerator has no copper if i recall correctly.

Have you looked into the chillers provided with grainfather or other all in one units? Maybe you can buy it separately from the system.
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I have looked at the grainfather one and it's copper inside as well, and the exchillerator does indeed have a copper tube inside it, as does the Exchillerator Brutus.
 
Huh. Wasn’t aware. Thought GF was stainless.

Guess you gotta DIY if you don’t wanna wait it out. Or find one used.
 
TheMadKing said:
I currently have a plate chiller and I hate it. I have clogged it twice and now I have to use a hop spider or hop bags to prevent that which seems to kill my hop utilization and flavor. So I'm dead set against another plate chiller.
Click to expand...
Are you doing a whirlpool before chilling?
 
TheMadKing said:
I currently have a plate chiller and I hate it. I have clogged it twice and now I have to use a hop spider or hop bags to prevent that which seems to kill my hop utilization and flavor. So I'm dead set against another plate chiller.
Click to expand...
Hop back/wort grant. Whole cones. Problem solved. Just takes a little attention on your pump flow rate. But not nearly as easy as CFC admittedly.
 
daveerickson said:
Are you doing a whirlpool before chilling?
Click to expand...

Yep always. Loose hops and plate chillers just aren't friends. Even if it doesn't clog I can flush hop debris out of it for an hour and still get more out the next time I clean it. Just not worth the hassle for me. I've been using it for 2 years and it just doesn't suit me.
 
SanPancho said:
Hop back/wort grant. Whole cones. Problem solved. Just takes a little attention on your pump flow rate. But not nearly as easy as CFC admittedly.
Click to expand...

Agreed that there's plenty of ways to work around the limitations of the plate chiller, all of which have their drawbacks and all of which I have tried.

I'm not just giving up on my plate chiller after just trying it a couple times... I've been using it for years and have tried many variations of keeping it clean.

I just dropped a ton of money on my new brew system that gives me a ton of flexibility with brewing methods so I'm not about to keepworking around a piece of equipment that limits how I have to handle my hops. A CFC will offer the most flexibility and ease of use with my system (spike+ EHERMS). So I'm not really interested in troubleshooting my plate chiller.
 
TheMadKing said:
So I'm looking for a stainless CFC and Northern Brewer has been out of stock for a month. I contacted them back in May and they said they would be back in stock on June 10th (today), and today I was told they will not have them again until July 17th.

So I'm getting kinda tired of waiting since I need it to complete my new Spike system. I've looked at other options and I was wondering if anyone has another options I've missed, or an experience to share?

I've identified the Kegco which has no fittings on the wort tubes and I don't want to fight with compression fittings.

Stout makes a really nice looking chiller with TC fittings but it's 50% more expensive.

There's one small company that makes them using a garden hose and stainless tubing but it looks like junk imo.

Those appear to be the 3 best options. Is the Stout chiller worth the money? Should I wait another month for the NB version? Is the Kegco one not so bad?

Any advice appreciated.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the Stout chiller is more expensive, but if you look at the surface area....it's quite a bit longer than the other ones. The NB one is 18 feet, the Stout is 31 feet. I think a copper CF chiller can work well at shorter lengths, but since stainless isn't as good a conductor of heat as copper, I think the longer length is going to make you happier.

Do you have some unused brewing equipment you can sell off, or other items you can move to raise capital for the Stout? If money were no object (and it always is), the Stout offering is the way to go, IMO.
 
mongoose33 said:
Yeah, the Stout chiller is more expensive, but if you look at the surface area....it's quite a bit longer than the other ones. The NB one is 18 feet, the Stout is 31 feet. I think a copper CF chiller can work well at shorter lengths, but since stainless isn't as good a conductor of heat as copper, I think the longer length is going to make you happier.

Do you have some unused brewing equipment you can sell off, or other items you can move to raise capital for the Stout? If money were no object (and it always is), the Stout offering is the way to go, IMO.
Click to expand...

I do have the money for the stout but I also don't want to spend more than I need to if there was a better option.

Based on all the replies here and your point about the increased length, I think I'm just going to get the stout one.
 
TheMadKing said:
Hmmm those are interesting... I'm a little leery of buying anything food grade from China like that, but I'll look into them. Thanks!
Click to expand...
The kegco chiller is actually one of the ones on that site (just not rebranded and marked up yet) all the keg king and keg land stuff also comes from alibaba/aliexpress. In fact the stout chiller is also chinese made like their kettles as well as about 85-90% of all the homebrewing kettles and conicals out there... I've never seen any actual reports of any of it being a danger. many times a company or person in the states just places a huge order from a manufacturer or many small orders under an agreement for special pricing and then the stuff is resold under whatever brandname they choose.. Sometimes its made to special specs provided by the said US company but just as often its the same Chinese generic goods.
I have both a Stout branded conical and generic conical that clearly came from the same manufacturer but sold for different prices. this is the way much of our economy works now.. even with big namebrands. Its folks that dont pay attention to stuff like this that drive the business practice. If you want extra customer service support then stout is the way to go. if you want to save some money then buying direct is the way to go.

I bought much of my stuff there direct as well as the 3bbl kettles I use in my brewpub which I bought from the manufacturer who makes them and supplies them to stout.(they are a forum sponsor on probrewer) they are one of many suppliers that stout uses. I saved about 1/3 the cost buying direct vs going through a reseller under another brandname. or through multiple middlemen as in the case of buying these through places like brewmation..
Notice we use a plate chiller ourselves. we have made beers with and without the bags or hopspiders and did not notice the perceived loss people sometimes mention.
milk stout.jpg
 
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augiedoggy said:
The kegco chiller is actually one of the ones on that site (just not rebranded and marked up yet) all the keg king and keg land stuff also comes from alibaba/aliexpress. In fact the stout chiller is also chinese made like their kettles as well as about 85-90% of all the homebrewing kettles and conicals out there... I've never seen any actual reports of any of it being a danger. many times a company or person in the states just places a huge order from a manufacturer or many small orders under an agreement for special pricing and then the stuff is resold under whatever brandname they choose.. Sometimes its made to special specs provided by the said US company but just as often its the same Chinese generic goods.
I have both a Stout branded conical and generic conical that clearly came from the same manufacturer but sold for different prices. this is the way much of our economy works now.. even with big namebrands. Its folks that dont pay attention to stuff like this that drive the business practice.

I bought much of my stuff there direct as well as the 3bbl kettles I use in my brewpub which I bought from the manufacturer who makes them and supplies them to stout.(they are a forum sponsor on probrewer) they are one of many suppliers that stout uses. I saved about 1/3 the cost buying direct vs going through a reseller under another brandname. or through multiple middlemen as in the case of buying these through places like brewmation..
Notice we use a plate chiller ourselves. we have made beers with and without the bags or hopspiders and did not notice the perceived loss people sometimes mention.View attachment 630802
Click to expand...

thanks Augie! that's great info.

My one argument is that you have access to strong caustics as well as the ability to take your plate chiller apart to clean it (I know you probably just backflush with hot caustic). You probably also have more space between your plates than the Chirron or Therminator. I used to work with an industrial plate chiller as well and they are a far cry from the ones that are readily available to homebrewers.

Otherwise you've put my mind at ease with the aliexpress stuff!
 
TheMadKing said:
thanks Augie! that's great info.

My one argument is that you have access to strong caustics as well as the ability to take your plate chiller apart to clean it (I know you probably just backflush with hot caustic). You probably also have more space between your plates than the Chirron or Therminator. I used to work with an industrial plate chiller as well and they are a far cry from the ones that are readily available to homebrewers.

Otherwise you've put my mind at ease with the aliexpress stuff!
Click to expand...
we do not use anything but sani clean and pbw... our plate chiller does come apart but we have not had any issues with clogging whatsoever because we use both hop bags and whirlpooling.
I use a duda plate chiller at home for 6 years now and no issues either because I use 2 hop spiders and also a 8" section of braided stainless to act as a last chance filter.
I agree the special design of the therminator makes it easier to clog than the other plate chillers.
 
TheMadKing said:
Well damn, with shipping costs it comes out to be the same price as the NB one and delivery isn't until July 10th, so that actually doesn't really gain me anything over just waiting for the northern brewer one.
Click to expand...
yeah I see that looking at it now... if your not after sanitary fittings there doesnt seem to be a benefit on this particular item.
 
You could make one. Only copper used is for the water connections. Just solder them together. Fair warning, it's a PIA to get the coiled SS tubing thru the high temp hose!
full

full

full
 
Ki-ri-n said:
You could make one. Only copper used is for the water connections. Just solder them together. Fair warning, it's a PIA to get the coiled SS tubing thru the high temp hose!
full

full

full
Click to expand...
He mentioned the garden hose covered ones looking like junk in the first post so I think cosmetics are a factor here.
 
Ki-ri-n said:
Looks like junk as in asthetics or junk as in poorly made?
Click to expand...

In my original post I was referring to that particular one as looking poorly made (it's an Etsy shop homemade version)

I'm sure they can be made so that they work well, but I also would prefer stainless for the asthetics.
 
I had the kegco style one and upgraded to the stout and am very pleased with my purchase. The added length helps out a ton for single pass chilling. I also only use triclamp fittings so the welded fittings were a big bonus. It is every bit worth the price imo.

Brewtools also sells one in the same range as the stout chiller that I would love to try out.

https://www.brewtools.no/en/tilbehor/27-counterflow-cooler-pro.html
 
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Drumminguy81 said:
I had the kegco style one and upgraded to the stout and am very pleased with my purchase. The added length helps out a ton for single pass chilling. I also only use triclamp fittings so the welded fittings were a big bonus. It is every bit worth the price imo.

Brewtools also sells one in the same range as the stout chiller that I would love to try out.

https://www.brewtools.no/en/tilbehor/27-counterflow-cooler-pro.html
Click to expand...

Awesome thanks!

That brewtools one is actually $30 cheaper than the stout with shipping!

Edit: it has 34mm tri clamp fittings and my whole system is 1.5", so if I buy all the hardware I need for those it comes out to a little more than the Stout CFC [emoji849]
 
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Looks like a nice product.

I didn't find a length on the Brewtools website, but using the 34cm diameter I get 23'.

edit: Whoops, 37cm diameter. Math was right, still 23'
 
Last edited:
Tom R said:
Looks like a nice product.

I didn't find a length on the Brewtools website, but using the 34cm diameter I get 23'.
Click to expand...

The 34 millimeters (not centimeters) is the diameter of the tri clamp flanges. I couldn't find any dimensions for the chiller itself
 

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