Therminator

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Wino24

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2009
Messages
186
Reaction score
0
Location
Long Island, NY
Hi all....I have about 15 AG brews under my belt and I have just started getting and using some of the 'toys" such as the "Therminator", which I have to say is one of the best "toys" I bought so far. I would never have believed they work as well/fast as they do had I not seen it for myself. Anyway, I brewed a batch earlier today and when I ran the wort through the therminator it pushed out the water that was left inside it from rinsing from the prior batch straight into my fermentor. It was plain water but I've noticed that no matter how much water I run through it and no matter which direction I run the water though it there is always a little hop material that comes out. Should I be concerned of some sort of infection from this small hop material in the new batch? Also, how do you guys clean out your therminator? Thanks.
 
I back flow with hot water when I am finished with the brewing session. I also back flush with Iodophor pumping it from a pot of solution and back. I do this for five or so minutes before draining and re-plumbing for the wort cooling. Hope this helps...
 
Hi all....I have about 15 AG brews under my belt and I have just started getting and using some of the 'toys" such as the "Therminator", which I have to say is one of the best "toys" I bought so far. I would never have believed they work as well/fast as they do had I not seen it for myself. Anyway, I brewed a batch earlier today and when I ran the wort through the therminator it pushed out the water that was left inside it from rinsing from the prior batch straight into my fermentor. It was plain water but I've noticed that no matter how much water I run through it and no matter which direction I run the water though it there is always a little hop material that comes out. Should I be concerned of some sort of infection from this small hop material in the new batch? Also, how do you guys clean out your therminator? Thanks.

After a batch I will fill my HLT with water and bring it to a boil and back flush with the boiling water. I also from time to time bake it in the oven then back flush. The other precaution is use a paint strainer style hop bag in the boil kettle but instead of using a paint strainer bag I use a 100 micron polyester water filter bag. I get almost no hop debris in the boil kettle and no decrease in hop flavor or aroma.
 
00146.JPG


Quick disconnects attached so its simply rerouting the tubing to backflush the therminator with PBW from the kettle
 
Quick disconnects attached so its simply rerouting the tubing to backflush the therminator with PBW from the kettle

Same here. QDs, reverse the tubing, fill boil kettle with water and oxyclean, run for about an hour, let sit for a few days. Then flush with clean water.

I've never put mine in the oven, nor have I run boiling water through it. However, I do run boiling wort through it to sanitize it, just before use, and that likely is keeping this sucker running smoothly after ... [passedpawn fires up Beersmith]... 40ish batches.
 
I backflush with a garden hose and run PBW through mine like others mention.

I also recirc my boiling wort through it for 5 - 10 minutes at the end of the boil prior to anything going into the fermenter. I figure that anything left over is going to be killed by the boiling wort at that point.
 
I bet that chiller setup didn't cost $700, did it? Never could understand why the "chill-wizard" was so expensive. It's just a mount!

Nice DIY version, now you've got my gears turning....

Add in the expensive Tri-Clover fittings, aeration setup, reinforced silicone tubing, labor, overhead and profit. It all adds up. Could Sabco have offered it less expensive by using less expensive parts? Sure, but thier target market is not really the homebrewer, it's more the pilot brewery market. Sure there are some deep pocketed homebrewers that have the scratch to afford Sabco but I bet they do more Pilot Brewery business and I bet that is what this product is built for.
 
Add in the expensive Tri-Clover fittings, aeration setup, reinforced silicone tubing, labor, overhead and profit. It all adds up. Could Sabco have offered it less expensive by using less expensive parts? Sure, but thier target market is not really the homebrewer, it's more the pilot brewery market. Sure there are some deep pocketed homebrewers that have the scratch to afford Sabco but I bet they do more Pilot Brewery business and I bet that is what this product is built for.


It has aeration and silicone tubing and yes it was built for a pilot brewery. I did save money by DIY but not that much.....maybe a 100 or 2, its been a while. Heres the link

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-diy-chill-wizard-knock-off-167620/
 
Back
Top