By the same argument, one could say brewing outdoors is dangerous because a meteor could hit you.
I've never had a garden hose puncture in regular use and I know I'm much more careful with my brewing equipment than my gardening equipment. :cross:
Which Chiller would you Choose?
- Thread starter Doc Robinson
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By the same argument, one could say brewing outdoors is dangerous because a meteor could hit you.
I've never had a garden hose puncture in regular use and I know I'm much more careful with my brewing equipment than my gardening equipment. :cross:
jvastola
Member
I HATE it when that happens!
There are so many variables at work in this discussion. Plate chillers are the most efficient but the one potential fatal flaw is clogging if you don't at least coarsely filter your hops in the kettle or use bags.
The CFC is more forgiving in that regard. Having a pump for any external exchanger does provide some advantage. For one thing, you can recirculate hot wort as the sanitation method. This is no additional work if you already have use for a pump. You can also push wort through the chiller faster when your coolant water is cold enough to support the added speed. In February when my tap is at 48F, I pumped the wort full bore while the coolant trickled in. It took only 7 minutes and about 15 gallons of water to chill 10 gallons.
The CFC is more forgiving in that regard. Having a pump for any external exchanger does provide some advantage. For one thing, you can recirculate hot wort as the sanitation method. This is no additional work if you already have use for a pump. You can also push wort through the chiller faster when your coolant water is cold enough to support the added speed. In February when my tap is at 48F, I pumped the wort full bore while the coolant trickled in. It took only 7 minutes and about 15 gallons of water to chill 10 gallons.
FireBrewer
Assistant Brewer
Spot on, Bobby. It really depends on your system and what you plan to do.
Each has their advantages and disadvantages. Initially I started with a garden-hose type CFC, then went to a Chillus Convolutus, and finally went with a plate chiller (Shirron). I wanted to hard plumb the whole thing, from input to output, something I had a hard time doing with the CFC. For my setup, the plate chiller works very well.
I've never had a clog.
I've never had an infected batch since installing it.
You can clog a 3/8" CFC with hop debris as well; may take a little more, but it certainly can be done. Because of the smaller passageways you do need to take greater care to keep hop debris out of the chiller, as BobbyM indicated. But some common sense measures, a little back-flush and periodic cleaning keeps it tip-top.
Good luck with your hunt!
Each has their advantages and disadvantages. Initially I started with a garden-hose type CFC, then went to a Chillus Convolutus, and finally went with a plate chiller (Shirron). I wanted to hard plumb the whole thing, from input to output, something I had a hard time doing with the CFC. For my setup, the plate chiller works very well.
I've never had a clog.
I've never had an infected batch since installing it.
You can clog a 3/8" CFC with hop debris as well; may take a little more, but it certainly can be done. Because of the smaller passageways you do need to take greater care to keep hop debris out of the chiller, as BobbyM indicated. But some common sense measures, a little back-flush and periodic cleaning keeps it tip-top.
Good luck with your hunt!
My issue with CFCs are that I can't see the inside, so I can never be 100% certain it's clean. Sure, the hot wort should sanitize it, but I like to be able to see, so I use an IC. I own both for some reason though...
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FireBrewer
Assistant Brewer
I hear that a lot. And understandably so. But if you follow a good cleaning regimen, no worries. I recirculate StarSan through mine a few minutes before the end of the boil and backflush with water immediately afterward for 5-10 minutes. Every few batches I recirculate very hot PBW through it for about 30 minutes while the wort's boiling. Been doing this for probably 5 years now, never had an infected batch while using the plate chiller---and it's one of the biggest sources for infection.
Trust your skills. (Just imagine all the wild yeast and bacteria floating in while your wort's cooling with the IC and the water dripping into it from leaky connections
!)
I've used all three types of chillers and never had an contamination that I know of.
That is key - I'd like to think I'm a clean brewer, but I've given my beers to others and they pick out things that I can't taste/detect. You can obsess over it all you want, but at some point you have to just do whats right for you. For me, I don't want to use a plate chiller I cannot take apart. I cut one of those things open once and the nooks and crannies in there were scary - they aren't rounded corners or anything, they taper off into vast unknowns. Which is fine because they were intended for water only, not for liquids with particulate in them.
