Plate Chiller

[halite]

Hi All, I am thinking of investing in a plate chiller. Anybody use one?

Looking for recommendations and any tips.

Thanks,
Mark

[Rossa]

I've thought about this for years. To be sure of sanitation  you really need one that can be taken apart. These are way more expensive than the hb ones that are available for circa €80. Also there are issues with chilling. They are not as efficient as you would think on water. In fact it is dependant on water temp really. You can use as much water as an immersion chiller and your wort will sit there hot until it gets to the cooler so volatile hop  aroma and oils can be lost.  Whirlpooling and an immersion cooling coil  can work as quick and give butter results. There was a good basic bittering radio episode on it last year.  That made up my mind for me. Having said all that the big boys use them so they can't be all bad !

[halite]

Thanks Rossa.

Maybe I just need to upgrade my immersion chiller. Any thoughts on the SS immersion chillers?

[Will_D]

Yes they do BUT:

They are about 2 foot square - minimum, are modular and dismantleable for cleaning and are held together with 4 SS screws and nuts that alone would cost €hundreds. And BTW: They also leak!!

Every brewery I've visited have a drip tyray under them. The drip tray would cost more than the €80 for a smallk welded HB plate chiller!

Stick to imersion or counter flow chillers unless you like scalled down micro-brewey shinny stuff ( I know I do  )

[Rossa]

That basic brewing wort chiller experiment is worth listening to. 3 beers chilled differently and the ic came out on top. The relationship between dropping the temp quickly and hop  aroma/bitterness is an interesting one. Late additions and in particular post boil can add up to 30% of your ibu count according to the latest ipa book by Mitch Steele. I presume that is calculated using plate chillers in the pro game.

[Hop Bomb]

I broke my copper coil chiller so I bought a duda diesel 30 plate chiller last week. I also got the hop rocket to act as an inline filter as well as a hop back to counteract any lost hop aroma. (all my late additions will be in the hop back from now on)

Re: sanitation: You just run boiling wort through it & back into your BK during the last 10 mins of your boil. At flame out I plan on recirculating my wort through my pump into the hop rocket
then to the plate chiller & back into my BK when chilling. Because there is no coil in the BK I can get an actual whirlpool going with my spoon. Once I get the wort down to pitching temp il let it rest in
the BK for a bit to let the cold break drop out & then transfer to the fermentor.  Then flush & back flush the chiller when done. Ive also read of brewers autoclaving & sterilizing in the oven.

If you see any major flaws in my plan please tell me. It makes sense in my brain right now & I did similar on Sunday brewing my RIS but didnt recirc the wort. As a result Ive an inch of cold break at the bottom of
my carboy.

[Rossa]

I like the idea of a hop back. I nearly bought one a few years back and I also read a lot about people having a big enough pressure cooker to sanitize them. The hop rocket looks the business. Let us know how that goes.

[spacebandit]

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?itemId=251281462810

Just bought one of these today. Have to wait on delivery obviously but will give a report once I have put it to the test.
Seems like a decent enough price. Or have I missed something and been stroked???

[johnrm]

Not bad, but have a look here...
http://tinyurl.com/lenr7oc

Free P&P to UK, so us southerners could ParcelMotel it.

[DEMPSEY]

They look fine,my only issue with these is you cannot see inside and cannot take them apart to inspect them. For to not have them clog up you deffo need a fine filter at the entrance.

[spacebandit]

@johnrm I will never buy anything again before checking with you lad. Haha I prob would have went there instead but sure you live and learn. I will want a second one soon enoigh so thanks for that!!
BTW I'm looking a pair of purple adidas spezial in a uk10....

[spacebandit]

Was thinking the same there Dempsey. I might try some kind of mesh on top of the false bottom as suggested over on jbk or a pre filter unit plumbed in immediately before the chiller.

[spacebandit]

Got that yoke the other day. Packaging totally busted up and the bottom corners have minor dents. Other than that it looks dead on. When I say dents I mean there is a lip around the bottom that is dented. The plates themselves look fine. 1" connections on this bad boy. What would be the easiest way to pressure test this to check for leaks? Jubilee clips on a 1" hose I guess, just can't be arsed spending money just to check its feckin working...

[johnrm]

It came with a 5 yr warranty so hook it up and if it leaks, bundle it back.
It's worth contacting the vendor and mentioning inadequate packaging.

[christhebrewer]

I have a reasonable size plate chiller and there are good and bad points. I chills to 20c at around 3 l/min which is great. The snag is cleaning. There are two sides to this.
One is that if you pump the hot wort through for a few mins before turning on the tap water the whole thing is sterile so who cares if there is a bit of hops or something in there.
True but I decided to give mine a good clean and I have been flushing out bits of hops for hours and they're still coming. This does bother me.
Big problem with filters is that they clog and you spend your day stopping and clearing the mesh so in the end an immersion would have been quicker. I redecorated the garage  a while ago when a pipe blew of due to a clogging filter!
I'm thinking about building a counterflow chiller with 10mm copper and 3/4" pex. I can't remember who posted a really nice piece recently on how to make one, thanks! The attraction is that it can easily be flushed through cos it has no corners for bits to hide in.
I'm also seriously considering a "no chill method"