Plate Chiller

[neoanto]

Guys,

I'm going to buy a plate chiller, I have a small immersion chiller i got from HBC but its hard to get the wort down to pitch temp.  I just need to decide on the number of plates and where to buy it.

Anyway has anyone bought a plate chiller? Where is the best place to buy from and what number of plates would be suitable to cool 20L of wort and how fast does it do it for you normally?

Cheers guys!

[darren996]

I have a Brewferm 34 plate chiller, currently doing 5 gallon batches in a BIAB setup.  I got it from geterbrewed last year for 120 euro.  You can cool straight into the fermenter with this and if you get the flow correct it will enter the fermenter at the temperature of your tap water.  So, it will cool as fast as you can drain from your kettle.  It is a great bit of kit.  I sized mine to future proof.  I can gravity feed it to the fermenter, no need for a pump, but I would suggest a cheap solar pump to help with cleaning.

They also do a 12 plate chiller, that will cool you wort to 20 degrees within 10 minutes.

[neoanto]

Thanks for the info Darren.

I picked up a 30 platee chiller from Brewbuilder. So I'll see how that goes.
I would guess the perfromance would be similar to the 36 plate.
I think i will get a drill operated pump for the cleaning.

[DEMPSEY]

Getting the wort temp down will still be a problem with any system as the water in temp will decide that

[molc]

I used my 40 plate chiller for the first time today. Recirculating, it got down to 17 in 25 minutes, which is basically the lowest it will go unless I use an ice bath. Spilt beer everywhere a few times with it though - don't forget to account for losses due to tubing etc when using one.

[neoanto]

Did you recycle the wort through the chiller and back into the kettle until it reached temp?
Or did you recycle the cold water through the chiller?

I thinking of trying it with just gravity feed through the chiller and no recycle on the hose, maybe using a lever valve to limit the wort flow.

[darren996]

Thanks for the info Darren.

I picked up a 30 platee chiller from Brewbuilder. So I'll see how that goes.
I would guess the perfromance would be similar to the 36 plate.
I think i will get a drill operated pump for the cleaning.

Yeah I heard good things about brewbuilders chiller, I think a few guys have them in the forum. Pick up some brass hose connections for it as well, makes things a lot handier..lidl and aldi have them frombtime to time

[Tom]

You can minimise tube / pipe losses by following the last of the wort through with some clean water. If your pipes are transparent you'll see when the last of the wort is out (unless you're brewing a lite beer, I guess) and you can shut off the pump.

[molc]

Did you recycle the wort through the chiller and back into the kettle until it reached temp?
Or did you recycle the cold water through the chiller?

I thinking of trying it with just gravity feed through the chiller and no recycle on the hose, maybe using a lever valve to limit the wort flow.

Back into the kettle, simply as I'm also whirlpooling and trying to get the cold break to settle out as well as chill. You could gravity feed though it I'd say with the input restricted, but you'll need to tweak it a bit to get it working well.

[molc]

You can minimise tube / pipe losses by following the last of the wort through with some clean water. If your pipes are transparent you'll see when the last of the wort is out (unless you're brewing a lite beer, I guess) and you can shut off the pump.

Good idea. Also saves me having wort going everywhere when undoing the connections. Thanks!

[Vermelho]

If recommend going for a double immersion chiller. By two 10 metre lengths of 3/8" copper in woodies, some three way compression fittings and bobs your uncle. I get a 25 lite batch cooled in 12 mins and double that for a 50 litre batch. Also less work when cleaning at the end.

[Tom]

May I hijack for a couple of posts? Please?

Can you place the pump after the chiller? I imagine a pump pumps, not pulls but....?

[Garry]

Can you place the pump after the chiller? I imagine a pump pumps, not pulls but....?

If would probably work but a pump works best if the inlet is larger than the outlet. Placing the chiller before the pump would restrict the flow into the pump.

[Leann ull]

+1
A plastic toolmaker pal of mine always says you can only go from "Tik to tin" same with any fluid