Plate Vs Immersion Chillerq

[balconybrewer]

hi there, have been no chilling for ages and keen to give chilling a crack and make my own decision on which is best practice.

but which way do i go, plate (i.e a chillout from ross for $130) or make up a copper immerson one??? anyone out there tried both or anyone have a strong opinion one way or the other, love to hear about it.

cheers

 

[benchick]

im definately no guru but my mates swear by plate chillers, am just putting an ag setup together at the moment and am goin to run 2 chillers in series with a peri pump for the wort and 2 garden pumps for the cooling, first one will run tap water straight through and then out to the garden, second one will run glycol from a 40l engel, should get it down to 18 degrees no probs hopefully, a just going to have to mess with the glycol temp to get it spot on but it shouldnt be too hard. my mates have used immersion chillers but they have all gone to cold plates so am just following the trend

 

[browndog]

Plate chillers are the go BB, I've had an immersion chiller and plate chiller and will vouch for the plate chiller. Sure you get some cold break in the fermenter, but don't let the naysayers put you off, it has no effect on the finished beer. Further, if you look at an immersion chiller before it goes in the kettle and then after it comes out, where does all that oxide on the copper go? into your wort that is where.

cheers

Browndog

 

[manticle]

You can clean copper with acid (like vinegar) - same as with a copper manifold. Oxides aren't a big issue.

What are the unbiased pros and cons of each? I'm likely to make an immersion chiller soon so it would be nice to know.

 

[felten]

Jamil always bars up when he talks about his whirlpool immersion chiller on brewstrong, http://www.mrmalty.com/chiller.php. looks interesting.

 

[jiesu]

That Whirlpool immersion chiller does look to be the shiznitch!

 

[razz]

You can do the same as JZ with a plate chiller, but, plate chillers hate pellets.

 

[bcp]

Being a melbournian, I'm interested to know if they both use the same volume of water to achieve the same result? Is one more efficient?

I know you can recycle water, and the variables (water temp, outside temp, speed of water flow, etc) make this a difficult question, but: roughly how much water - maximum - do these kinds of things use (on a hot day)? I saw a post where someone suggested 120-190 litres (30-40 gallons). http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/how-much-w...chiller-121012/

At that rate no chill seems more sensible. Another person said about 40 litres and a bag of ice - that'd be easier to recycle.

 

[kevin_smevin]

Being a melbournian, I'm interested to know if they both use the same volume of water to achieve the same result? Is one more efficient?

I know you can recycle water, and the variables (water temp, outside temp, speed of water flow, etc) make this a difficult question, but: roughly how much water - maximum - do these kinds of things use (on a hot day)? I saw a post where someone suggested 120-190 litres (30-40 gallons). http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/how-much-w...chiller-121012/

At that rate no chill seems more sensible. Another person said about 40 litres and a bag of ice - that'd be easier to recycle.

Check this page out. It compares a couple plate chillers with what looks like an immersion chiller. http://www.blichmannengineering.com/thermi...herminator.html

I bought the therminator but haven't used it yet. Should give it a run next weekend

 

[browndog]

As far as efficiency goes, IMHO the plate chiller wins hands down. I can chill my 23L wort to the same temp as the water coming out of my tap in less than 10 mins, there is no way you could do that with an immersion chiller. I've never had any blockages with hop pellets either so I would not list that as an issue. Manticle, you say you can clean a copper immersion chiller with acid or vinegar before using it to get the gunk off, I've seen a lot of brewers use immersion chillers over the years and I've never seen anyone clean one once. The only setback with a plate chiller as I see it, and it is not really a setback is it requires a bit more work to keep it clean and sanitary.

cheers

Browndog

 

[bcp]

Check this page out. It compares a couple plate chillers with what looks like an immersion chiller. http://www.blichmannengineering.com/thermi...herminator.html

I bought the therminator but haven't used it yet. Should give it a run next weekend

I do love elegant solutions! Interested to hear how you go.

 

[manticle]

As far as efficiency goes, IMHO the plate chiller wins hands down. I can chill my 23L wort to the same temp as the water coming out of my tap in less than 10 mins, there is no way you could do that with an immersion chiller. I've never had any blockages with hop pellets either so I would not list that as an issue. Manticle, you say you can clean a copper immersion chiller with acid or vinegar before using it to get the gunk off, I've seen a lot of brewers use immersion chillers over the years and I've never seen anyone clean one once. The only setback with a plate chiller as I see it, and it is not really a setback is it requires a bit more work to keep it clean and sanitary.

cheers

Browndog

I know I usually clean my manifold before mashing. I'm surprised people don't like their immersions to be nice and shiny too.

10 minutes is pretty damn good - that's probably how long it takes me to fill my NC cube

 

[sav]

I can say my IC has served me well its 18metres of 1/2 inch but It was taking to long in summer I have now have the Mk3 mashmaster plate and I love it.


BB if you want to use my IC to see if you like it you can borrow it,My parenst are coming up from wauchope next week so they can take it home with them if you like.

 

[balconybrewer]

sav, would love to try your IC, what is the diameter of it though???? i only have a 250mm opening at the top of my keggle.

also to browndog and the rest who reccomend the plate chillers, do you guys gravity feed or use a pump???

 

[razz]

sav, would love to try your IC, what is the diameter of it though???? i only have a 250mm opening at the top of my keggle.

also to browndog and the rest who reccomend the plate chillers, do you guys gravity feed or use a pump???

Pump

 

[browndog]

sav, would love to try your IC, what is the diameter of it though???? i only have a 250mm opening at the top of my keggle.

also to browndog and the rest who reccomend the plate chillers, do you guys gravity feed or use a pump???

Gravity feed here BB.

 

[Eater]

Have always used a plate chiller so i cannot speak for any other method. Its effective at reducing the temperature significantly, however in my environment this is an esky with water, supplemented with three bags of ice.
As for cleaning, i certainly have cleaned it
It gets regular hot water flushes and plenty of napisan (then more flushing) and every 4th brew it gets boiled for an hour
All of these methods achieved with gravity feed, pond pump for the chiller plate water and hose direct to back yard for the Paw Paw for all cleaning duties. Water isnt as restricted is usage but is still too expensive to use as primary cooling method straight from the tap.

 

[balconybrewer]

one more question, how do you gauge/ control the temperature you are getting from the pate chiller. obiously easy with an immersion, just have a termo in the kettle, but how do you gauge / control it with a plate chiller.

cheers

 

[Wolfy]

one more question, how do you gauge/ control the temperature you are getting from the pate chiller. obiously easy with an immersion, just have a termo in the kettle, but how do you gauge / control it with a plate chiller.

By controlling the flow rate of hot wort compared to the cooling fluid (water), you can easily adjust one and/or the other to get the optimum cooling compared to water used.
You could use a thermometer in-line with the output from your chiller (even one of those stick-on ones), but since I let mine cascade into the fermenter for aeration, I just collect a small sample in a shot glass and measure the temp.
Another good way is to simply feel the temperature of the waste-water from the chiller, if its hot-to-touch then you need higher water-flow but if it's medium-warm then you probably have a good flow rate and the chiller is working at optimal efficiency.

 

[balconybrewer]

By controlling the flow rate of hot wort compared to the cooling fluid (water), you can easily adjust one and/or the other to get the optimum cooling compared to water used.
You could use a thermometer in-line with the output from your chiller (even one of those stick-on ones), but since I let mine cascade into the fermenter for aeration, I just collect a small sample in a shot glass and measure the temp.
Another good way is to simply feel the temperature of the waste-water from the chiller, if its hot-to-touch then you need higher water-flow but if it's medium-warm then you probably have a good flow rate and the chiller is working at optimal efficiency.

sounds a bit hit and miss, anyone else have a more accurate method of measureing wort temp, especially if using a pre chiller, once the ice melts you will chill at a different rate???