Which Plate Chiller To Get/avoid

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Blackened

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Hello all,
I'm upgrading my old CF chiller. I understand plate chillers clog fairly easily and am aiming an an inline filter of some sort. While at it I'll make 2, one for the chiller and one for the RIMS. So does anyone have any advice regarding which to steer clear of and which work well? I see there's a few to choose from on eBay, one specifically mentions multi-path (or words to that effect) to reduce blockages. What about the number of plates? More is better but how many is overkill for a 20L batch?Forgive the typos, can't seem to edit as expected using the iPhone without retyping the whole lot. Oh yeah, and what sort of filter would be appropriate?Cheers!
 
more plates the better
im using the mashmaster MKIII 30 plate one and youd have to try pretty hard to block it
i actually just ordered one of these as a pre-filter/mini hopback so i can throw pellets straight into the boil but if you use a hopsock then youll never have any problems
https://ibrew.myshopify.com/products/pump-pre-filter
 
Another vote here for the Mashmaster MkIII 30 plate job.

Never managed to block it, and I never use a hop sock and my whirlpooling is a bit dubious. I used to run a hop blocker on the pickup, but I've deleted that so I can whirlpool and recirculate with a pump.
 
Got one from buda diesel in the underwear * of america. Great stuff, cheaper than the local stock, posted.
 
Keg King MKIII here and like mentioned above it goes really well. I do 20L batches and it gets everything into the fermenter at pitching temps in about 15-20 mins
 
If you can get your hands on a Blichmann Therminator you will not be sorry. Awesome chiller.
 
those look great but the freight is pretty spendy
 
If I had the chance again id'e defiantly get a plate chiller you can break down and clean properly. Otherwise the 30 plate works well but cleaning is a bitch.
 
If I had the chance again id'e defiantly get a plate chiller you can break down and clean properly. Otherwise the 30 plate works well but cleaning is a bitch.

Oh I dunno about that. Before I had pumps, I just used to hook it up to the hot tap and backflush before running the hot napisan from the kettle through it, followed by plain water and starsan followed by a dry out in the oven at 150 for an hour. Now I do the same, but plumb it into the pump and recirc for a while.

It's mostly sitting around , having a beer and waiting rather than actively scrubbing the thing.
 
I just pump PBW solution through my chiller for 30 mins and that seems to get any, if any, crud out
 
ive never gone to any extra hassle cleaning mine other than flushing it with water straight after use then a bit of pbw

after sanitising my fermenter the starsan gets circulated through the chiller/cold side lines for the duration of the boil
 
I bought a secondhand chiller from Keg King for $20.00 (I think its a 20 plate, the smaller one.)
If I run my wort from the kettle through the chiller nice and slow it pulls the wort down to pitching temps. Which I do anyway so as not to pull the trub cone apart. Perfect for my 20 litre batches.
I recirculate water through the cold side from my water tank.

You should check out Keg King, they're nice and close to you.
 
more plates the better
im using the mashmaster MKIII 30 plate one and youd have to try pretty hard to block it
i actually just ordered one of these as a pre-filter/mini hopback so i can throw pellets straight into the boil but if you use a hopsock then youll never have any problems
https://ibrew.myshopify.com/products/pump-pre-filter

I'm not sure if the plastic in these filters is food safe at boiling temps. I've enquired about it before and was told it was fine. Upon further research i found out that it was not and told the folks at ibrew. They said they use it at those temps and no problems - i dont think they understand the concept of food safe.

I've got the blichman therminator. Expensive but very good. I chill 55L to ale temps in about 10 minutes. A couple minutes more and i will get to 12 degrees for a lager. I use iced water as my cold liquor rather then tap water though.
 
I'm not sure if the plastic in these filters is food safe at boiling temps. I've enquired about it before and was told it was fine. Upon further research i found out that it was not and told the folks at ibrew. They said they use it at those temps and no problems - i dont think they understand the concept of food safe.

I've got the blichman therminator. Expensive but very good. I chill 55L to ale temps in about 10 minutes. A couple minutes more and i will get to 12 degrees for a lager. I use iced water as my cold liquor rather then tap water though.

first time i've seen this filter, looks great in concept but would also concern about plastic. To sanitise my plate chiller, I remove my hopsock at the completion of the of hops schedule, and then keep the flame on while recircing through my plate chiller until the wort returns to the boil and then keep it like that for 5-10 minutes. That means that filter definitely must stand up to 100 deg C. Anyone know of a ss option ?
 
first time i've seen this filter, looks great in concept but would also concern about plastic. To sanitise my plate chiller, I remove my hopsock at the completion of the of hops schedule, and then keep the flame on while recircing through my plate chiller until the wort returns to the boil and then keep it like that for 5-10 minutes. That means that filter definitely must stand up to 100 deg C. Anyone know of a ss option ?

I use one of these things as well as a whirlpool which seems to work very well. http://www.beerbelly.com.au/images/hopscreendeluxe.gif

I sanitize the plate chiller with 90 deg water for about 15-20 minutes. I whilrpool for 20 minutes (10 minute active with pump, 10 minute rest) and then run through the chiller. After chilling, i flush the chiller in reverse with hot water - basically no chunky bits come through. I then recirc with hot pbw while i clean all my pots and then flush with hot water until all the soapy pbw is gone.

So while the chilling bit is very quick and efficient, you spend all the extra time cleaning your plate chiller - is a pain but i think its worth it.
 
I sanitize the plate chiller with 90 deg water for about 15-20 minutes.

I would argue 90 is not enough to kill spores and several minutes at 100 would do a better job ?

I know some flush with starsan prior to use, but you then have to be careful with the starsan/wort interface unless you blow out with co2 or some other food /medical grade gas.

Thanks for the beerbelly hopscreen link. In my setup i can't whirlpool, but instead I have a false bottom in my boiler with perforations the same size as the beerbelly filter, that seems to do a great job in holding back most of the hot break and the hopsock keeps most solids at bay. However still some sludge manages to find its way through as I have noticed when blowing out, I use the same cleaning procedure as you do re PBW recirc.
 
I would argue 90 is not enough to kill spores and several minutes at 100 would do a better job ?

I know some flush with starsan prior to use, but you then have to be careful with the starsan/wort interface unless you blow out with co2 or some other food /medical grade gas.

Thanks for the beerbelly hopscreen link. In my setup i can't whirlpool, but instead I have a false bottom in my boiler with perforations the same size as the beerbelly filter, that seems to do a great job in holding back most of the hot break and the hopsock keeps most solids at bay. However still some sludge manages to find its way through as I have noticed when blowing out, I use the same cleaning procedure as you do re PBW recirc.

Most spores are heat resistant so will tolerate boiling water for a long time so in this context it wouldn't make a difference.
 

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