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So the ol' wort chiller decided to spring a leak on me. The soft copper was just bent too many times and it popped a little hole, so it's time for me to order a new one.
I'm considering one of those tri-clamp Duda plate chillers, because of what I'd like to move to over the next 6 months. I'd love to order something from Jaded, but the shipping to Maui is essentially the same as the cost of the chiller...so I'll never experience one of those unless I bring one back in luggage from the mainland sometime. What about counterflow? I've never used one of those (or plate chillers) before. Are they really a nightmare to clean? What would you guys recommend?
Posted 34 days ago.
Man, I hate that the JaDeD is out of your reach, because they are THAT good.
Posted 34 days ago.
I use this bad boy from Duda Diesel and use Camlock couplings from Bargain Fittings--male (type A/F) on the hardware and female on all the hosing.
I don't think they're bad to clean at all. After brewing I swap the wort in/out lines and pump hot PBW while I clean the rest of my equipment and pitch my yeast. I then swap the in/out lines back and run clean water through and call it done. I've never had any crud come out or clogs.
Posted 34 days ago.
I am not a fan of plate chillers after fighting with mine on the Chill-Wizard for so long. If you use one - make sure to take special measures to transfer very clear wort, and the occasional burnout. Remember that cold trub forms inside - so a bake or a long PBW/acid circulation is needed. Sounds like KidMoxie has a better experience with the Duda than I with the Blichmann.
I swapped to a very large counterflow chiller - the big model from Z-Chillers and just love it. It is large enough to not worry so much about a little hops or trub, easier to clean out, and flow rate is considerably better than a plate chiller.
That said - I would really give immersion a shot again. The performance from the Jaded designs is hard to argue with.
Posted 34 days ago.
Edited 34 days ago by mchrispen
I have a duda plate chiller.
I've heard all the horror stories about cleaning them, and even had one once, so this will be pro's and cons.
I still like my duda chiller and see no reason to replace it.
The keys to using a plate chiller are to keep fine particulate out of it and to recirc with PBW and flush with water in both directions every brew day.
I think that a lot of the people who have trouble with them have trouble because they bake them and that flakes off particulate and they see that stuff floating around. Here's the deal with that: If you can't/don't physically scrub it and it touches hot wort, it's going to be dirty or have a slight film on it. All my tubing has it, all my valves and stainless piping has it. The only thing that doesn't is the inside of my kettle and MLT...which I scrub by hand.
I'm not concerned with this film. It's pretty obvious that it is a one way transaction. film builds, but doesn't come off. I assume that the same thing happens inside my chiller, but if I'm not going through the trouble of bore-brushing all my tubing, and I'm not concerned with that, then I don't need to be concerned with it in my chiller. As long as I don't bake it it will stay put and I can re-circ hot wort for 5-10 minutes to sanitize, just like sanitizing an immersion chiller.
One time I had a bad mash and ended up letting a bunch of particulate into the boil and then running that through my chiller. Getting that flaky stuff to all come out took about 6 super hot PBW recircs alternating both ways, and lots of water rinsing. That's the downside. If you get particulate (including pellet hop matter) into it, cleaning it sucks. I use paint strainer bags for my hops and make sure to vorlauf well to keep particulate out.
I have the b3-23A 20 plate and it's a good size for my 10 gal batches.
Posted 34 days ago.
I just noted your comment on shipping. Wondering if you plan to come to the NHC conference in 2016? That would be a perfect time to pick up a chiller and stash it in extra luggage for the trip home. Plus you get a meet a few of us...
I didn't see Jade there this year, but Z-Chiller and Blichmann were and I know that Z-Chiller was running a killer sale. Several guild mates bought with the discount (20% if I remember?). If you hung around toward the tear down - they would likely have demo samples on the cheap.
Posted 34 days ago.
Funny you mention that, we're definitely going to try to make it to Baltimore next year. I've never been to the East Coast, and I figure I can pick up all the Dogfish Head I can dream of. I plan to bring back as much equipment as possible.
You guys have brought up an interesting point I hadn't considered about plate chillers...transferring clear wort. This is something I certainly have not mastered yet, and make an attempt to improve during every batch. How do you guys go about ensuring you've got the clearest wort transfer possible? I've seen the hop filter from Brewer's Hardware that I wanted to include in the next setup, but does it work well enough? Seems 50/50 from the HBT thread.
The counterflow chiller might be the way to go to avoid the immersion chiller route. I saw MoreBeer has one that had tri-clamp fittings (I'm just a huge fan of them all around). If I can manage to get a Jaded chiller, I'll certainly go back to immersions. One issue I have here too, is that ground water temps are not exactly cold. A trade-off I suppose.
Posted 34 days ago.
So I don't own a plate and frame chiller, but I do work in the chemical industry, and plate and frame heat exchangers (effectively plate chillers) tend to pose operational difficulties all the time. You almost never want to install them in a situation when you have sediment in the process (ie trub in wort).
If I were you I'd be looking towards an immersion chiller. Out of curiosity, what are your ground water temps in hawaii?
Edit: just noticed that you mentioned you have warm ground water. No matter what you use, you'll never be able to get below ground wanted temps. I recently bought a pump to push ice water through an immersion chiller from jaded (had to spend my brewunited challenge Jaded gift card on something!). I'll be sure to report back on how that does with my shitty texas groundwater temps.
Posted 34 days ago.
Edited 34 days ago by flapjackcarl
I'm curious how it does with the warm water you have. I'll have to check again on the temp. I recently moved but I'm still at ~3000 feet. It was around 77 degrees at the last place. I really, really want a Jaded chiller. I've never taken the step of emailing them and seeing if they have some sort of better shipping arrangement. Might be worth a shot!
Posted 34 days ago.
Let us know how it goes!
Posted 34 days ago.
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