Plate chiller recommendation for BIAB

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chiasson
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Plate chiller recommendation for BIAB

Post by chiasson » Sat Apr 19, 2014 7:37 pm

Hi everyone..so I'm gearing up to finally try out my BIAB rig, I just need a chiller and I'll be ready to go. After doing some research I'm really liking the idea of going with a plate chiller and have been eyeing the Duda Diesels. Being a newb to all of this, I was hoping someone here could recommend a particular model and fittings? I'm hoping that I'll be able to passively transfer my wort from my kettle into my primary, i.e., not use a pump? Any advice would be mucho appreciated.

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Re: Plate chiller recommendation for BIAB

Post by spears104 » Sat Apr 19, 2014 10:59 pm

I use the 30 plate Duda Diesel chiller with garden hose fittings. I also do not use a pump. Screening the wort before it goes into the heat exchanger is critical, as the first time I used this set up I plugged the HEX. I made a manifold with three bazooka screens in the bottom of my kettle to do this. This set up gets me down to the low to mid 20's with reasonably cool water. During the summer it can usually only get to the high 20's.

If I were to do it again, I would probably go with an immersion chiller and use a pump to whirlpool and circulate around the immersion chiller to increase the heat exchange.

The plate chiller needs to be thoroughly cleaned every time. I backflush with hot water to initially clean it. A good soak in PBW also helps alot. You have to boil it every time you use it as there is no way to completely clean and sanitize it.
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chiasson
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Re: Plate chiller recommendation for BIAB

Post by chiasson » Sun Apr 20, 2014 8:04 pm

Thanks for the input!! I'm totally with ya - immersion seems to be the most controllable way to hit a desired temp and the easiest method with regards to ease of cleaning your gear. However, I'm just worried about having to run the hose for 20 mins at a time (I'm on a well). Being able to chill 5gals in minutes with a quality plate chiller is quite tempting.

Q: When the ground water temp is up couldn't I submerse the plate in a bucket of ice water to up efficiency? I don't think I'd want to get into pre-chilling the water I send to plate or running multiple chillers. I'm aiming for the simplest setup I can get away with.

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Re: Plate chiller recommendation for BIAB

Post by redoubt » Sun Apr 20, 2014 8:53 pm

chiasson wrote:However, I'm just worried about having to run the hose for 20 mins at a time (I'm on a well). Being able to chill 5gals in minutes with a quality plate chiller is quite tempting.
No input on plate chillers, but just in case it matters... We use an immersion chiller and are on a well and haven't run into any issues -- yet, anyway. We've run it simultaneously with an ancient dishwasher (i.e., not particularly efficient) and with a clothes washer (not HE) both at the same time with no trouble whatsoever. It's a smallish immersion chiller and chills a 5-6 gal batch in 20ish minutes. We used to run it full bore, but now just run it enough to keep the coil full of water (thanks to Sandy's (GAM's) advice) and it uses little water. With a pump to whirlpool? Haven't tried that yet, but I'd bet that it'd be pretty quick.

Again, I know you're looking at plate chillers but if that's out of the question, immersion chillers aren't so bad on a well. :)

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Re: Plate chiller recommendation for BIAB

Post by chalmers » Sun Apr 20, 2014 8:53 pm

A: Absolutely, that will help, though it helps to recirc the ice water too. :)

I'll give you our experience, so that you are informed: we used to use a plate chiller, with a pump so we could recirc. No matter what type of pre-chiller filter we used (bazooka, hop rocket), we managed to clog the chiller. Now that we've moved to a counterflow (tubing in tubing), no clogging (even with no filter on a huge IPA), though I don't have the water volume data to speak on efficiency (though I'm guessing it's less than a plate chiller). Something to consider if you are brewing with lots of hops. We also tried doing a whirlpool, though I could be convinced we didn't wait long enough for it to settle (typically needs 15-20 min).

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Re: Plate chiller recommendation for BIAB

Post by CorneliusAlphonse » Sun Apr 20, 2014 9:39 pm

I used Chris tube in tube CFC and it worked awesome. Just built an immersion chiller for myself though, as I am paranoid about cleanliness/I don't like putting my beer through something I can't see (ie a plate chiller or other CFC)
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Re: Plate chiller recommendation for BIAB

Post by jeffsmith » Sun Apr 20, 2014 9:45 pm

And to counter-balance chalmers' experience: :) I use a 40-plate Dudadiesel chiller with a kettle screen from theelectricbrewery.com. Has worked fantastic for me for a year or two now, even when brewing 10 gallon batches of IPA with a pound and a half of pellet hops. I go from boiling to two full carboys, at 60°F, in my basement in less than 15 minutes, even in the height of summer.

Next to my Chugger pump, the plate chiller was the best brewing investment I've made.

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Re: Plate chiller recommendation for BIAB

Post by mr x » Sun Apr 20, 2014 9:51 pm

I had mixed results before I sold the chiller to chalmers. Combination of my own impatience and kettle design I suspect. When it worked, it was killer.

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Re: Plate chiller recommendation for BIAB

Post by chiasson » Thu Apr 24, 2014 10:36 pm

So with a coil it's not necessary to run your hose wide open? I.e., I can literally just turn it on enough to slowly spill water out the end and still cool my wort timely?

Thanks everyone for their input!

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Re: Plate chiller recommendation for BIAB

Post by chalmers » Fri Apr 25, 2014 4:12 pm

If you are talking about a counterflow chiller, you would still want to open up the water all the way initially.
You might be able to turn it down later in the chilling process.

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Re: Plate chiller recommendation for BIAB

Post by chiasson » Fri Apr 25, 2014 5:21 pm

Sorry about that. I meant an immersion chiller. Would I have to run my tap wide open for 20 mins or can I just open it enough to keep water moving through the coil?

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Re: Plate chiller recommendation for BIAB

Post by redoubt » Fri Apr 25, 2014 5:34 pm

chiasson wrote:Sorry about that. I meant an immersion chiller. Would I have to run my tap wide open for 20 mins or can I just open it enough to keep water moving through the coil?
The latter. Sandy's (GAM's) advice to me when I was frustrated after wasting over 400L of water cooling a 5 gallon batch was to run the water enough to keep the copper full but to keep the flow slow.* Following his advice, it cools more quickly (though I've started stirring the wort more during the chill, too, which may account for some of that) and wastes a heck of a lot less water. I don't know what the volume of water used to chill a batch is, but I'll keep the volume gadget attached next brew and let you know. It's not a lot.

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*Sandy's advice is in the discussion here: http://www.brewnosers.org/forums/viewto ... ler#p82741" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: Plate chiller recommendation for BIAB

Post by chalmers » Fri Apr 25, 2014 5:37 pm

There are diminishing returns to have water going through at full blast, though higher flows will speed up the process. Helping it even more is to agitate the wort somehow.

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Re: Plate chiller recommendation for BIAB

Post by Gilligan » Sun Nov 01, 2015 9:19 pm

I believe I found (I didn't come up with the method) a way to save a ton of water and cool beer... The only thing you will need is a submersible aquarium pump. I guess you can use a IC or a plate chiller. Beer flows like normal. The water is sucked into the pump, the pump pushes it through the plate chiller then the water goes back into the ice bath..

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