Plate chiller upgrade

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Cheesey
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Re: Plate chiller upgrade

Post by Cheesey » Sun Feb 21, 2016 3:10 pm

Fil wrote:If you can remove the hop debris from the kettle, Using hop socks or a hop spider,
I use a spider, then the material in the kettle should just be the break matter formed with the aid of your kettle finnings.. if the pot is left to rest for 20-30mins most of this will drop out as a sediment. Then depending on your drain arrangement, when you first crack the drain valve wide open most the sediment that has settled around the drain should get sucked up, so if you simply open the valve and catch the first 1/4 - 1/2 pint or so, it should contain most of the matter that concerns you.

Thanks Fil,

I think I will add a spider and hop sock to the upgrade, make cleaning much easier.

Cheers

Chris
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Secla
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Re: Plate chiller upgrade

Post by Secla » Sun Feb 21, 2016 4:11 pm

I'm having trouble with my plate chiller, I can't seem to get it to cool all the way to pitching temp in one pass
Best I've done so far is about 25 degrees and that was at a extremely slim pace, not sure what I'm doing wrong

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orlando
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Re: Plate chiller upgrade

Post by orlando » Sun Feb 21, 2016 4:49 pm

Secla wrote:I'm having trouble with my plate chiller, I can't seem to get it to cool all the way to pitching temp in one pass
Best I've done so far is about 25 degrees and that was at a extremely slim pace, not sure what I'm doing wrong
One pass is clearly too ambitious for it, if it can't do it at this time of the year you can imagine what it will be like in the height of Summer. I suggest that instead of trying for one pass, recirculate into the boiler to about 30c, let the trub settle and then run off to the fermentor, keeping an eye on the temperature of the wort going in at this point because you can easily over do it and find you significantly undershoot your pitching temp.
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guypettigrew
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Re: Plate chiller upgrade

Post by guypettigrew » Sun Feb 21, 2016 7:17 pm

Cheesey wrote:Hi all,

But because I stir the copper to help chill /whirlpool, I get a lot of trub under the strainer.
If trub under your hop filter is a problem, then why not think laterally and change the filter? You don't say what sort of filter you're using, but a flat one, such as this excellent one, will seriously minimise space underneath it.

Guy

Cheesey
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Re: Plate chiller upgrade

Post by Cheesey » Wed Feb 24, 2016 2:55 pm

Cheers Guy, tha tlooks better then the one I currently have, mine is a flat plate , but with holes rather than a mesh, and doesn't sit flat on the base, the heavy rim like tha tone would be better.

C
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orlando
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Re: Plate chiller upgrade

Post by orlando » Wed Feb 24, 2016 3:16 pm

Cheesey wrote:Cheers Guy, tha tlooks better then the one I currently have, mine is a flat plate , but with holes rather than a mesh, and doesn't sit flat on the base, the heavy rim like tha tone would be better.

C
It can still struggle with pellets though, this is how I know. Notice there are some domed nuts so it doesn't sit entirely flat. This was a mixture of pellets and leaf to minimise the hop pellet damage, theory being the leaf would form a bed above the filter trapping the pellet debris. Unfortunately it did little for the underneath. I have considered a lauterhex to overcome this problem when whirlpooling but in the end wort is always going to be sucked in by your filter, along with the usual kettle trub. I now stick to leaf. :D

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I am "The Little Red Brooster"

Fermenting:
Conditioning:
Drinking: Southwold Again,

Up Next: John Barleycorn (Barley Wine)
Planning: Winter drinking Beer

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Jocky
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Re: Plate chiller upgrade

Post by Jocky » Wed Feb 24, 2016 5:34 pm

I have the same DX filter from brew builder. Superb for all leaf brewing, clogs with even a small amount of pellets and even when mixed with leaf.
Ingredients: Water, Barley, Hops, Yeast, Seaweed, Blood, Sweat, The swim bladder of a sturgeon, My enemies tears, Scenes of mild peril, An otter's handbag and Riboflavin.

Fil
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Re: Plate chiller upgrade

Post by Fil » Wed Feb 24, 2016 10:21 pm

the budget diy version involves removing the handles from 2 x £shop SS mesh frying pan spatter guards, and removing the rim from one, then using a length of split 3/8" beer/gasline to clamp the two together, a few quid on a 1/2" bsp SS street elbow (m/f) 2 x ss m20 washers and a ss 1/2" bsp locknut, and you have a filter that should attach to a 1/2" male thread of a kettle drain.
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Image

iirc the recommendations for mesh sizes with flower hops is #30, while #40 is recommended for pellets, im afraid i cant back that up with a link, the splatterguards i used when judged by eye side by side with #30 mesh look like #30 mesh ;)
ist update for months n months..
Fermnting: not a lot..
Conditioning: nowt
Maturing: Challenger smash, and a kit lager
Drinking: dry one minikeg left in the store
Coming Soon Lots planned for the near future nowt for the immediate :(

Cheesey
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Re: Plate chiller upgrade

Post by Cheesey » Thu Feb 25, 2016 3:05 pm

Cheers All for the advice, I have only used leaf upto date, and don't intend on changing that now i've seen the issues!.

I think I will stick with the one that came with my copper, but I'm going to incorporate Fil's idea of putting a silicon tube around the edge, so it sits better on the base and hopefully stops debris getting underneath it.

Cheers

C
Everybody's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another beer. W.C Fields

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