craigevo wrote:saltydawg - I must be missing something - why would recircing risk blocking the plate chiller any more than just running the boiling wort through the chiller and straight into your fermenter ?
I mean, you will get break material going through the chiller either way since its cooling it down - or are you suggesting a whirlpool and wait a while step before running it out the kettle ? If so how do you avoid dms before starting to chill.
Another reason I would want to recirc cool is so that I know what temp i'm gonna end up at before running straight (not via chiller) into my fermenter. So I would be at pitching temps in the kettle and dont have to guess how much more the chiller will cool it if I had it in series.whilst draining into the fermenter.
I've also read that chilling on the way to the fermenter will result in getting substantial amounts of break into the fermenter since cold break is occuring in the chiller and not in the kettle (as it would be using an immersion) .
I must be missing something here since most posts I have read recently on plate chillers dont mention anything about recircing. Anyone know a good reason ? would it really block the chiller or is there another reason ?
Yep, I was thinking that a recirc would pull trub and hop material into a plate chiller. Cold break shouldn't plug it up though. The way to avoid this is a whirlpool and rest after the boil, before cooling. You WILL NOT get DMS in the wort if you do a 90 minute boil as almost all the DMS precursor, SMM, will be boiled off. Many pro brewers do a prolonged whilpool without DMS problems. Including Matt Bryndlson at Firestone Walker.(CYBI, episode for the Union Jack Clone, is one reference off the top of my head)
I am trying to remember where I read a process that sounded pretty compelling. It's similar to the process used at a local brewery in my neighborhood. It goes something like this. Boil, whirlpool, let settle, cool thru your plate chiller to your HLT, or other settling / clarifier tank,(no hops/trub) making another whirlpool as you pump thru the chiller, settle out cold break, then nice cool, clear wort in the fermenter. I might be missing a couple details, but thats the general idea.
My local brewery uses an old keg for the second whirlpool, and draws about 2/3 way up off the bottom. IIRC. A lot of cold break stays in the keg.
Could work, right? Sounds like a lot of trouble with dirty plate chillers would be avoided too.
What d'yall think???