Hey everyone, I recently upgraded my brewing rig to a Unibrau all in one system. It came with a plate chiller. I've always used an immersion chiller, which has been mostly fine. I love the simplicity. So far I have used the plate chiller twice, and I can see why people like them. Luckily I have a 'hop blocker' that keeps hops from getting into the pump and chiller, so I haven't really had issues (yet) with clogging or cleaning. The one thing I fundamentally don't understand about cooling wort this way, is where does the cold break go!? I'm used to chilling the whole batch down, seeing the cold break precipitate, and then gently draining clear wort off into the fermenter and leaving that all behind. With the plate chiller, as the wort comes out of the chiller, its at my desired pitching temp, and actually quite clear. Is ALL of the cold break then forming in the chiller and then winding up in my fermenter ? (I can't really see because it is stainless, but the wort looks super clear?) Anyway, surely some people like and trust the plate chiller method of cooling, or they wouldn't be on the market, and honestly, I haven't made up my mind yet, I am seriously considering just using my immersion and a whirlpool. but where is that cold break..... cheers
According to the below linked article (with emphasis in bold by me): “Cold break is the coagulation of proteins and other stuff floating in your wort. This coagulation contributes to clean appearance, reduction in chill haze, and a clean flavor in lagers. When you use a plate chiller the cold break occurs inside of the plate chiller and ends up in your fermentor.” https://www.love2brew.com/Articles.asp?ID=455 Cheers!
Yes. The rapid cooling promotes the coagulation of certain solids, much like the flocculation of yeast. But this gunk is still relatively light and does float in suspension just fine for a spell. Given a short time however the relatively heavy compounds do drop, and cold temperatures promote this process. Without a cold break more gunk remains in suspension. The rapid cooling just makes for heavier gunk, and that will drop out. The tiniest of gunk particles will remain in suspension, pretty much forever. And technical term for this material is Gunk, it covers all of the hop debris, proteins, tannins, yeast, detritus and all the other stuff you might want to fall out of your beautiful beer. Or Rotz, if you prefer to be traditional. You should know that a good cold break promotes beer clarity. It is worth the effort. But the main advantage, for homebrewers, is minimizing the window of potential infection. Boiling and near boiling can't harbor undesirable bugs. And cold wort keeps most undesirable bugs from colonizing. So a rapid cooling gets us to yeast pitching temps quicker, and helps to protect our beer. A plate chiller is not necessarily better than a plate chiller but it is faster and more efficient, so like I say, it is better. Getting the gunk out does have some yeast health benefits but for homebrewers it is not so much of a concern. Cheers
Hot break would be the first particles you see when chilling, cold break only comes in after you are below 60c. Do a short sedimentation rest and rack off of it.
I use my plate chiller in a different way. The wort is recycled from PC back to the kettle (gravity feeds the chiller and a pump send it back through racking arm). When the WP for hops is complete I continue to recycle while running cooling water through the chiller, typically dropping the temp to mid-to-low 60s. When chilled, give the kettle a strong stir and wait 10 minutes. The cold break drops in the kettle . . . bazooka and racking arm are coated pretty heavily with some serious CB on the bottom. Then orient the racking arm to drain from above into the fermenter. So yes, the CB does form and it's possible to keep it out of the fermenter. Probably half my recipes calls for whirlpooling hops, so this is how I do it. Even when not WP'ing the wort is recycled back to kettle until chilled. Chilling is a bigger chore in the lower latitudes. In summer, inlet water will be 90 . . . tomorrow is brewday and I'm looking at inlet water of 72. I dated a girl named Rotz once and she could guzzle some beer, guess that makes me a traditionalist . . .
That sounds like a pretty cool setup. Is your kettle something you put together yourself, or purchased? Only asking because I’m in the market for an upgrade. How do you deal in the summer (re: PC) when those groundwater temps are 90+?
It's mostly my creation, but only simple (aka, cheap) items you can get online and a step-bit for drilling. The pump is 30 bucks (Amazon) and before I had a racking arm I just recycled back over the top of the kettle which worked okay. But the racking arm is ideal to draw from above the cold break: Yesterday was brewday so Rotz got out the Kodak and snapped these pics. This is the cold break settled on the bottom/bazooka. Of course the arm starts in the raised position and is only lowered as kettle is emptied. For whirlpooling it's horizontal to get those hops in the game. On brewday-eve I start chilling 5+ gals of water and freeze some ice blocks . . . once wort hits 110'ish on tap water I switch to the ice slurry to finish the job. So there's two pumps in action for the final stage. Missing in the first pic are the cooling lines in/out of the chiller (Rotz is slipping), this was taken during the clean up stage where I recycle PBW.
Really like the bazooka screen. As for the chilling... that is similar to what I’ve been doing up here in SC. Run an immersion chiller hooked up to the tap until 100ish, then switch over to a bucket of ice water recirculated via a small pump. Still “struggle bus” to get it down into the upper 60’s, though. Like your idea of pre-chilling your cooling water the night before. Will probably steal that one. Thanks for the pics!
