Any one have one of these? How do you like it? Noticed on Northern Brewer, and its half the price of Therminator. It looks like it has good reviews, but wondering if I'm better off with the Blichmann or something similar to that. I would only use for 5 gallon batches.
I have been using one for years. Works great, as advertised. I always thought I could chain two together if I wasn't getting the cooling power; making it more like a Therminator. Its worked just fine as is. I've never used a Therminator so I can't offer a side by side. I looked at it as a cheaper way to try out a plate chiller. I was mostly concerned with it clogging like everyone else was back when these things started to come into the market. In general as long as you bag, spider or otherwise limit hop pellet debris by some amount its always been fine, never had a clog. I can even run low hopped wort like 3oz or less through no problem. Any other questions and I'll try to help.
I use a pump. Time to pitch depends on the temperature of the ground water. In the winter time I can run the fill of the fermentor in under 15 minutes and be pitching. In summer, I have to fill slower so I can get the most out of my ground water. Even then I might need to let the fermentor rest a bit to chill the rest of the way. I recommend getting an in line thermometer on the outlet side of the plate chiller. So you can monitor the temp of the outflow. I dial the speed of the outflow/fill rate with the pump and try and keep it as cool as it will read; again based on ground water temperature.
