Shirron plate chillers and gravity feed

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by jokelahoma, Jun 27, 2012.

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  1. jokelahoma

    jokelahoma Savant (1,162) May 9, 2004 Missouri

    I'm considering a Shirron plate chiller (because they're half what a Therminator runs, and I'm poor). I'd be adding a ball valve to my kettle, then using gravity to move the wort via 1/2" high temp tubing, and a small aquarium pump to move ice water through the chiller. So the question is this: Just how efficient can I expect a Shirron to be using a gravity feed from the kettle to the fermenter? I'm not worried about speed, really, so long as it is faster than 10-15 minutes. Will ice water and an aquarium pump be enough? Too much, even for lager fermentation temps (~48)? I just figured it would be best to ask before I hit "submit order" on the chiller, disconnects, and tubing, after all.

    Thanks!
     
    #1 jokelahoma, Jun 27, 2012
  2. jpeck13

    jpeck13 Initiate (0) Apr 28, 2011 California

    #2 jpeck13, Jun 27, 2012
  3. herrburgess

    herrburgess Grand Pooh-Bah (3,077) Nov 4, 2009 South Carolina
    Pooh-Bah

    The setup you describe is exactly what I use. Note: I do have to life my kettle post-boil to the top tier of my three-tier brew structure...but this is no problem at all. Using this setup I can chill 5.5 gal from to 49 in 10 min or so in winter (but a SC winter...so still quite warm); in summer it can take 20 min or so if I really need to slow it down (i.e. if it's in the 90s or above here). I say go for it. And if you need more info send me a beer mail. Prost!
     
    #3 herrburgess, Jun 27, 2012
  4. jokelahoma

    jokelahoma Savant (1,162) May 9, 2004 Missouri

    Good to know! I'm planning on sitting my burner on a few cinder blocks to get elevation before I start to boil, so it ought to be in place when I start chilling. I do use pellet hops, but I use a paint strainer to bag them, so hopefully that will catch most of the residue and reduce the chances of clogging the chiller.

    Unfortunately my little aquarium pump seems to max out at about 2 GPM, which I'm sure will hurt the efficiency of any chiller. Still, 2 GPM of ice water with the wort being gravity fed should be something I can balance out. And yeah, those DudaDeisel things do look pretty good, especially since the Shirron is only 10 plates.
     
    #4 jokelahoma, Jun 27, 2012
  5. sbeaton

    sbeaton Initiate (0) Apr 4, 2011 New Jersey

    FWIW, I use a shirron with gravity feed. I live in a townhouse and only have a spigot in the front of the house so my hose has to run probably 20 feet across a walkway to get to the back. So I run the hose into my immersion chiller which I sit in a bucket of probably 40-50 degree water then out to my shirron. Gravity feed has not been a problem, when my kettle starts to get low, I have a bazooka screen and use leaf hops, I place it on the wooden tv tray i sit my mash tun on top of. Last time I brewed it was probably 85 degrees out an I was able to get my wort down to 70 in about 10 minutes, hose on full blast wort draining out very slowly. Not perfect but way better and quicker than my immersion chiller ever did, I wouldn't see 70 for like 35-40 minutes in the summer
     
    #5 sbeaton, Jun 27, 2012
  6. jokelahoma

    jokelahoma Savant (1,162) May 9, 2004 Missouri

    Good to know. I'll probably pull the trigger on the Dudadiesel today, the shorter 30 plate. Even with shipping it's cheaper than the Shirron. I figure if I'm pumping ice water, even at a lowly 2 gallons per minute, I should be able to reach lager fermentation temps much faster than with my immersion setup.
     
    #6 jokelahoma, Jun 27, 2012
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