Grainfather counter flow chiller

[Chrissparky]

How effective is the chiller at getting the temperature of the wort down?
I'm trying to find out as much as possible before I splash out. How does the chilling process work and how low does it get the wort.
Sorry for all the questions but I always like to research large purchases.

 

[marlon]

Don't know about the GF one, but my Brewster counter-flow wort chiller is excellent. It drops the wort temperature from near boiling to pitch temp in the time it takes to run through the coil, (about 20 seconds). So, it enters the coil at 90+deg and comes out the other end, dropping into the FV at 20degC. I should think the GF version would be just as good.

 

[Pawlo7671]

Its very good, depending on the flow rate of cold water it can chill down very low. takes anywhere between 15 - 30 mins to transfer from GF to fermentor

 

[Chrissparky]

Thanks for the info, I'll keep saving up

 

[Zephyr259]

Same experience here, my first few brews with the GF were in January and February in Aberdeenshire so my issue was not over-chilling the wort with our frigid water. The water's coming in at 13C now so should be easier to control. As said before, one pass goes from 90+C to ~20C, in winter I'm pretty sure I could get it below 10C. Transfer time seems dependent on how much hops are in the brew, I don't brew massively hoppy beers so my whirlpooling probably isn't as good as it could be to help the pump out. Still takes ~30 mins I guess and a benefit is you can raise the outlet higher up and let the wort splash into the FV so it aerates pretty well.

I had the same reservations about price compared to bulldog brewer (ace was released just after i bought GF) but I do not regret it, great bit of kit and heaps of online support.

 

[Fil]

its a one pass chiller straight to pitching temp in the fv with the correct flow balance.. counter flow chillers are very efficient
still allow hops to settle for 30mins or so before chilling as they layer forming a primary filter for break material

 

[Dr_Unkenly]

I agree, it's amazing apart from when you accidentally run the hot tap instead of the cold and keep turning the tap flow up wondering why it's not working!

I run mine via a Blichmann Thrumometer to help with setting the temp right.