How can I maximise the cooling from a counterflow chiller

[Frisp]

Folks
How do I maximise the cooling with my Kegland CFC ? I did a batch on Sunday and at full flow on cooland and wort I got down to 27C from boiling. I see folks going straight to fermenter from the CFC but 27C strikes me as a bit warm.

do I choke the flow of wort in/out?
do I choke the flow of cold water in/out?
Do I just let it rip full blast on water and wort and take the 27C ?

 

[Stu's Brews]

I find with my Grainfather CFC it is best to only have the valve open about 2/3rds.

That gives the wort sufficient contact time with the cooling water to get it close to pitching temperature.

If needed I then let my glycol chiller bring the wort down the last degree or two before pitching the yeast.

 

[conorm]

Full flow rate through the cooling water feed, and throttle the wort flow. An IR thermometer is really handy to get a live view of the wort temp coming out of the chiller. Another thing you can do is stop the flow entirely for a minute or so and that will cool the wort right down to the water temp if you know you are overshooting and need to cool what you've already passed theough.

 

[Buffers brewery]

Don’t have a Grainfather CFC but a DIY version. I recirculate the cooled wort back to the boiler and leave it alone until the wort is cooled. I then let it stand to settle before transferring to fermenter.

 

[Stu's Brews]

Don’t have a Grainfather CFC but a DIY version. I recirculate the cooled wort back to the boiler and leave it alone until the wort is cooled. I then let it stand to settle before transferring to fermenter.

View attachment 108637

Yes, I should have added that I do similar to this too.

I recirculate back into the Grainfather until the temperature drops to 50degC and then start transferring to the fermenter.

I find this helps filter out a lot of the cold break and the rest I remove the next day through the dump valve (benefit of a conial fermenter).

 

[Agentgonzo]

You'll get the 'fastest' cooling by turning your cooling water on full bore, but in honesty, that's just a waste of water.

The wort will cool more the longer it's in the CFC, so like others, throttle your wort tap until the exit temperature is what you want.

You can get an inline temperature probe like this to monitor the wort output temperature.

You shouldn't need to recirc into the boiler (and that's less efficient as well - the larger the temperature gradient in the CFC, the more efficient it'll be).

To increase cooling speed -> turn up cold water inlet
To decrease wort output temperature -> turn down wort flow rate

I normally set the cooling water flow rate to be 1-2L/min.
Then adjust the wort flow rate until the output temperature is 20º.
Then wait, knowing I'm not wasting water. A transfer normally takes 15 minutes, which is plenty fast enough. A bit longer in summer when the tap water is warmer.

 

[RichardM]

You'll get the 'fastest' cooling by turning your cooling water on full bore, but in honesty, that's just a waste of water.

The wort will cool more the longer it's in the CFC, so like others, throttle your wort tap until the exit temperature is what you want.

You can get an inline temperature probe like this to monitor the wort output temperature.

You shouldn't need to recirc into the boiler (and that's less efficient as well - the larger the temperature gradient in the CFC, the more efficient it'll be).

To increase cooling speed -> turn up cold water inlet
To decrease wort output temperature -> turn down wort flow rate

I normally set the cooling water flow rate to be 1-2L/min.
Then adjust the wort flow rate until the output temperature is 20º.
Then wait, knowing I'm not wasting water. A transfer normally takes 15 minutes, which is plenty fast enough. A bit longer in summer when the tap water is warmer.

That's the sort of thing I've been thinking of getting to use on the outlet side of my plate chiller.
Something I noticed reading the instructions, it says to recirculate the wort for two minutes to sanitise the chiller and the wortometer. I thought the recommended time was 15 minutes.
What do you people think?

 

[Frisp]

great input folks

 

[Frisp]

the rest I remove the next day through the dump valve (benefit of a conial fermenter).

like your thinking there.

 

[Buffers brewery]

I circulate the boiling wort with no water in the CFC for the last 15 minutes of the boil.