When do you clean your counter flow chiller?

[Agentgonzo]

I'm replumbing some of my brewing equipment. As a result I've been pumping water from my grainfather through the CFC and into the fermenter.

There was a bit of a pong just now (sulphurous/fart smell) when the first water came through.

Up until now, I've always cleaned the CFC straight after use with pbw etc and put it away clean - but I've always been aware that I can't dry the inside of the chiller at all. Running wort through it for 5 minutes at the end of the boil will sanitise it for sure, but I'm wondering now whether I should give it a quick run through of PBW at the start of the brewday just to get rid of anything else that's on the inside of the chiller before actually running delicious wort through it.

What does everyone else do?

 

[NormanHurst]

I run Sodium Percarbonate through and then rinse at start of a brew day (or realistically day before) as well as using GF cleaner after the brew.

Not sure if overkill or not but gives me a bit of peace of mind.

 

[YeastFace]

I run cleaner, sanitiser, and then some Co² through mine. Probably overkill but no smells or issues thus far.

 

[hoppyscotty]

Again dont use a CFC but have a plate chiller and always leave it full of starsan when not in use, obviously following a good flush through and hot PBW or whatever cleaner I'm using. Also obviously circulate boiling wort through it for the last 10 mins or so of the boil too. No issues as yet.

 

[MashBag]

Because of these issues, I opted for immersion coils - can see the cleanliness (or not). But better still for no chiller at all.

Different folks different strokes.

 

[hoppyscotty]

yep but immersion are very very slow....cant beat a one pass chill into fermenter...and with my plate chiller I can get to within 1 degree of cooling water temp its so efficient...and for cleaning its just in line of my normal kettle cleaning circuit, but yes many many ways to skin the cat.

 

[MashBag]

6 - 8 mins is quick enough for me

But yes the obvious commercial ones are slow. Mine is styled by "Mr Jaded"

 

[MmmBeer]

Another tip I read somewhere (might have been David Heath) is to blast out some of the water from the CFC before putting away, using a bicycle pump. Sodium percarbonate circulated for 10 mins, rinse water 10 mins, then removed and pump air through with bike pump until water stops coming out..

 

[hoppyscotty]

6 - 8 mins is quick enough for me

But yes the obvious commercial ones are slow. Mine is styled by "Mr Jaded"

Ah the Rolls-Royce of immersion chillers! Yeah, I guess they're pretty good for smaller volumes....I'm usually trying to cool down 80 - 90 litres on my bigger system. But I thought you were an overnight cool kind of guy?

 

[MashBag]

Ah the Rolls-Royce of immersion chillers! Yeah, I guess they're pretty good for smaller volumes....I'm usually trying to cool down 80 - 90 litres on my bigger system. But I thought you were an overnight cool kind of guy?

We all had to start somewhere

I am indeed an overnighter, which is even quicker may I say.

 

[6Trails]

I don't use mine much any more but I'd always run the cleaner and then water through it after every use. Probably should be blowing it out too.

 

[hoppyscotty]

Well my instant is (not anything more, certainly no scientific research done to back it up)n is that even if you clean the insides well you're better off not leaving the surfaces exposed to air hence why I leave mine flooded with Starsan...an acidic environment where bacteria cannot grow or thrive.

Anything I leave exposed to air for any length of time between brews will get a quick run through the dishwasher or soaking in PBW or similar and a good soaking starsan before being used again.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Well my instant is (not anything more, certainly no scientific research done to back it up)n is that even if you clean the insides well you're better off not leaving the surfaces exposed to air hence why I leave mine flooded with Starsan...an acidic environment where bacteria cannot grow or thrive.

Anything I leave exposed to air for any length of time between brews will get a quick run through the dishwasher or soaking in PBW or similar and a good soaking starsan before being used again.

I'd not thought about it being left with liquid in it. That's a nice idea.
I recently got a small aquarium pump to help out both aerate the wort on the way to the fermerter and also help pump it up to my fermenter in the sky. I had thought I could leave it attached to the CFC for a while and it would both pump the water out (which it did nicely)and also dry the inside out (which it didn't).

I might try packing it away with starsan next time - thanks

 

[Agentgonzo]

Well my instant is (not anything more, certainly no scientific research done to back it up)n is that even if you clean the insides well you're better off not leaving the surfaces exposed to air hence why I leave mine flooded with Starsan...an acidic environment where bacteria cannot grow or thrive.

Anything I leave exposed to air for any length of time between brews will get a quick run through the dishwasher or soaking in PBW or similar and a good soaking starsan before being used again.

Would long-term exposure (storage in) a mild acid affect the copper of the CFC? (I'm assuming the grainfather CFC is copper, but TBH I don't know).
I go for between 2 and 6 weeks between brews.

 

[MashBag]

Should we also be discussing that copper is naturally fungicidal as it is active.
Where as stainless is passive.

I would pump citric acid through a copper cfc to clean and then leave it to drain.

Stainless would store nice with a bung in each end and a splash of vodka in it. You have never seen a bottle of gin go off

 

[hoppyscotty]

Well my chiller is a gasket chiller so all good. My previous chiller was a brazed one and I wouldn't do that with that as the acid can attack the brazer...but I never got on with that chiller...they're not specifically designed for wort and have a tighter gap between plates and blocked up more easily and with a gasket chiller you can dismantle and clean each plate...not that I've done that yet. I've also got a fine filter to prevent hops and anything getting in.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

I used to just wash out with hose pipe water and then drain it and leave in the sun to dry. Then one day saw bits of flakey residue come out when I plugged it in to recirculate. Since then always flushed out with water then recirculate with hot pbw and then flush and drain well and followed up using the compressor to blast out any last water. Leave in the sun or put it on the wood burner ( its a stainless kegland one) then put it away.

 

[Bryan.]

I clean my counter flow chiller immediately after each use. This prevents any residue buildup and ensures it's ready for the next brew session.

 

[Andrew Booth]

So I normally heat up some EnzyBrew 10 in my g70 and the recirculate through the counter flow chiller for 45 minutes then I run through with no rinse sanitizer for 15 minutes. Clean both the boiler and CFC in one pass.

 

[hoppyscotty]

I'm enzybrew curious...seems to get good reviews from those who've used it. Do you let it soak in the chiller or just recirculate through? With PBW/VPW I will recurculate for a while then leave to soak for 10 mins or so then recirculate a bit more.