Installation and use of the plate chiller with the 5-in-1 fermentor
BREWHA 5-in-1 product page
BREWHA Plate Chiller product page
BREWHA Cold Liquor Tank product page
The last stage in brewing beer, prior to fermentation is to boil the wort. At the end of boil, the wort must be cooled down to around room temperature before yeast can be added. Traditionally to cool the wort, most BREWHA customers have just ran cold water (tap water or pre-chilled water from our cold liquor tank) through the fermentor jacket. This works great in most situations. However, if tap water is too warm, or a brewer wants a faster knock down, a plate chiller can be used in addition to or instead of the water jacket. In our earlier fermentor models (the 4-in-1 and 3-in-1) if customers wanted to use a plate chiller, they would draw wort out of the racking port or another side port, run it through the chiller and put it back in the bottom of the fermentor. But this would see mixing of the wort inside the fermentor and therefore a longer than necessary cooling period, since cooling speed is faster if the wort isn’t mixed.
To facilitate faster cooling, in its latest 5-in-1 fermentor model, BREWHA has added an additional ferrule on the upper side of the tank, just below the maximum production volume. Hot wort can be drawn out of this ferrule and sent to the plate chiller, and the cooled wort put gently back into the bottom/dump ferrule on the tank. Because cold liquid falls, and hot liquid rises, if the cold wort is returned gently into the bottom of the tank, there is a fairly defined layer of hot wort that sits above the cold wort; this is called ‘temperature stratification’. As hot wort is drawn out the top, and cold wort replaced in the bottom, the wort doesn’t mix and the cooling period is the fastest possible. All of our 5-in-1 systems including our largest, the 15BBL (1700L), can be cooled in this manner in under an hour.
To briefly overview the setup, you see here we have hot wort leaving the fermentor and entering the wort pump. The pump pushes the wort into the plate chiller, and from the plate chiller the wort is returned through this ‘Tee’ and back into the bottom of the fermentor. We have installed temperature gauges to monitor the wort temperature as it enters and leaves the chiller and the highly adjustable diaphragm valve on the pump can be used to control flow speed. If wort is leaving the chiller too hot, the wort flow should be slowed down to give it more cooling time in the plate chiller, and vice versa.
To sanitize the pump, chiller and lines prior to chilling, we run boiling wort through the assembly until the thermometer exiting the chiller shows temperature above 90C/195F for a couple minutes before introducing cooling water into the plate chiller. When the assembly is sanitized and ready to start cooling, we use a second pump to push ice cold water from our cold liquor tank through the water side of the plate chiller in a counter-current direction. Once the cold water is flowing for a minute or two, confirm the temperature of the wort returning into the fermentor and adjust the wort flow as needed. The wort should leave the chiller and be returned to the fermentor 3-5C/5-10F colder than the yeast pitching temperature to ensure the temperature is achieved once the wort is aerated and fully mixed. So for example, if yeast is being pitched at 20C/70F, wort should be returned to the fermentor at about 15C/60F. If the wort returning to the fermentor is too warm, slow the wort flow down a little to provide it more cooling time in the chiller. If the wort returning to the fermentor is too cold, the wort flow can be increased.
The cooling water that comes from the cold liquor tank, takes heat out of the wort and leaves the chiller heated. So it is not wasted, it can then be sent to a waiting fermentor and hot liquor tank for the next brew day; it will also mean that heatup will be faster and less power used, saving money.
Tap water can also be used for chilling, however, if tap water is less than 10C/20F below the desired final wort temperature, either our cold liquor tank should be used, or if you have a cold liquor tank but it is too small but it is too small for the entire chill, one of our 2-stage plate chillers can be used. For example, if desired wort temperature is 20C/70F, and tap water is above 10C/50F. With a 2 stage chiller, tap water is used in the first stage to remove most of the heat from the boiled wort, and then a smaller volume of pre-chilled water from a cold liquor tank is used through the second stage to complete the chill. So with 5BBL/6hL of boiled wort, with a single stage plate chiller one would need about 7BBL/8hL of ice water to complete the knock down. With a two stage plate chiller, one would need about 4BBL/4.7hL of tap water and 4BBL/4.7hL of ice water to complete knock down.
When the chilling is almost complete, the temperature guage for wort leaving the fermentor will start dropping. This means the cold wort level inside the fermentor has filled in the bottom, displacing the hot wort out the top and has neared the upper exit point of the fermentor. After another minute or two, the pump is turned off, the valve on the upper fermentor ferrule is closed, and gas is injected here to empty the lines and the chiller of wort. Either oxygen or CO2 can be used to empty the chiller of wort. If oxygen is used, it can also oxygenate the wort in the fermentor and the gas bubbling up into the fermentor will equilibriate any remaining temperature stratification.
For cleanup, once the lines and plate chiller have been emptied of wort, the bottom valve on the fermentor should be closed, the lines disconnected, and hot water ran through the pump, lines and plate chiller to rinse out as much of the wort as possible, keeping the chiller free of sugar will helping keep conditions sanitary.
This is the simplest to rapidly knock down your wort, and keep you serving your best beer.
For more information or to ask us a question, visit our website at brewha.com