One could also run it through the CFC coil, and then through an IC coil immersed in a bucket of icewater. One wort path, two coils.
counterflow chiller
- Thread starter Jimsal
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But... the CF has wort where you cant see it... right? And beer lines at the pub...
A soak in pbw cleans it fine, no?
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I got the order of operations backward, I like IC chillers as they are easy to clean. Beer line bothers me a lot less as it tends to be a sealed environment, you don't end up leaving it sit exposed to the air while it molds.
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I do a CIP (Clean In Place) routine on my system when the brew day is over: I rinse with hot water, then run hot caustic (PBW) through the lines for a while, then run hot phosphoric acid through the system to neutralize the PBW (and avoid unpleasant flavors). It cleans the system and the lines and, since the fluids are near boiling, sanitizes anything that may be in a tricky bend of pipe or corner of the RIMS system. This includes my counterflow chiller. The joints and so forth are heated to near-boiling so I have little concern about contamination from some remote corner of the system with a bit of cooked-on gunk. Even the whirlpool which here starts at 200 degrees and in general, in my process, goes to 180 degrees, heat-sanitizes the entire system. Considering pasteurization at 180 degrees is nearly instantaneous and the CIP routine afterward, I'm not particularly worried about anything on the hot side of my system.
