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Author Topic: Effect on of recirculating with a plate chiller on break material?  (Read 980 times)

Offline Fyris

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Hi guys, this is my first ever post. Man, there is a lot of good information on this forum!

I brew 6 gal batches using an electric kettle (converted keg). For about the last year i have been chilling by recirculating with a March pump through a Shirron plate chiller and back into the kettle. Once I hit my target temperature I stop the pump and let everything sit still for 20-30 minutes to settle, then transfer to the fermentor. What I like about this method is that I can monitor the temperature of the wort with the temp probe in my kettle and I can chill the whole thing pretty fast. I also decided to try a plate chiller because my immersion chiller could not reach the bottom of my kettle due to the heating element which is installed through the side.

I am now wondering if the shearing forces inside the plate chiller could have any effect on the break material by breaking up the flocs; could this cause the break to be re-solubilized or stabilized in the wort? Also, what effect, if any, could the rapid temperature changes have on break material (as the hot wort is chilled then heated again when it reenters the kettle during the first few minutes of chilling)?

I'm not worried too much about this since I've made quite a bit of good beer with this system. But these questions just came to me recently and I am just curious if anyone here has any ideas about the above questions.

Thanks!