Is a counter flow chiller good for cooling wort?

Question

I'm looking into cheaper solutions then using a plate heat exchanger. A cheaper construction available that is basically just a pipe in a pipe with separate connectors.

What are the pros and cons using this type of cooler?

Answer 1

This is a type of counter flow chiller.

The manufacturer should have some specs on it. Mainly what the heat exchange efficiency is at specific GPMs.

For example 100% eff at 1gpm wort and 1gpm coolant. Would mean the wort and coolant exit at the same temperature.

All chillers of this type can get 100% efficiency but the flow may have to be so low it's not practical.

To say this is better than other options would need to factor cost and chill time you want.

Ideally you want a counter flow chiller that will allow all your batch to drop to pitch temp in 20 minutes or less.

Counter flow chillers generally are used inline from kettle to the fermenter and chill from boiling to pitch temp (65°F) ale, 40-50 lagers. This can be a challenge to do in a single step. Most commercial systems use two Counter flow chillers inline. One with tap water knock down and the second using gycol. Then the wort flow rate is adjusted to get the disired temp when ground water temp varies day to day.

In summary this paticular chiller looks like it would be a good 1st step knock down but too short to chill the wort in one pass with out very slow wort flow and the use of a very cold coolant.