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  • Chiller Malfunction

    So a chiller (or more likely the solinoid valve) stop working. And a freshly brewed lager went all the way down to 0 Celcius. I am wondering what the best way of saving the brew might be.

    Should I try to move the beer to another warmer vessel?

    Will I need to pitch new yeast?

    Should I just wait and see?

    The yeast is a saflager blend.

  • #2
    Have some experience here with this.

    Have had this happen on a couple tanks before due to thermostat or solenoid malfunction.

    We warmed it up by using our brewhouse heat exchanger and putting the cold wort on the hot wort side and hooking hot water up from the HLT to the cold water side.

    Then basically you just need to run the wort out of the tank in a loop through the heat exchanger while running the HLT in a loop through the heat exchanger.

    Now, depending on the temp of your HLT you'll want to make sure it's not too hot you'll scorch your cold wort. Also, I would plan on pitching new yeast as you could cook the little guys in the HX as well.

    We also re-areated the wort as it passed through the HX as well.

    I should note this was for an ale and I had to get it back up to 20 C

    Hope this gives you some ideas.

    Cheers

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    • #3
      Depending on how the drops to your ferm are plumbed, it's sometimes possible to disconnect the glycol supply from the tank (always shut off both lines, and remove the outlet line first to prevent drawing a vacuum in the jacket) and plumb it to hot water instead. Keep a close eye on your wort temp. Shaking up the yeast up by blowing some CO2 through the bottom port helps to re-start the ferm--leave a port open on top to keep from building pressure while doing this.

      It's worked for us in the past.

      Forgot to add: Be sure you find and fix the problem! My bet is a stuck open solenoid valve, especially if you've been using Teflon thread sealing tape. Little bits of that crap always break loose and wreak havoc with solenoid valves. A tiny bit of anything will cause a solenoid valve to stick open. Most can be torn down and cleaned in place.
      Last edited by TGTimm; 05-08-2017, 03:40 PM.
      Timm Turrentine

      Brewerywright,
      Terminal Gravity Brewing,
      Enterprise. Oregon.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Laxhoser View Post
        Have some experience here with this.

        We also re-areated the wort as it passed through the HX as well.

        Cheers
        Why do you re aerate the wort? Is just caution or do you know something I don't?

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