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  • Chiller Lag Time

    Hello everyone,
    Long time admirer first time poster.

    Apologies I come first asking for help but I am properly stuck. Running a 1BBL operation in home garage in Plymouth UK.

    I am having some issues with my chilling system and I thought I would ask you nice folk. Running a converted maxi chiller on a loop between 3 vessels each with valves and thermostats to open/close. What I think is happening is that the chiller is being told to cut out but leaving chilled liquid in the coils which is dropping the temperature far too much... so it cools at say 21c baack to 20c but will then drop the fermenting beer down to 17/16c... this is now effecting taste.

    Does anyone have any experience of having to adjust for this? What am I possibly missing here? Temp of chiller is 1.5c

    Thanks for all and any help.

    Nick

  • #2
    Originally posted by steelbrewco View Post
    Hello everyone,
    Long time admirer first time poster.

    Apologies I come first asking for help but I am properly stuck. Running a 1BBL operation in home garage in Plymouth UK.

    I am having some issues with my chilling system and I thought I would ask you nice folk. Running a converted maxi chiller on a loop between 3 vessels each with valves and thermostats to open/close. What I think is happening is that the chiller is being told to cut out but leaving chilled liquid in the coils which is dropping the temperature far too much... so it cools at say 21c baack to 20c but will then drop the fermenting beer down to 17/16c... this is now effecting taste.

    Does anyone have any experience of having to adjust for this? What am I possibly missing here? Temp of chiller is 1.5c

    Thanks for all and any help.

    Nick
    Do you mean that the valve is told to close, but the vessel keeps getting colder??

    Is there a chance your valves are getting stuck open?? Solenoid valves are known for that.

    Is there a chance you’re somehow getting retrograde flow??

    Also - most glycol systems make glycol that’s around -2C (28degF). How come yours is warmer??

    Tell us your layout and we can likely help you more...

    JR
    Jeremy Reed
    Co-Founder and President, assistant brewer, amateur electrician, plumber, welder, refrigeration tech, and intermediately swell fella
    The North of 48 Brewing Company
    Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

    www.no48.ca

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    • #3
      Unless you are chilling the beer down at some point to say 3 degrees, then you could afford to increase the glycol temperature. So for instance, if you only cool down to 10 degrees, then try setting your glycol to 8 degrees.

      On the assumption that you are wanting to cool down to 4 deg C, then your glycol temperature is about right. Although not ideal, restrict the flow in to the cooling panels / coils so that the temperature coming out is only one degree colder than the target temperature - this way the bulk of your glycol in the panels / coils is only slightly cooler than the beer you are cooling. You may need to increase or decrease that differential slightly.
      dick

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