More than six months ago, my brother-in-law introduced me to the wonders of the plate chiller. It took me a while to purchase and assemble all the pieces, but I'm happy to report that I've finally got my own setup.
In this photo, you can see all of the essential pieces before assembly:
And here she is in action, chilling my latest brew, a La Petite Orange Belgian dubbel, to pitching temperature in just a few minutes. It easily saved me 30-45 minutes at the end of my brew day.
In case you want a close-up of the Thrumometer in action, here it is, nailing the pitching temperature of the wort to a perfect 72° F, just like the Trappist Style High Gravity yeast likes it.
Now that I've got my own plate chiller, I can't imagine going back to an immersion chiller, particularly on those hot summer brew days. Luckily, with this new setup, I won't have to.
Grains
7 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Belgian
8 ozs Dingemans Cara 8
8 ozs Dingemans Cara 20
4 ozs Aromatic Malt
4 ozs Biscuit Malt
Hops
1 oz Celeia (aka Styrian Goldings), 60 mins
Yeasts
Wyeast 3787 Trappist Style High Gravity
Infusion, add 10.62 qts water @ 166.1° F
Let rest for 70 min @ 149° F
Add 6.16 qts water @ 212° F
Mash out for 10 min @ 170° F
Fly Sparge with 16.75 qts of water @ 170 °F
Stats by iBrewmaster
By Tom on 11/27/2016
Stage: Brewing