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Wort Cooling
The hot bitter wort has to be cooled from a temperature of around 90°C in the whirlpool to 16-20°C in the fermentation vessel.
This is achieved by pumping the hot wort through a paraflow or heat exchanger.
This machine is made up of a series of thin stainless steel sheets with a small space between each sheet.
The wort passes between alternate sheets and cold mains water is pumped in the opposite direction in such a way that the two liquids are separated by a thin sheet of stainless steel and the heat is exchanged from one medium to the other.
In this way hot wort is pumped in one end and cold wort out of the other.
Conversely cold water is pumped in the opposite end and hot water recovered from the other.
The hot water , or liquor as it is known as in the brewing industry, is stored for further use in the hot liquor tank.
In this way some of the energy put into the boiling process is recovered.
