Blichmann Therminator Wort Chiller

Rated 5 out of 5

Performs as advertised. Exceeds my expectations. Even with a warmer ground water temp, I’m able to get boiled wort down to a pitch temperature.

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September 11, 2022

Gary G

Purchased
1 year ago

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Rated 1 out of 5

Worthless insta-clog chiller

I use a B3 hop spider and muslin bags to filter my hop pellets.

Literally every single time I use this chiller, it clogs. I've tried back flushing and front flushing, and every time, as soon as I hook it to the March pump and pump wort through it, flow rate goes to near zero.

Back flushing works to clear it, until the next time I try to cool wort and then thee same problem pops up.

I'll be taking this to the metal recyclers soon.

Do not recommend this to anyone. I'll be going back to my B3 immersion chiller next batch.

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May 29, 2021

martin smith

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Rated 5 out of 5

I should have bought this years ago

How many times did I let a few hundred bucks slip through my fingers when I could have ditched my wimpy immersion chiller for this beast? I LOVE my Blichmann plate chiller and it has completely reinvented my brew days with its efficient and rapid cooling capacity. No clogs, but I do recommend the back flush hose for ensuring any crud gets cleared out between batches.

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April 6, 2021

Andy H

Purchased
over 2 years ago

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Rated 3 out of 5

Good function, poor form

This thing cools wort like a boss. With the correct flow rate and reasonably cool ground water temp you'll be able to cool an arbitrary amount to near pitching temp in short order. You knew that though. Function is top notch, but...

My brew setup uses Blichmann quick connectors everywhere. The Therminator requires garden hose connectors for the cooling water - which means I have to use adapters to make this Blichmann product work with other Blichmann products - silly.

Second, the edges on the back-side of the chiller are sharp. You _will_ cut yourself. Especially if you use Blichmann quick connectors which require you twist something with your fingers right next to raw metal edges.

Third, It feels like it's going to slice your hands when you pick it up. It's very uncomfortable to handle which you have to do when cleaning. This might seem picky but at $200 and with the Blichmann name it's not.

Last, the mount is functional but for something you have to take on/off to clean and store it doesn't make sense to use bolts vs some type of bracket. I'm OK being wrong on this one because it does work well and comes with a solid mount.

Before this I used a DIY counterflow chiller that worked but had crappy connectors and looked lame. If I was buying today I'd look at the compact copper counterflow chillers that likely clean/sanitize/dry better.

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June 23, 2020

Michael Peterman

Purchased
over 4 years ago

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Rated 5 out of 5

Worked Great!

I was skeptical about this, but it cooled my wort from boil to about 84 even with fairly warm hose water. Next time I'll try to control the flow like they recommend and see if that gets even better results!

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April 22, 2020

Jim D

Purchased
over 3 years ago

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Rated 5 out of 5

Does what it's supposed to. Easy to clean if you rinse immediately after use. Another great Blichmann product.

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April 19, 2020

Chad Sturtz

Purchased
over 3 years ago

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Rated 5 out of 5

Chegou antes do previsto

Excelente produto e a entrega foi antes do prazo.

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April 8, 2020

Kellfany A D

Purchased
over 3 years ago

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Rated 5 out of 5

great product

Living in south Florida we have an issue with cooling the wort. the first time I used this it instantly dropped the temperature 70 degrees with tap water. Wish I would have bought it a long time ago!

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November 18, 2019

Dean Richards

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Rated 5 out of 5

Chills Fast

Used this for the first time on last brew and 6 gallon batch chilled in about 10 minutes with 58 degree water coming out of my well. This think is built like a tank and worth every penny!

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September 20, 2019

David G

Purchased
over 4 years ago

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Rated 5 out of 5

Great product, highly recommend I'm buying it, worth the money

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September 14, 2019

ray c

Purchased
over 4 years ago

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Rated 5 out of 5

Blichmann Therminator Chiller

I am so happy that bought this plate chiller. It is amazing how fast it chills hot wort from the kettle to the fermentor. I wish had purchased one years ago.

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April 15, 2019

Terry J

Purchased
over 4 years ago

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Rated 5 out of 5

Fastest wort chiller in the west

Quite frankly this little piece of equipment is amazing. My buddy and I chilled our 6 gallons of wort in under 4 minutes going from 210 degrees to 68 degrees. We went from the boil pot to the fermenter in one step. We previously used a large copper coil but this little beauty put the coil out of business. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.

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March 16, 2019

Stephen S

Purchased
over 4 years ago

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Response from MoreFlavor

Thank you so much for your feedback. We really appreciate the honesty and value great feedback like this as it helps us improve our products. Cheers!

March 18, 2019

Tyler W Staff

Rated 4 out of 5

Works great.

I hook two of these together to cool 1 bbl of wort down to 68° in 12 minutes. I would give it five stars if I could disassemble to clean it.

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November 1, 2018

kenneth lance

Purchased
over 5 years ago

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Rated 5 out of 5

Well worth the investment.

200f to 58f degrees in one pass with ice water pumped through wort chiller.

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October 8, 2018

ANTONIO CISNEROS

Purchased
over 5 years ago

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Rated 5 out of 5

Does a great job. Chilled the wort on a 10gallon brew in about 4 minutes.

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August 17, 2018

Ronald R

Purchased
over 5 years ago

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Rated 5 out of 5

Chills fast

I managed to chill 11 gallons of boiling wort to 51 degrees in about 12 minutes! I didn't realize it'd be so effective so next time I'll have to reduce the incoming water flow so the wort doesn't get so cold. I had to wait for the wort in the fermenter to warm up so I could pitch my ale yeast. Make sure you check your cooling water source temperature, folks!

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March 22, 2018

Timothy B

Purchased
over 5 years ago

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Rated 2 out of 5

Doesn't include the parts you need

For a $200 wort chiller, it should come with the items everyone needs. I did my research and ordered everything it said I needed. What it doesn't say is that you need a female to female waterhose. Who the heck has that? No one.

Of course I didn't realize this until it was time to cool my wort. Now what? Leave my wort to get contaminated while I go to the store?

What a waste of $200. I'll be returning it.

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April 2, 2016

Jsbull

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Rated 5 out of 5

Love it! 67 degrees in less than 5min!

Just used this thing for the third time. Couldn't be happier. I read reviews of it getting clogged so I've been using hop bags to keep them out of the chiller. I run my 1/4 tsp Irish moss through along w break material and have had no probs w clogs. When finished I pump warm pbw through the chiller and let it recirc for about 15min then pump sanitizer through it a few min and store. This device chills my wort to ~67 as fast as gravity can pull it into the fermenter. My ground water is ~62.

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May 30, 2015

Cholly

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Rated 4 out of 5

No more ice!

This thing is heavy and a bit hard to handle, but man does it work well. Cools down wort quickly and to the right temperature. It does require some maintenance with cleaning and sanitizing, but totally worth it.

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May 7, 2015

Michael S

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Rated 5 out of 5

Electric Boil Pot and Therminator blockage

I am using a 10 gallon electric boil pot and pump the wort to my conical. Hops are pellet form and crush is at .040. I love the Therminator but have problems with total blockage when using with a boil coil. I'm looking for a solution to eliminate blockage when pumping from boil pot thru Therminator to conical.

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March 10, 2015

Bob B

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Rated 5 out of 5

One of the best buys you can make for home brewing!

Going from immersion chillers to this is night and day. Used to have to spend a good 15 to 20 minutes sometimes longer cooling the wort down to pitching temperature. The Therminator cools it quicker and gets the temperature even lower than I was able to previously with the immersion chillers. Goes from boiling hot to pitching temperature in 6 minutes or under. Great investment and every serious home brewer should own one of these bad boys right here.

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November 3, 2014

Dylan B

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Rated 5 out of 5

Great Plate Chiller!

I have brewed about 10 batches with this chiller and it works great. I live in San Diego so the ground water is around 65-70 degrees year round. I use a SS coil in a bucket of ice to pre-chill the water going into the chiller and it can cool a 5 gallon batch from boiling to 72 in about 5 minutes! One thing I will say is when I brew hoppy beers I can end up with a bunch of trub in my fermenter. I plan to get a hop rocket to help filter trub and give the wort one last hop blast! All in all, one of the best purchases I have made.

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May 22, 2014

Jabe H

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Rated 5 out of 5

Worth the Price!

I couldn't believe how fast I was able to move wort between the boil kettle and my fermenters all which hitting the perfect temp. I really had doubts about well counter flow chillers worked but I'm a believer now. I noticed a lot of hop junk when cleaning out the unit after my first batch but I don't fault the unit. I have a Boilermaker kettle and chose only to whirlpool my batch and without a hop bag or screen. I've since purchased a HopBlocker which I think will stop all the junk from making it through to the chiller. This is my first counter flow chiller so unfortunately I have nothing else to compare it to but I will say it's a huge improvement over any immersion chiller I've ever used.

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May 4, 2014

Mike S

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Rated 1 out of 5

BEWARE RAZOR SHARP EDGES ON THESE CHILLERS

1) These chillers work great - I have two. HOWEVER:

2) these chillers have two rows of extremely sharp jagged edges on each corner; depending on the direction from which you rub across these razor sharp edges, will depend whether you get cut or not. These adges are so sharp, I didn't realize my hands had been cut until I saw blood all over the place.

Both my Therminators have this issue - so its not just a one-off issue with one chiller that slipped through their quality control - its a production issue which needs addressing at Blichmann's plant.

My email highlighting this concern to Blichmann was blown off by their customer "service" rep - indicating a complete lack of concern from Blichmann - so I guess we are on our own to correct this issue - sanding with some coarse wet or dry will probably fix the issue, I will try that when I have time.

In the meantime be extremely cautious around these chillers...

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May 3, 2014

William C

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Rated 1 out of 5

Fast chilling but potential cleaning issues

Very fast counterflow chilling. Nightmare to clean esp if you use pellets and allow hop matter to enter the chiller. Flush forward back over and over and you'll still see hop bits coming out. Got to the point where I had to recirculate hot blc solution to dissolve all the trapped matter. Finally just gave it away and went back to immersion. Wouldn't recommend it.

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May 1, 2014

Steve V

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Rated 5 out of 5

Buy This!!!!

I have used a number of chillers in the past and this is hands down the best chiller on the market. I am able to take 11 gallons of wort from boiling to 70 degrees in about 10 min using water coming from my hose.

My only advice is to make sure you back flush this chiller well after each usage.

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May 1, 2014

Jeff K

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Rated 4 out of 5

Works great.... but

I have used this chiller three times now. The first time it worked great with my Blichmann Boilermaker and HopBlocker and chilled the wort as fast as it would drain to 65 degrees. The second time I used it, there was a total failure as the chiller got clogged. If I had been using a pump, I am guessing this would not have been a big issue. However, since I was using gravity, I was out-of-luck. Had to buy a bag of ice to save the batch. On the third try, I drained about a quart of wort from the kettle before attaching the hose to the chiller. A rather large amount of trub came out of the hose before running clear. After attaching the hose, the chiller worked great. I am guessing that a certain amount of hops/trub entered the HopBlocker before I whirlpooled. Once that was cleared, everything worked as advertised.

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December 4, 2013

Leland J

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Rated 5 out of 5

Excellent Chiller

I have 50 plus batches through my chiller. I use 1 and 5 gallon paint strainer bags for hops from Lowes in my boils. if its a small one time addition its a 1 gallon bag tied at the top just drop it in. Never lost any hop flavor and no hops in my chiller.

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August 9, 2013

Patrick D

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Rated 5 out of 5

Best investment ever

This will be the best investment you have ever made if you are doing 15+ gallon batches. We cool 20 gallons of beer in about 20 minutes. It would be faster if we had a pump to force the beer through the therminator. Our hose can't be turned on all the way or we'll cool the beer to an amazing 56 degrees F!

For anyone in the review who has said anything about clogging, they have not adjusted their equipment properly. If you get clogs, it's most likely from the hops you've added. We use a hop bad and a screen on our boil kettle to ensure we have no clogs. Never had a clog once and I've brewed at least 15 batches on it so far. Another issue could be that you are crushing your grains too finely and didn't use the grain bed as a filter. That happened the first time, but our clog happened upstream when we were sparging, not cooling.

If you are making big batches, buy this. You won't regret it once it's working!

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May 31, 2013

Michael W

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Rated 4 out of 5

Good

Love this chiller. In the summer i still need a pre chiller but 75% of the year is amazing. My water temps in the summer are pretty high, so getting to 66 degrees isn't an option with out a pre chiller.

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May 31, 2013

Evan B

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Rated 5 out of 5

Wow. 50 min chill down to 5 min

Last night was my first brew with the new pump and wort chiller. Usually it takes me 50 minutes to chill my 10 gallon brew with a copper coil and garden hose. Last night - 5 minutes to fill both carboys and the temp on the Fermometer (on the outside of the carboys) was 78 degrees. Truly amazing how much time this reduced and how easy it was to backflush and clean.

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May 29, 2013

C R

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Rated 5 out of 5

Fast cooling

I have always heard bad things about the therminator, but i love mine. Amazingly fast chilling. IMmediately upon completion of brewing I pump PBW through it both ways and then rinse, and have never had a problem. If your using a pump I suggest adding a valve and an inline thermometer. I believe morebeer already has a kit like this.

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May 22, 2013

parker

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Rated 5 out of 5

Great Chiller

I have been using a home built immersion chiller for years and finally decide to upgrade. After the first use, I was convinced.

Living in the north east, ground water temps are pretty cool but I am able to chill a 5 gallon batch from boiling to 60degF in less than 5min.

I don?t have experience with any other plate chillers but the Blichmann chiller definitely works and I would recommend this chiller to anyone.

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May 21, 2013

Devin M

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Rated 5 out of 5

Amazingly fast cooling

If you are anything like me, the worst part of brewing is cooling that wort down. After hours of prep, carefully monitoring that mash temp, getting that sparge water flow just right, adding those hops at their precise times, you have the fun of sitting and looking at your thermometer as your wort crawls from 80 degrees down to 60. Wait. You're making a lager? Poor bastard.

Buy this thing. Yes, it's a pain to clean, but you're already cleaning everything else. What's one more? Within minutes, your wort will be whatever temp you desire. Make a small effort and clogs aren't an issue either. Make a small whirlpool and transfer out with a steel racking cane. Install a Blichmann Hop Blocker, or a Hop Rocket filled with rice hulls, or even a stainless scrub pad and pump your wort into the Therminator clean and clog-free. It's not hard to get past the quirks that come with this device.

Now that I have used this thing twice, I will never use my immersion chiller for anything other than chilling the water going into my Therminator. That's another thing you can do, too.

Buy it!

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May 8, 2013

Burke Kevlar

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Rated 2 out of 5

Gets clogged so easily!

I have one of the B3 sculptures with the whirlpool in the boil kettle. At the end of every boil, I whirlpool for at least 10-20 minutes before I ever hook the hoses into this chiller. Theoretically, all the spent hops (I only use pellets) and trub should be accumlated in the center of my boil kettle - read: very little material actually goes into this chiller. However, without fail, it still clogs every batch and the flow into my fermenter is painfully slow.

I have made an attachment to flush it with a hose, and I have tried boiling it. Nothing I do seems to avoid the inevitable clog that comes with this chiller, and it cannot be taken apart.

If I had it to do over again, I would NEVER buy this thing. Spend your money elsewhere. Trust me. The Blichmann Therminator is NOT WORTH THE MONEY.

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February 6, 2013

JTB

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Response from MoreFlavor

Hi JTB,

Thank you for your feedback and posting your review. Plate chillers are indeed somewhat difficult to keep clean, as the channels in which your wort travels are extremely small. I have used both this chiller and a shirron plate chiller, and have always been able to blast the sediment / material out by connecting to my hose and turning it up full blast. At that PSI it would be hard not to get most of the material out of your chiller, but if you still feel there's a little residual hop / wort in the chiller, you can always try pumping hot PBW water through it. That and another flush and you'll have a clean chiller once again!

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this process, please don't hesitate to contact our customer support at info@morebeer.com.

Cheers!

December 14, 2017

Matt Monroe

Response from MoreFlavor

Hi JTB,

Thank you for your feedback and posting your review. Plate chillers are indeed somewhat difficult to keep clean, as the channels in which your wort travels are extremely small. I have used both this chiller and a shirron plate chiller, and have always been able to blast the sediment / material out by connecting to my hose and turning it up full blast. At that PSI it would be hard not to get most of the material out of your chiller, but if you still feel there's a little residual hop / wort in the chiller, you can always try pumping hot PBW water through it. That and another flush and you'll have a clean chiller once again!

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this process, please don't hesitate to contact our customer support at info@morebeer.com.

Cheers!

December 22, 2017

Matt Monroe

Item #	BL100
Shipping	Eligible for Free Shipping Program
Availability	California - Out Of Stock Pennsylvania - In Stock
Weight	8 LBS

Item #	BL100
Shipping	Eligible for Free Shipping Program
Availability	California - Out Of Stock Pennsylvania - In Stock
Weight	8 LBS