Best Wort Chiller - How to Choose for Brewing

What are the best wort chillers to buy?

If you've done your all-grain brewing session, you've boiled your work well using a burner with high BTU, your hops timings were just perfect and it's all smelling incredible, it's time to quickly cool your wort so that your beer will taste the best it can be.

This is because the key part of the whole exercise is getting fermentation occurring as quickly as possible once the wort has been prepared.

The trouble is, the wort is usually bloody hot and if you add yeast to the wort straight away, it will die a miserable death.

Like the T-1000 in Terminator 2 when it falls into the molten steel.

So what can you do?

It’s simple.

You may wish to consider investing in a wort chiller.

Here's some selections to think about and compare:

• The Copperhead 
• The Silver Serpent
• The Therminator
• The NY Brew Supply Deluxe Chiller

Why do I need to use a wort chiller to cool beer?

The use of one can improve the quality of your beer in several ways.

The first is to protect the beer against infections.

While the wort it is still hot bacteria and wild yeasts are inhibited from toying with your beer which is a good thing but it is very susceptible to oxidation damage as it slowly cools.

An efficient cool down can prevent this damage from occurring.

It also prevents the production of dimethyl sulphide. This compound can produce off flavourings in the beer so obviously, you’d want to remove the risk of this being produced as much as you can.

Ideally, the conscientious brewer should aim to get the wort to below 80°F (27°C) before oxidation or contamination has a chance to occur. The use of a wort chiller will get you there in no time.

You may have heard of ‘chill haze’. This is a really common cause of beer cloudiness where the wort has been boiled and the cooling process has not generated enough ‘cold break’.

The cold break is the proteins from the beer that are precipitated to the bottom of the beer by the cold temperature.

Using a copper wort chiller allows for an effective way to get more cold break forming and thus reduces the chance of chill haze in your finished beer.

The less crap in your beer, the better it will taste.

A tale of three kinds chillers

There are actually three types of wort chillers: immersion and counter-flow and plate.

• Immersion chillers are the simplest and work by running cold water through the copper coil (or stainless steel) which is immersed directly in the wort. The heat of the wort is transferred via the copper into the water which is quickly is carried away by the flowing water in the pipe.  If you are doing a 5 gallon brew, the length of the tube is usually from 20 to 40 feet, although theу can be even longer.
• Counterflow chillers work in an opposite manner. The hot wort is drained from the cooking pot via copper tubing while cold water flows around the outside of the chiller. Counterflow chillers thus get their name because the two sets of tubing are set up so that the wort goes in one direction, and the cooling water the other.
• Plate chillers work by cold water is run through the unit's 'plates' in one direction and the hot brew is cooled very quickly with the cold water that is running through the other side in the opposite direction. Such a chiller will have hundreds of plates to offer a good surface area to allow for the heat exchange (so it's efficient).

Each kind of chiller has pros and cons. Given immersion chillers are usually the cheapest and easiest to keep clean and maintain and given that do not need a pump to push the water through, they are the most popular units used.

If you're thinking that surface area is the key to quick cooling you'd be right - but just remember that even though a plate chiller has a lot of surface area in the plates, a right sized immersion chiller will likely have a comparable surface area.

No one kind of chiller will reduce the water or wort temperature more than the other, they will only cool as cool as the temperature of the coolant used.

Our featured wort chiller - Copperhead Immersion Wort Chiller

The two stand out features of Northern Brewer's  popular chiller are that it comes with 25 foot copper coil for efficient cooling and its vinyl tubing comes with the standard garden hose connection.

The Copperhead features:

• All copper coil construction is easy to clean and will conduct heat better than other metals.
• Ensure secure tubing with proprietary barbed fittings. Eradicate shooting streams of water that make a mess in your brew cave.
• Drop-angle connections provide insurance against contamination.
• Dimensions: 9 inches wide, 16 inches tall to the bend, 3/8 ID tubing.
• No need to sanitize. Simply drop your clean chiller into the kettle a few minutes before the end of the boil and it will be ready to go. 
• Cleaning is a breeze
• Standard garden hose connection allows for brewing outside or connects to a laundry sink faucet as your chilling water source

Here are some real reviews from real users who bought on Amazon

"Don't cheap out on the ones with simply raw copper ends and hose clamps. The ends connectors on this IC are top notch. Brew on!"

"Worked perfectly and as expected. No leaks and cooled my wort very quickly."

"This is the best on Amazon. I thought about making my own, but considering my time and effort involved, made sense to pay a bit more for one already set up"

Check out the pricing on Amazon.

The Copperhead also has a cousin from Northern Brewer, the 'Silver Serpent'

Called the Silver Serpent for hopefully obvious reasons, Northern Brewer claims this is the most sanitary immersion chiller on the market and it features:

• Drop-angle connections and secure tubing with proprietary barbed fittings. 
• Do away with ill-fitting hose clamps on misshapen chiller connections.
• The Silver Serpent drop-angle eliminates kinked tubing. 
• No more hassles with propping up the water hose. Tubing can now hang tension-free, kink-free and problem-free. 
• Surprise leaks stay outside your kettle and away from cooling wort.

Believe it or not! Remember if you have Amazon Prime you can probably get free shipping!

Check out the pricing on Amazon.

I see people raving about the Blichmann Therminator, is it any good?

As far as we can tell, the Blichmann Terminator is probably the most popular plate chiller in the brewing community. 

Brewers often name drop it in brewing forums everytime someone asks 'what is the best wort chiller?"

Just google it and see! Actually, don't google it, keep reading!

Blichmann is a tried and true brand and boasts a strong inventory of brewing equipment.

Their gas burner is a well-respected piece of brewing day equipment (good for frying turkey too, apparently!) so you wouldn't go wrong to consider using their chiller.

The Therminator is a stainless steel plate-type wort chiller, a miniature version of the plate chillers that the pros use. It is the fastest and most efficient way to chill your wort to yeast pitching temperature.

The Therminator can chill 10 gallons of boiling wort to pitching temperature within 5 minutes when using 58°F cooling water at 5 gpm. This super-efficient chiller uses less water than most other chillers on the market, and is especially great for brewers in southern American climates!

Blichmann boast of their 20 years of experience designing cooling systems and coupled with 17 years of homebrewing experience, they stand by their product claim that it's the 'king of coolers':

• Broad operating range at fast cooling rates.
• Low water usage for high efficiency.
• Low restriction for gravity feed at high flow rates.
• Compact size for easy use and sanitation.
• Heavy-duty mounting brackets for simple installation.
• Convenient straight-through water connections to prevent kinked hoses.
• Resistance to plugging.
• Substantial reduction in ice usage for chilling below cooling water temps.

Reviews of real users of the Therminator:

"This chiller is incredible. I had been using an immersion copper wort chiller for a few years, so moving to this plate chiller was a big step up. It instantly cooled down my wort as I pumped it through. You do have to make sure you clean it well afterwards, but I think this product is well worth the money."

"Works phenomenally well. Took wort from boiling to 54 degrees in about 6 minutes. I used a gravity setup with my boil kettle valve wide open."

If brewers have one complaint about this product it's that cleaning the plate unit is a real process - as is with all plate chillers. I guess you have to factor in the time savings if using a plate chiller is an effective tool for you. 

Check out the price on Amazon.

If there's a counterflow chiller you like, make it the NY Brew Supply Deluxe 

Don't let its look put you off because remember, counterflow chillers are not placed inside the hot wort so the black piping serves a purpose:

NY Brew Supply state the following about their chiller:

"The outer coil of our deluxe counter flow wort chiller is a super durable, high temperature 3/4" hose that will not get brittle over time and is more durable than standard garden hose designs. 25 feet of 1/2 inch copper tubing provides an extremely efficient transfer of heat.

Heavy duty brass fittings allow for easy connection to your cold water source (via garden hose connection). Unlike some "soldered copper" designs, our heavy duty brass fittings allow you the option to adjust the angle and position of the input and output hoses."

But don't let them do all the talking, try the opinions of these actual users on for size:

"I've used this twice in the last month. This is one of those purchases I wish I would have made years ago. Initially, I was considering upgrading my copper/immersion wort chiller to something larger. This is really not that much more expensive and MAN does it perform."

"This product works great, is well priced, and I would recommend it. If you buy it, keep the end caps as you can pour star san water into the copper inner coil and keep it sanitized while not in use. Also, I would recommend using proper silicone tubing and tube clamps."

"I went to the hardware store to gather the parts to make this. As I added up the cost in my cart, I realized I couldn't beat this deal! It costs as much to make on your own so, why bother! My time is worth the $100! And yours is too!"

If those testimonies sound right up your alley, have a gander at the price on Amazon.

How to use a wort chiller

The basic principle behind using an immersion wort chillers is fairly straight forward. The copper tubing, usually around 25-50 feet long, is formed into a large coil that can be submerged into the wort to cool it.

After the boil and, when you are ready, you connect your chiller to a piping system of some kind. Many brewers make their beer outside and so are quite happy to connect to the garden hose. If you are inside, your laundry taps might have the correct tap connectors.

NE ways, you run the water through the chiller until the wort is at the desired temperature. And gosh, if you need to ask how you know what the right temperature is, you take a thermometer reading!

But then you're going to ask but what is the best temperature to pitch your yeast? Look at the guidance on your yeast packet but note that different yeasts like different temperatures.

Just don't over cool your wort or it may take some time for fermentation to begin!

What does the garden hose have to do with chilling beer?

You may wish to consider buying a wort chiller that has a standard garden hose connection. 

This allows for brewing outside on a nice summer's day or connecting to a laundry sink faucet as your chilling water source. 

That can give you some room to breathe outside rather than managing all kinds of cooling shenanigans in the kitchen!

Go for quality

You get what you pay for so look for wort chillers that cool efficiently, don’t leak and will last many brews so don't cheap out.

Just as you should always get the bigger brewing kettle, go for the quality but affordable wort chiller. 

In the long run, it will be wort(h) it.

What are some good DIY options for cooling wort?

There are a few DIY options you can consider attempting.

If you're feeling like a bit of a mongrel you can always curl up your garden hose, tie it off and use it as you would an immersion cool but who are we kidding, the damn thing would probably melt if placed in a boiling wort!

Seriously though, you can buy your own tubing which will still allow for efficient cooling rates and be friendly on your wallet.

How to make your own wort chiller

This guy has some good ideas about making counter flow chillers. Here's a great video on how to make your own copper tubing chiller:

What if my groundwater is too warm to chill the wort?

If you have found yourself in a very warm climate area, your groundwater temperature may not be sufficient to cool the wort to the desired lower temperature.

If that's the case, you will need to use a cooling water pre-chiller set up. You can use a copper coil immersed in a pail of iced water. 

We recommend the coil is 25 to 50 feet in length. Use this to cool the groundwater before it enters the chiller i.e. it is placed between your chiller and the water source. 

It might look rough but here's a good set up:

In the blue box, you can see the water bottles. These have been frozen and added to the water. Saves you buying ice!

How to clean wort chillers

Cleaning an immersion cooler is the easiest of the three kinds because you only need to wash the exterior coils. A quick rinse with a hose should be sufficient. Make sure you get all the gunk off.

Plate chillers are tough to clean as the metal plates are placed very close to each other and if you don't separate out the hops before cooling, they can clog up the 'plate trenches' quite quickly. 

This reduces cooling performance and will make the unit just that bit more tricky to properly clean - and you need to clean them well so that no residue can pass on nasty bugs on the next use. 

It’s a smart move to sanitize your plate chiller right after the brew is done. So your instructions are to not leave it for a day or two (or even next weekend) or you will likely have problems with the wort and gunk inside the chiller that will be very difficult to get out. 

Do yourself a favour and back-flush your plate chiller with water from the faucet as soon as you finish your brew. By back-flushing, we meant that you rinse in the opposite direction of the wort flow to try and first expunge any hop or trub residue that may have entered collected inside the exchanger.

You can actually add PBW to your cleaning water to help with cleaning those pipes out...speaking of:

What chemicals and cleaners do I clean a wort chiller with?

All the usual good stuff, including vinegar! PBW is probably your best bet. Star San has been known by home brewers to work really well on copper so feel free to give that a try.

Blichmann actually recommends that you do not use any chlorine products containing chlorine such as a bleach as chlorine can pit and erode stainless steel. So stay away from anything caustic.

Using a pump with wort chiller

If your water pressure is low or you want to reticulate water you just want to get on with the job of cooling the water, you may want to use a pump to help move the water along.

There are many different kinds of pumps on the market but I've noticed many brewers simply use pumps intended for ponds or aquariums as they operate at the power levels needed for chilling wort!

The benefit of using a pump is that it can contribute to lowering your overall chilling time.

These aeration pumps are good for wort.

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How to choose the best brewing spoon

This next question might cause a bit of a stir but what is the most useful item to have when brewing?

Is it a big kettle?

A giant mash tun?

A ph meter?

Those are nice things to have and all but we think the most useful item to have ready to hand on brew day is a spoon.

That’s right, a big spoon.

A big spoon to stir everything up just right. A spoon to unstick a stuck mash tun. A spoon to stir in hops. A spoon to stir in yeast. A paddle to break up clumped together ingredients.

Spoon or paddle, it doesn’t matter but the best ones do have a few factors about them that make them ideal for using on brew day.

They’ve got to be sturdy enough to stir with. Too weak and they’ll snap. This is why some brewers like steel spoons. Many of them have a corrugated design to prevent bending.

The only drawback is the steel can scratch your gear. If that’s a problem for you, use a plastic paddle if it’s strong enough. 

If you do choose the plastic fantastic, then ensure it’s food grade quality and that it is resistant to heat. 

Some of those brews can get pretty hot so if they are not heat resistant, they are more liable to break. Some smartly designed spoons will have a small head on the top of the spoon which can fit inside the next of a carboy which can be quite handy if you want to mix things up.

Conversely, steel spoons often have a bent top so they may be easily hung up on the side of a kettle or whatever. Else, they will have a hole in the top so they may be hung on a hook.

A great thing about stainless steel spoons is that they are easy to clean and will not retain odour. Handy if you’re also cooking crawfish or doing a turkey in a brewing kettle.

Wooden spoons can snap easily and can carry bacteria. No one wants a wooden spoon eh?

When stirring a mash, some prefer the paddle as they can be more effective in moving the grains around. 

You will of course what your brewing spoon to be a long enough length so that it can reach to the bottom of your kettle or drum. To that end, a 21 - 24 inch long brewing spoon should generally see you right for your stirring needs. Such spoons will work best with 4 to 10 gallon size brewing kettles.

As with all brewing equipment, you should only use a spoon that is clean. It doesn’t need to be sterilized when using before or after the boil as the heat should have killed any microbes that may have been lurking about. If however, you need to stir anything afterwards, then you will need to have sanitized your gear (we totally recommend you use sodium percarbonate for this task). This is especially true if you a simply mixing up a beer kit with some beer enhancer as there won’t be any heat to kill the bigs.

Check out some options on Amazon.

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>> Best beer filtration kits for clear beer

Beer filtration kits - what are the best ones to use?

The thing about beer is it's not just about how it tastes.

It's also about how it looks.

A good-looking beer says to the mind, this beer is clean and crisp and ready to drink.

A cloudy beer can suggest dirt and sediment and the lizard brain just doesn't want to drink it.

So many a brewer will do a variety of tricks to make their beer clear.

Cold crashing, using gelatin, refrigeration and the like are pretty hand methods but a beer filtration kit can work absolute wonders to clear beer.

So other than the goal of clear beer, why would you filtrate?

Filtering will take out the yeast, any tannins and some large proteins from your beer that can contribute to off-flavors and haze.

And while it is true that such solids do precipitate out of the beer through lagering and the aging process, filtering greatly accelerates the process of clearing by physically removing them in minutes.

This means you don't need to sit around for weeks or even months for your beer to become ready.

This is not to say that if you use a beer filtration kit your beer bottles will not have any sediment (how we wish that could be) AND in fact, using a filter is not for bottle brewers. This is because the filtration process removes the active yeast from the beer.

So if you were to bottle your filtrated beer and add sugar for the customary secondary round of fermentation - fermentation will not occur as the yeast will no longer be present in the beer to eat the sugar. 

So what to do then?

Filtration is for DIY home brewers who use a kegging system.

The popular method is to filter your beer directly into a keg using CO2. You can then bottle it from the keg using a counter-pressure bottle filler or a beer gun. The true beauty of a using a bottle filler attached to the keg is that it prevents the loss of any carbonation.

If you are worried about your water quality, you can test for iron, nitrates and bacteria with a test kit.

And now you've got that sorted, here are three reliable options to consider:

Inline Filter	Price Comparison
Home Brew Stuff ✔	Mid range
Midwest  ✔✔	Mid range
Bouncer ✔	Budget

HomeBrewStuff 10" Beer Filtration Kit

Home Brew Stuff can of course only say good things about their kit.

They boast that the "filtering process can eliminate weeks of secondary aging, giving you better tasting beer much quicker than before.

During secondary aging the primary effect is that more yeast settles out of suspension, carrying with it, proteins, polyphenols, and other flavor compounds that contribute to the "green" flavor of un-aged beers.

Filtering will eliminate most of this yeast and those flavor compounds in a matter of minutes instead of weeks. "

A standard 5 micron filter included is suitable for most applications and it will filter up to 10 gallons of beer when used on two consecutive kegs. 

Note that the filters should not be reused. 

The kit also comes with liquid ball lock fittings on both sides, (2) 30" lengths of tubing, 10" clear filter housing, and one 5 micron filter cartridge. 

Here are reviews from actual users who have used the unit:

"The quick connects are great, they make purging the o2 out of the line quick and easy. A must for any home brewer who wants to elevate the quality of the beer."

"We ordered two of these kits and interconnected them together with great results. The nice thing about these filters is that they are easily accessible and cheap when compared to the plate filters we use to utilize for our plate filtering system."

"Easy to use, no leaks like the plate filters, cleans up easily. 5 gallons took only a half hour. The valve operates as expected. I recommend going down to a half micron to really polish your beer. " 

With reviews like that, you might want to check out the price on Amazon.

Midwest Beer Clarity Filter System

The Midwest filter system has been reconfigured to make filtration easier and less expensive.

In order to filter beer or wine you will need to have a Cornelius keg system with a minimum of 2 kegs. Un-carbonated product from one tank is pushed with CO2 through the filter into the sanitized empty tank.

In order to polish your beer and remove yeast you will need to do this in a two stage process, which means with 2 kegs you will have to clean and sanitize the originating keg before sending the beer back through the fine filter. The first filter you will use is a 5 micron sized filter to remove large particulate (hops and proteins) that if left for the fine filters would clog them before you finish.

Once your beer passes through the 5 micron filter then it is up to you how fine you want your product filtered. The fine filters consist of a 1.0 micron and a 0.65 micron filter. The 1.0 micron filter should filter out 80-90% of the yeast in solution while the 0.65 - 0.5 sterile filter will filter out 100% of the yeast.

• 10" filter housing
• Tubing and Disconnects
• 1- 5.0-micron coarse basic disposable filter
• 1- 1.0-micron polishing basic disposable filter
• Water tubing kit

Here are some reviews left by beer makers who have used the filter on their own precious beer,

"This filtration kit has taken my beers to the next level of quality. I can produce competition level, crystal clear beers now. I would highly recommend this for any home brewer looking to take their brew to the next level."

"Solid, heavy duty filter housing a beer lines make this a great product! Cleaning attachment makes cleaning the system simple and efficient. Takes maybe a hour and a half to clean and sanitize kegs and complete the filtering process but the beer is clear and crisp when done."

"Works great. I filtered 10 gallons very quickly. It came out crystal clear."

If those recommendations are solid enough, then check out the price on Amazon.

Bouncer inline beer filter 

If you are looking for a cheaper filter, the Bouncer comes in at a budget of under half of Midwest's offering, making it a cheap solution for those who want a clear beer but need to save some pennies so they can grab some nice hops. 

Bouncer's promotional guff says that it:

• improves the taste and clarity of your beer by filtering trub, krausen, hops, and proteins
• built to last, use it over and over, custom molded from high quality thermoplastic and T304 stainless steel in the USA, use up to 150F
• saves time and beer, pays for itself in a few batches, get more beer out of each batch, easier and quicker than cold crashing or additives
• easy to use and clean, gravity fed using your racking siphon, no need to pressurize or pump, fewer parts to clean and sanitize, fits 3/8" inner diameter siphon tubing (standard size)

Don't take Bouncer's word for it, check out the reviews of real brewers who have filtered gunk from their beer with it:

"I'm pretty impressed with this solid little rig. It clears out all the large stuff without issue on 5 gallon batches. I use false bottoms and nylon brew bags for hops and speciality grains, so I typically have very little junk in my wort. This did catch all the stuff I missed, however, and kept it out of the primary fermenter."

"I was skeptical about how this would make a difference, but I have never had better clarity with homebrew than after applying this filter; even without the use of Irish moss or whirlfloc tablets, the two batches that ran through this came out beautifully. Easily installed and will use it with all of my future batches."

"I got to use this when I transferred an IPA from Primary to keg. I dry hopped in the primary so there was a lot of hop detritus in there. Bounced filter it all out. Great product."

Sounds like the smart choice then.

How to use the Bouncer inline filter

There are three methods of use:

1. out of the brew kettle 
2. out of the fermenter
3. out of your serving tap. 

To use your bouncer out of your brew kettle, simply connect it to your brew kettle valve with standard tubing, or cut your siphon tube line near the top, and insert the barbs into the tube. Pay attention to the arrow that indicates the flow direction. 

Make sure you have disassembled the bouncer and dipped it in sanitizer just before you use it.

Then open your valve, or pump your siphon. If the flow decreases too much, you can stop the flow, remove the bowl and filter, rinse, sanitize, reinstall, and keep going. The other methods are discussed here.

So if you take these brewers at their word, this inline filter has it going on.

How does a beer filter work?

Filtering has been around for donkey's years. Pool filters, dust filters - they are simply screens which let the desired substance through, preventing the unwanted from having access.

It's the same with a beer filter. 

The screen filters the unwanted beer particles like proteins and other hazy bits.

In the case of beer filters, the measurement term for the size of the holes in the filter is a micron. Most filters have a micron of one. Anything sized about 5 microns will tend to let the yeast through, which is not the point of this exercise!

Can I reuse a beer filter?

There are indeed filters that you can reuse. They require some earnest maintenance. Backflushing to clean them is really important. You need to clean away all the beer residue as that can be a vector for the contamination of your beer. 

This means you'll need to have sanitized them before using. Many brewers soak the filter in a Starsan solution.

That said, there are some strong arguments not to reuse them. The biggest one is to simply avoid the risk of contamination. If a filter is 5 bucks, why worry about reusing them?

We totally get of course that 5 bucks is five bucks and a penny saved is a penny earned so if you can clean and sanitize your filter properly, go for it.

What is the difference between a pleated and spun filter?

A pleated filter is designed in the form of pleats. This means the filter has mean folds - the idea being you create a larger surface area meaning you can filter faster. A spun filter is usually made of polypropylene fibres and are 'spun' together to look like foam packaging.

Each filter should load the same way into the filter's housing.

What is a plate filter?

Plate filters are a different kind of device but work on the same principles. They are very common in breweries and wineries use a large plate filter system to achieve clear beer product however, smaller versions can also be used by backyard brewers.

You need a kegging system to use the plate filter to transfer the beer under a low PSI pressure. 

If you use one, a good trick is to run a gallon of water through the filter set up to help remove any 'papery taste flavor" that might transfer through into the beer.

Where can I get replacement cartridge filters?

The beauty of using a filter is that there's a thriving competitive market so there are plenty of online sellers and beer merchants that sell replacement cartridge filters.

The benefit of a plate filler is they generally offer a greater filtration surface area over traditional cartridge models.

Many are also interchangeable between brands - so you don't need to stick with brand loyalty if you need to go for a cheaper option, the increase in quality option and you can also purchase in bulk.

There's plenty of cartridge options on Amazon.

Points on using filters on beer brews

• Filtration is not the answer to preventing bacterial contamination in beer. I have no idea why people think this is the case.
• Filtration will not remove extraordinary amounts of brewer’s yeast from the wort (if you have over pitched). You may need to run it through twice or use a double kit system.
• The colder your beer is when you filter, the better the result
• Get a kit which allows you to swap out different brands of filters as you may find you want to use difference micro sizes or use a pleat or spun filters.
• Many filter kits used in brewing are simply multi-purpose and can be connected to household plumbing and the like. By buying a specialist brewer will ensure that your beer filter will come with the correct coupling fittings to connect to your keg and CO2 system
• Using a filter is not the only way to clear beer, remember you can use finings, cold crash and simply bottle age and let the sediment settle.
• If you're a winemaker, you can totally use a filtration system to clear wine. It is best done just before bottling. You can also clear wine with sparkolloid fining agent.
• If you think you are being clever by coming up with the idea of using coffee filters that have been wrapped around the end of a siphon tube, you're probably dreaming on that one. The coffee filter will quite likely filter WAY too slowly and probably cause blockage quite easily. 

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