gravity fed counterflow chiller

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I gravity feed my CFC and it works great. 25L to pitching temperature in 17 minutes.

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great to know i have a emertion chiller and i hate that thing to much crap to deal woth so i was gonna cut that up and make a counterflow
 
I'm working with gravity right now myself
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It takes maybe 15 minutes for a 5gal batch. My biggest trouble is getting the flow started, I tend to have to prime it with some star san.
 
I guess I'm over simplifying the whole process in my mind...but what's the issue with getting flow started? Can't you just open the valve and let the flow go? Bradsul, looks like you're syphoning over the top so I get that, but deathweed, looks like you have keggles with spigots.
 
I do syphon over the top, I start mine with a short piece of sanitized tubing over the output, I give it one good suck until I see beer enter the clear tubing at the top of the chiller and then remove the sanitized tubing. No contamination this way and no need for a spigot. I start my sanitizing of the chiller that way too, just replace the pot with a bucket of starsan.
 
Kilted Brewer said:
I guess I'm over simplifying the whole process in my mind...but what's the issue with getting flow started? Can't you just open the valve and let the flow go? Bradsul, looks like you're syphoning over the top so I get that, but deathweed, looks like you have keggles with spigots.


You know, I thought the same thing the first time I used my chiller but lo to my surprise... The 25' of copper in the chiller, the 10' of copper for a post chiller, and the 15-20' or so of tubing I guess has enough resistance to slow down the flow over the 2' drop I try and use. After I sanitize my chiller, the trapped air in there really messes with my flow, so I pretty much have to just prime the whole thing with starsan.
 
Oh, you've got a lot more going on then I thought. Distance, a second chilling phase. Makes sense now. Should I be concerned just going from the kettle to the CFC to the carboy? Only about 6 ft of tubing total, plus the CFC it self?
 
I would think you would be ok, but I would say have some starsan/sterile water on hand to prime just in case. Your problems may or may not be my problems.

(I think I covered all my bases with that last statement...:cross: )
 
I have a 3 tier setup similar to Bradsul's :) but my middle tier is a kithchen stool instead of a step ladder. I also have a spigot on the kettle. With the kettle on the kitchen counter, the chiller is a little bit too high to get good flow. Simple solution, I place the kettle on a rubbermaid foot stool which raises it another 9 - 10". This makes it easy to start (just open the spigot), and considerably improves the flow rate.

-a.
 
This is my brewery. It's a 3 tier and all gravity feed. The beer flows from the kettle thru the CFC and right into the bucket/carboy.
This summer I will be changing it up and going to two 15 gallon fermenters in my basment. I will run tubing from the CFC right into the basment and to the fermenters. So that I don't have to lug 12 gal of beer down stairs anymore.

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That burner will work fine. I have two of those on my stand. Use an adjustable high pressure regulator with mine. Works pretty well. I can usually get my HLT water to strike temp. in about 1/2 hour. Getting to boil in about 20 minutes after sparging. Those are 10 gal. batches.
 
tchdsd did you use one regulatore and use 2 valves to disrtibute the gas to each burner??
 
FSR402 said:
. I will run tubing from the CFC right into the basment and to the fermenters. So that I don't have to lug 12 gal of beer down stairs anymore.

First off nice brew setup!

Second... That is absolutely positively genius... I just did my first batch this weekend with a counterflow chiller, and though it was slow going through the chiller (after I hefted my Keggle onto the table saw I wheeled onto the patio) it did work. It would be SO much easier to run tubing down to the basement from my patio (I have basement windows I could use) and that would really get'er flowing!


To the original poster, yep gravity feed works, but you need to get the heights right and the hose to your CFC short enough (Mine had a big dip before going back up to the CFC and did not flow)
 
conpewter said:
First off nice brew setup!

Second... That is absolutely positively genius... I just did my first batch this weekend with a counterflow chiller, and though it was slow going through the chiller (after I hefted my Keggle onto the table saw I wheeled onto the patio) it did work. It would be SO much easier to run tubing down to the basement from my patio (I have basement windows I could use) and that would really get'er flowing!


To the original poster, yep gravity feed works, but you need to get the heights right and the hose to your CFC short enough (Mine had a big dip before going back up to the CFC and did not flow)

Yes that is my plan. I will run PVC (like 1 inch) from the window and into my fermenting room. I will then take the tubing and feed it down this pvc pipe and hook it up to my 15.5 gal fermenters. It should pull it well.
Oh and I use a 3/8 compression fitting to go from my B-valave to the CFC. That way there is no tubing in contact with the hot wort.
 
FSR402 said:
Yes that is my plan. I will run PVC (like 1 inch) from the window and into my fermenting room. I will then take the tubing and feed it down this pvc pipe and hook it up to my 15.5 gal fermenters. It should pull it well.
Oh and I use a 3/8 compression fitting to go from my B-valave to the CFC. That way there is no tubing in contact with the hot wort.
A 1" run of tubing will need quite a bit of sanitizer in order to get it ready, how long is the run going to be?
 
bradsul said:
A 1" run of tubing will need quite a bit of sanitizer in order to get it ready, how long is the run going to be?
No the 1" pipe is just to run the 3/8 tubing thru so that it does not sag. The run is going to ba about 20 feet with about a 7 foot drop.
 
kickflip_mj said:
tchdsd did you use one regulatore and use 2 valves to disrtibute the gas to each burner??

I use just one adjustable regulator and just switch from burner to burner. Sometime I'll either get a valve set up to run both or maybe a third burner or I'll just get another regulator and use another tank of propane.
 
I use a gravity fed CFC setup like Bradsul and also use a kettle without a spigot at the bottom. Only diff is that I couldn't get a syphon going from a racking cane in the hot wort. Here is what I do. The key is to have an in-line valve on the cold wort side of the tubing.

1. Fill bottling bucket with 1-2 gallons of star-san.
2. Hook up hot wort tube (braided vinyl) to spigot on bottling bucket and run sanitizer through CFC with outlet tube (cold wort) into another bucket.
3. Turn off valve on cold wort tube...trap sanitizer in CFC.
4. Remove hot wort tube from bottling bucket spigot and clamp it to the side of the boil kettle so that it hangs into hot wort.
5. Open up the cold wort tube valve and watch sanitizer flow through CFC.
6. When Beer starts coming through cold wort tube, turn off valve again and move tube into fermenter. open valve to let cooled wort flow into fermenter.
 
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