hybrid wort chiller ala palmer?

Lost · 08-30-2005, 05:33 AM

So I did a search both here and with google and came up with nothing. It looks like a pretty neat, effective, and easy design and if palmer mentions it I figure it's gotta be worth checking into. I could easily convert my immersion chiller into one besides.

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about here's the idea: a chiller that's a hybrid between immersion and couterflow. Build a tank (large diameter pvc pipe with caps on both ends) fill with water and/or ice and salt or dry ice and immerse your copper coil in it.. then feed the wort slowly through the coil and into your fermenter. It seems like a good idea since the wort would be chilled very quickly once it entered the coil since a small amount of wort is put in contact with a large amount of cold liquid instead of vice versa as you get with an immersion chiller.. and if the water/ice gets warm dump it out or hookup a hose or add ice.. you get the picture. So, has anyone done it? Anyone see any caveats to the design?

I know.. I know.. I could build a counterflow but that seems like more work and I'm here in FL where the tap water is about 80F...

tnlandsailor · 08-30-2005, 12:31 PM

To get static chill water to really do anything, you need constant agitation, otherwise, the water right next to the coils heats up and acts as a barrier to the rest of the cold water in the container. Agitation is greatly improves heat transfer, unfortunately, it also means the ice melts faster. In the summertime, be prepared to go through quite a bit of ice to cool your entire batch this way.

Personally, I've quite using ice in the summertime and just use my 78 F tap water through my counter flow chiller and get about 82 F wort. I then seal the carboy and toss it in the fermentation chiller for a few hours to bring it down the rest of the way.

Going through 20 lbs of ice on brewday was just the last straw for me.

Prosit!