phoenixs4r

Recipes 

I have a 45ish' 3/8" immersion chiller (the copper was free) and I've gone ahead and plumbed a pump with a recirculation port in my keggle to recreate Jamil's IC setup. Still, with a 12.5 gallon post boil, it takes upwards of a half hour to chill to pitching temps. Ground water is usually ~70.

Generally I flow the cooling water through it at max until it start getting cold, then dial it back till it gets warm to the touch.

I'm trying to think of ways to make it cool faster, and the only thing I can think of was to maybe intertwine some copper wire in between the coils of the chiller, as it looks like they lay on top of each other and prevent flow of wort via recirculation, but I can't imagine that would help much.

I tried the sump pump in ice bath method as well, but the pump I had generated it's own heat and was counter productive, lol.

Any other thoughts before I rip it apart and turn it into a CFC? And, if I do, is 45' of CFC enough to cool the wort before entering the fermenter via pump or will I have to recirculate it back?

Thanks

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Cabikegorator - the cabinet refrigerator project.

kh54s10

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I have heard to keep the flow slow so there is a longer time for heat transfer. For my 5 gallon batch I have 2 twenty foot coils, one goes in the wort the second in a bucket of water and ice. It takes about 1/2 hour. I do find it goes faster if I move the coils to disturb the water and wort around the coils.

I am going to take a small electric motor or drill and attach a paint mixer to, very gently, circulate the wort over the coils.

Shooter

Recipes 

I recently hooked up Jamil's whirlpool on my setup. I still did my ice water recirculation through a pond pump once I got down around 100 degrees. It seemed to speed up the boiling down to a 100 drop a fair amount. Once I started recirculating the ice water it didn't seem to help quite as much. I would say it maybe reduced my overall chill time by about five minutes. However, because I didn't have to keep coming back and stirring the wort to get it moving, it did free me up to do other tasks during the chill.

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Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. - C. S. Lewis, English essayist & juvenile novelist (1898 - 1963)

BrewThruYou

Recipes 

Half hour for 12+ gallons with an immersion chiller and you're complaining?

phoenixs4r

Recipes 

Sure am!

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Cabikegorator - the cabinet refrigerator project.

wilserbrewer

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Recipes 

More ice, more pump, and more stirring of the hot wort then!

Depending on your water temps, I'm not sure a CFC will do much better than a half hour.

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CORONA MILL BUCKET SYSTEM V. 2.0

day_trippr

Recipes 

You have to use a filter on things you hear. Because that makes zero sense...

Cheers!

certaut

Recipes 

Some brewers don't chill at all they just cover and let it sit overnight. I have done it and it turned out ok

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the brewer makes the beer, not the equipment
let the beer tell you when it is finished

CarpeDiem601

Recipes 

For me, this was my problem. I read about this slow water = better heat transfer crap and it sounds good in theory but not in practice. Blast that water! When I dialed it back so the exiting water was warm it took me 45 minutes to do cool 5 gallons to 80 degrees. When I had it on blast it took me 25 minutes. All other variables were similar. I'd say try this first.

Good Luck!
Nick
P.S. Happy IPA Day!

midfielder5

Recipes 

yep I do. works fine.