Cooling the Wort

I would like to hear from brewers that live in warmer climates and hear how they cool their wort. Here in South Florida my tap water is 79 degrees. I can't see how a wort chiller setup would be very efficient. Is the ice bath the only recourse? It seems to take "forever" to cool my wort. I have been trying to tighten my brew process and this is one of the areas that needs improving.

I'm in the same boat and I just did 2 brews this weekend. In my precious set-up I used an IC that took while to get near pitching temps. Recently I acquired a shirron plate chiller. Even with the 80 degree tap water it cooled the wort to ~90 degrees in about 5 mins. The second bach I used a pre chiller for the tap water and ended up getting it to 70 in the same amount of time. Pre chillers are the saving grace for me. Just some extra copper tubing that sits in an ice bath to cool the water before it enters the chiller.

Unless you are going to invest in a actual chiller your options are limited. Wort chiller/ice bath

Gotta use ice somehow, since a chiller can't get the wort any cooler than the cooling water (~ 90º here in the summer). I pump my wort through a plate chiller that's hooked up to tap water. The wort exiting the plate chiller is close to ground water temps. After the plate chiller, the wort then flows through a copper coil submerged in ice water. It takes 1 pass to get below 70º, or about 15-20 mins for 11 gals.

I need to take a good pic of my setup while I'm chilling so people can get a better idea of what I do. It really does work great.

No-chill and water temp is no longer a factor.

tdavisii said:

Unless you are going to invest in a actual chiller your options are limited. Wort chiller/ice bath

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+1 I use my IC while in an ice bath to get it down to around 100* then turn off the IC and continue the ice bath down to pitching temp. The key I think is to frequently stir the wort and the ice bath to make sure there aren't any cold or hot spots. Doing this I'm down to 70* in 15 minutes. In the beginning I wasn't stirring and left it in the ice for around 30 minutes. The bottom half was in the low 60s while the top was barely into the 70s.

chucke said:

No-chill and water temp is no longer a factor.

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Yeah. Why bother?

Why not get a submersible pump and dunk it in a tub full of ice/water. Pump that water through the immersion chiller and you're good to go.

Ok to the more experienced brewers, let me know if this is ok to do. I do not have a immersion chiller yet, so I divide the wort into two kettles and chill each kettle in the sink. I usually get it down to 80 degrees in 15-20 minutes. Is this an ok practice?

redraider629 said:

Ok to the more experienced brewers, let me know if this is ok to do. I do not have a immersion chiller yet, so I divide the wort into two kettles and chill each kettle in the sink. I usually get it down to 80 degrees in 15-20 minutes. Is this an ok practice?

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Yes. Perfectly OK. You're chilling faster than some people with ICs.

Benjibbad said:

I'm in the same boat and I just did 2 brews this weekend. In my precious set-up I used an IC that took while to get near pitching temps. Recently I acquired a shirron plate chiller. Even with the 80 degree tap water it cooled the wort to ~90 degrees in about 5 mins. The second bach I used a pre chiller for the tap water and ended up getting it to 70 in the same amount of time. Pre chillers are the saving grace for me. Just some extra copper tubing that sits in an ice bath to cool the water before it enters the chiller.

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That's almost exactly what I did this wkend:

hose --> prechiller (IC) in bucket of ice --> Therminator --> pool

and

hot wort --> pump --> Therminator --> boil pot again

Actually, I run the IC dry (no ice) until it gets down to about 110, then add ice to bucket.

redraider629 said:

Is this an ok practice?

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I think I speak for my wife when I say not OK. My beer does not come into the house until it is in bottles.

chucke said:

No-chill and water temp is no longer a factor.

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Yah, why bother with a chiller, prechiller, ice...

Before I got my March Pump and IC I'd put the pot in the laundry room sink, fill around it with ice, and then add cold water. I recall it taking 30 minutes or so to get it down to pitching temp

The Pol said:

Yah, why bother with a chiller, prechiller, ice...

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Well, first, none if it is a real bother; it's a labor of love. I will admit I've thought about no-chill a lot, and reserve the right to change my mind later...

Second, it's not a big deal when the pump is doing all the work. 10'ish minutes and I'm at pitching temp. The only complaint I have with my cooling system is the need for ice. Fortunately, I have a decent ice maker that makes enough. Come winter, I won't need that (I will just pump cold poolwater through the chiller instead of hosewater).

Third, I can be completely finished by the end of the brewday. In the case of a no-chill, I would have to pitch sometime the next day which, in the case of a Sunday brew, might be a problem. So, I am totally cleaned up and done in the same day.

Finally, it's nice to get up the next morning and see a fat krausen in my carboy.

I pump ice water through the chiller with a small pond pump, instead of buying ice or cleaning out the ice tray, I use the gallon jugs that apple juice comes in (Apfelwein) just cut out the tops and fill with water and freeze, beats buying ice and you always have a ton of ice at any moment, I currently have 10 jugs like this, good luck.

passedpawn said:

I will admit I've thought about no-chill a lot, and reserve the right to change my mind later...

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Careful- Once you try no-chill, and see the benefits, you can’t go back.

One plus, if you no-chill a 5 gallon brew in a 6 gallon Winpak, you can ferment *in the container.* You don't have to move it... so when you're ready to pitch- just pitch the yeast.

Another plus, you don't have to *make* a yeast starter. Just divert a bit of the wort into a separate container and use it for a "real wort starter." No more "making beer to make beer."

One more, no-chill really adds flexibility to your brew schedule. Say, last minute, you have time to brew but you don’t have a yeast starter ready. No problem- just brew and no-chill the wort. Pitch when your yeast is ready, be it a day, two days or a couple weeks. Or, if you have time to brew but don’t have room in your fermentation fridge. Not a problem- brew, no-chill and when space opens up in the fridge, pitch and go.

There are more benefits to no-chill than just shortening the brew day, which, at times, can be a real plus.

Less equipment...

I use a submersion pond pump to pull ice water out of a cooler, through my ribcage IC and out, it doesn't take long, brewed this past Saturday when it was 107 out, It took approx 15-17 minutes to chill to 68 degrees. well worth the 5 dollars in ice to make my brewday easier, I also use that cooler full of ice to keep the pints cold in the hot sun

The Pol said:

Less equipment...

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Agreed. And you don't have to haul out the hoses and dump hot water on your lawn.

azscoob said:

I use a submersion pond pump to pull ice water out of a cooler, through my ribcage IC and out, it doesn't take long, brewed this past Saturday when it was 107 out, It took approx 15-17 minutes to chill to 68 degrees. well worth the 5 dollars in ice to make my brewday easier, I also use that cooler full of ice to keep the pints cold in the hot sun

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Have you used a standard IC before the ribcage style, if so, have you had a noticable difference in cooling?

I contemplated making a ribcage chiller, but opted for the standard, takes me about 20 minutes recirculating ice water, after running tap water to get it down to 100°F.

I'd have to say your tap water up there is a bit warmer than ours down here.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think I like the submersible pump idea the best. I can use tap water through IC to get rid of most of the heat then run ice water to combat the rest. Overall, time is my enemy here and this seems like the quickest and most cost effective solution.

By my calculations: (correct me if I'm waaaaayyyy off)

5 gal wort chiller = $50.00
Submersible pump = < $20.00

So for $70.00 I can solve my problem.

Thanks.

SoFlaBrewer said:

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think I like the submersible pump idea the best. I can use tap water through IC to get rid of most of the heat then run ice water to combat the rest. Overall, time is my enemy here and this seems like the quickest and most cost effective solution.

By my calculations: (correct me if I'm waaaaayyyy off)

5 gal wort chiller = $50.00
Submersible pump = < $20.00

So for $70.00 I can solve my problem.

Thanks.

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Make sure your pump has a decent flow rate, Harbor Freight has a decent model for about $40 that will pump ~1400 GPH, the pump I use is about 900GPH and I think it would be better to have a little more umph.

Sounds about right. Food for thought: Consider getting a larger IC in the event you ever move up to 10 gallon batches. You'll be glad you did.

Schnitzengiggle said:

Have you used a standard IC before the ribcage style, if so, have you had a noticable difference in cooling?

I contemplated making a ribcage chiller, but opted for the standard, takes me about 20 minutes recirculating ice water, after running tap water to get it down to 100°F.

I'd have to say your tap water up there is a bit warmer than ours down here.

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my tap is about 99-103 measured in the summer, so I use just ice water all the time, never used a standard IC just the ribcage, I made it from 30' of 3/8" copper. Also because I am using a pond pump I have never had any issues with house line pressure blowing off a cooler line.

I use a 200 gph pump and things work great for me. down to 90 in 15 mins (tap water is probably about 75 this time of year) and then an icebath pump for another 6 minutes or so.

chucke said:

There are more benefits to no-chill than just shortening the brew day, which, at times, can be a real plus.

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As much as I would like to go back and forth on this, I don't have the energy right now, and I think it might divert the thread into another no-chill discussion. I believe that has been done.

passedpawn said:

As much as I would like to go back and forth on this, I don't have the energy right now, and I think it might divert the thread into another no-chill discussion. I believe that has been done.

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OH NOES!!!!!

I use my neighbors pool ! I drop the keggle right in the pool and have a wort chiller w/ a pond pump that recirc's pool water. Come Dec. and Jan. I'll post pics of my chilling my wort in the pool with a wetsuit!

FishinDave07 said:

I use my neighbors pool ! I drop the keggle right in the pool and have a wort chiller w/ a pond pump that recirc's pool water. Come Dec. and Jan. I'll post pics of my chilling my wort in the pool with a wetsuit!

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Here ya go, posted for you. You forgot to mention that you wrap a pool noodle around the pot and just let if float around while chilling.

azscoob said:

my tap is about 99-103 measured in the summer, so I use just ice water all the time, never used a standard IC just the ribcage, I made it from 30' of 3/8" copper. Also because I am using a pond pump I have never had any issues with house line pressure blowing off a cooler line.

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103 degree ground water?? Jeez! That's hot tub temperature!

yeah, I usually shower with just the cold water on in mid summer. it is kind of difficult to cool the wort when temps get that high without ice

passedpawn said:

Here ya go, posted for you. You forgot to mention that you wrap a pool noodle around the pot and just let if float around while chilling.

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Talk about a balanced brew!


...lame joke, i know. Call me crazy, but with a 5 gallon batch the Guinness keggle floats perfectly on its own. I might get a noodle for a mental break.

azscoob said:

yeah, I usually shower with just the cold water on in mid summer. it is kind of difficult to cool the wort when temps get that high without ice

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Same here in the summer, I live in a new build home and they run the piping up through the attic, the cold water is hotter than the hot water gets for the first few minutes. Saves a little energy on hot showers in the summertime.

I use the same practice, recirculate ice water from a picnic cooler with a utility pump, works great, I was just curious at how much more efficient a rib-cage would be. It would be extremely simple to modify my IC to a ribcage type.