What is the best wort chiller for my intended setup?

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solbergg

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Hey all,

I have finished my fifth extract brew and am planning to get more involved. For my next stage, I would like to start doing full boils. For this I am planning on getting a nice burner (like the "Hurricane" at Northern Brewer), a 10 gallon kettle (5 gallon batches still, so I don't have to worry about boil overs), and a wort chiller. This will also be an intermediate step for me to get into all grain soon. The first two items seem to be straightforward, but I get confused by all of the options available for a wort chiller. Can anyone give me an idea what type of chiller would be best for my application?
 
Another vote for immersion. Counterflow chillers certainly work better, but keeping them clean can be a pain and they are more expensive.
 
Another plus for an IC is that you can leave the cold break in the boil kettle rather than transfer it to the fermenter which you will do with a CFC.
 
Immersion chiller, 25 foot 3/8 inch. Cheapest and easy to keep clean. The CFC is quicker, but how much extra cold break do you really get with it? I use an immersion chiller and have very clear beer, no chill haze.
 
CFC produces a crap load of cold break because it's going from boiling to 70F in less than a minute. I don't find any issue with having cold break in the fermenter.

I still think an IC is ideal for 5 gallon batches though. I've been brewing 11-12gallons and appreciate the CFC.
 
I would have to vote CF, I appreciate the ease of the IM but, I just built myself a CFC based on the CFC tutorial on this site, so I am biased. I can't wait to use it.
 
Cold break is the dropping out of solution of proteins that would normally cause chill haze. Chill haze is the beer becoming cloudy when chilled (proteins precipitate out at a colder temp) and clears when warmed (they go back into solution). The cold break prevents chill haze by permanently precipitating these proteins by shocking them with a sudden drop in temp, therefore the faster the chilling, the better. Those proteins can't be tasted, but if you're entering contests it's a visual flaw. They may also decrease the stability or shelf life of your beer. Hope this helps!

If you're just starting, http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html is a terrific site with tons of info. Even if you've brewed several batches, you'll still learn a lot.
 
Ok, so I was going to order an IC from Northern Brewer, but I was confused by the options (again). One has a regular? hookup and another version has a garden hose hookup. The regular? hookup only has one fitting and has two hoses attached to that fitting (I think, hard to tell from photo) and the garden hose one has two fittings. I imagine, since it is an exchanger, that what goes in must come out. So, for the garden hose one, I imagine one side is the supply, and the other you just hook up another hose to drain elsewhere? For the regular? hookup, what do you hook it up to, and how does it drain?
 
I believe that the garden hose one you would need 2 garden hoses(1 in 1 out) The regular 1 has a hose or sink attachment and just a tube going out with no fitting on it.
 
Bobby_M said:
Go to coppertubingsales.com and buy a 50' roll of refrigeration tubing and split it with a friend.

Bobby, that's bleedin brilliant.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=60522

I'm planning on buying copper tubing and using vinyl tubing fitted to it's ends and attached with a hose barb.
Not nearly as fancy, but should do the trick for about $40 (instead of $60+ pre-made)
 
:off:

The Hurricane Burner may be a very good burner, but that's a lot of coin. Go down to your local Home Depot and pick this up:

da6d1292-e9c0-434c-a1c1-7c72addb3ebe_300.jpg


Works like a charm, more than enough OOMPH for 5-gallon batches (people use it for 10 gallon batches, no problem), the flame's relatively easy to control, the stand's plenty robust to hold a keggle, it seems to be reasonably efficient with propane use...

And it's only $45.

EDIT: If you're buying the burner and the chiller and the big pot... dude, you're basically at AG already. Use the $55 you'll save from not buying a burner on Northern Brewer (who I love, don't get me wrong... they're just pricey with burners) and build yourself a cooler-based mash tun. You'll still have money left over. AG's not terribly complicated, don't let it scare you, we'll walk you through it.
 
Ok, so the immersion chiller was a resounding failure in the state of Florida. The temperature of the water around here must be 85 degrees. I ended up giving up on the chiller after an hour and dropped my carboy into an ice bath (couldn't fit the 15 gallon kettle I have into anything). So, clearly I need to do the counterflow route. Anyone have opinions on what works best in that arena?
 
Ok, so the immersion chiller was a resounding failure in the state of Florida. The temperature of the water around here must be 85 degrees. I ended up giving up on the chiller after an hour and dropped my carboy into an ice bath (couldn't fit the 15 gallon kettle I have into anything). So, clearly I need to do the counterflow route. Anyone have opinions on what works best in that arena?

Any heat exchanger, whether it's an immersion chiller, CFC, plate chiller... whatever, will only get the wort down to the coolant temp. If you're water is really running that hot, you'll need to either prechill it (pump ice water, run a 2nd immersion chiller in ice bath, etc) or make a hybrid CFC chiller where the last section of copper is out of the garden hose and exposed. This end go into an ice bath to get the wort down that last few degrees.
 
Ok, so the immersion chiller was a resounding failure in the state of Florida. The temperature of the water around here must be 85 degrees. I ended up giving up on the chiller after an hour and dropped my carboy into an ice bath (couldn't fit the 15 gallon kettle I have into anything). So, clearly I need to do the counterflow route. Anyone have opinions on what works best in that arena?

Before you scrap the IC...

Lowe's sells a pond pump with a garden hose fitting.

Hook up your "in" on the IC to the pump.

Fill a tub with ice...add a bit of water. Drop the pump and the other end of the IC hose into the tub and simply recirculate ice water.

I would probably run normal tap water through initially and when the temp drops to the low 100's, then hook up the ice-pump and continue. Otherwise you'll melt your ice to fast.
It's also crucial that you move your chiller around in the wort to circulate the cold and hot wort for more effective cooling.
 
Before you scrap the IC...

Lowe's sells a pond pump with a garden hose fitting.

Hook up your "in" on the IC to the pump.

Fill a tub with ice...add a bit of water. Drop the pump and the other end of the IC hose into the tub and simply recirculate ice water.

I would probably run normal tap water through initially and when the temp drops to the low 100's, then hook up the ice-pump and continue. Otherwise you'll melt your ice to fast.
It's also crucial that you move your chiller around in the wort to circulate the cold and hot wort for more effective cooling.


That's a good idea, but unfortunately I already sold it :(
 
Great idea on the ice water pump. That is what I love about this site. So many people with ideas I never would have thought of!
 
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