How important is a wort chiller and aqua pump?

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bjzelectric

bjzelectric

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Planning my first all grain batch for next weekend thanks to Death Brewers pics/tutorial and I have all the equipment for the brew but am wondering how important it would be for me to buy an immersion wort chiller and an aquarium pump for aeration. Are either or both of these a necessity for all grain or have people had success w/o?
 
I aerate now with pure 02, butg my brews were still good before I did anything but slosh the wort around when pouring into the primary. You're going to want a wort chiller since you'll be doing a full boil.
 
i would consider a wort chiller a very good investment. Sure you can do the ice bath method, but it will take what seems like an eternity. Although this is considering you want to chill your wort. There are people here (The Pol) who have started doing a no chill method with claimed success.

As far as aeration, i don't think a pump is necessary. Just give it a good stir or shake and you should be fine.
 
How do you chill now? I have had good success chilling 5gal. batches in an ice bath but for 10gals. an immersion or counterflow chiller is important for quick chilling. I have not found it necessary to use an aquarium pump. For 5gal. batches I simply pour the chilled wort back and forth between a couple of sanitized buckets before it goes in the fermenter or pump the wort through an aerator gizmo (one of those plastic thingys).
mark
Beer Diary...
 
Niether one is a necessity, there are arguments for the use of them depending on your situation, a quick chill will bring about the cold break and get you to pitching temp sooner, some people filter the cold break out, some people do not. If you dont use a chiller you will need a container to store the wort in as it cools, i.e. fermentor or "cube". (Dont put anything in the airlock until it is cool or it will suck it into the fermentor) then pitch after it has cooled and you have aerated. I've never had a problem with aeration and have never used any sort of aeration outside of splashing and shaking (after cooled of course).
 
I could effectively cool 3 gallons in my sink with about 20 lbs of ice, when I tried cooling 4+ gallons I had to use more ice and it took longer, so I went with an imersion chiller, that gets me down to 80* pretty quick, I'm looking at some of the pre-chiller / recirculation methods to get it down below 80* as summer approaches and I plan to do full boils and AG
 
woollybugger2 said:
I could effectively cool 3 gallons in my sink with about 20 lbs of ice, when I tried cooling 4+ gallons I had to use more ice and it took longer, so I went with an imersion chiller, that gets me down to 80* pretty quick, I'm looking at some of the pre-chiller / recirculation methods to get it down below 80* as summer approaches and I plan to do full boils and AG
Click to expand...

What i do with my immersion chiller is that I use tap water till about 90 degrees and once i hit that, i then fill a sink with ice water and use a fountain pump to pump the ice water through my immersion chiller. I can go from about 212+ to 65 in about 17-20 minutes with 5 gallons. Its quite efficient and very cheap (the fountain pump cost me 20 dollars at ace hardware).
 
Just go out and make an immersion chiller it will cost you 40 bucks and will usually get your wort to pitching temp in 10-15. As for an aerator? I will come right out and say I have not once aerated my brews. I usually siphon into the fermenter and let the wort splash down from the top into the fermenter....i have never had problems with fermentation..and usually get fermentation starting within a few hours if i make a starter
 
+1 on the IC with recirculating pump for icewater. I put it together with a few trips to Lowe's and Harbor Freight for about $45 total, and I get my full-boils down to temp in about 20-25 minutes. If you have some of those "blue ice" thingies in your freezer, you can also use those to keep the recirculation water nice and cool.

As far as aeration, I haven't done it other than by being particularly splashy when I pour the chilled wort into my fermenter through a large strainer. I pitch the yeast, then typically give the wort a good minute-long violent stir with my beer paddle, making lots of bubbles. 10 batches in, and so far all of my yeasties have started to do their job within 24 hours of pitching.

Yesterday I used a few tablespoons of a Nottingham yeast cake from a previous fermentation, pitching it at 83* (a bit high for me, but I was in a hurry). Within 5 hours, the airlock was bubbling away like crazy. So you might just consider harvesting your yeast cakes and getting a good start that way.
 
For Aeration, I use a 5 gallon paint stirrer from the hardware store (cost a couple bucks) and a cordless drill.

Give it a quick squirt with Starsan ,and spin the crap out of it.

Also use the same stirrer for the grain in my mash tun,it`s to easy.
 
bjzelectric said:
Planning my first all grain batch for next weekend thanks to Death Brewers pics/tutorial and I have all the equipment for the brew but am wondering how important it would be for me to buy an immersion wort chiller and an aquarium pump for aeration. Are either or both of these a necessity for all grain or have people had success w/o?
Click to expand...

Neither are necessary. The wort chiller though....very helpful. You can make one.......just buy 25ft of copper tubing at your local hardware store. I hose clamped 15 ft of vinyl tubing on each end, one with a garden hose adapter. Total cost was like 20 bucks or something.
 
ewbish said:
Neither are necessary. The wort chiller though....very helpful.
Click to expand...

Saw this sponsored ad next to your post and thought it ironic. seems like a deal if you don't want to DIY.

Super Chiller XL

My only problem w/ IC's is that unless your tap water is pretty damn cold, as in winter time in a cold climate, or your on well water. You usually need to ice bath or chill the incoming water to get down to pitching temps. Mid to low sixties IMO.

Perhaps out of laziness, all I have been doing lately is to put the hot kettle in a bath tub of cold tap water for about an hour, then I put the kettle in a large plastic keg tub w/ two batches of ice from my fridges icemaker. This usually gets me to pitching temps in about two hours. If it is late at night, I will just pitch the next morning.

Regarding aeration, w/ dry yeast I don't bother, for 5 gal. there is adequate cell count and o2 is not needed for reproduction.

If I am pitching a slurry from a previous batch, I merely sanitize a 2 qt. pitcher and "dip and pour" for a few minute untill the wort is all frothed up.

The level of gadgetry you want to persue is really up to you, IMO you can be succesfull and also keep it simple.
 
wilserbrewer said:
Saw this sponsored ad next to your post and thought it ironic. seems like a deal if you don't want to DIY.

Super Chiller XL

My only problem w/ IC's is that unless your tap water is pretty damn cold, as in winter time in a cold climate, or your on well water. You usually need to ice bath or chill the incoming water to get down to pitching temps. Mid to low sixties IMO.

Perhaps out of laziness, all I have been doing lately is to put the hot kettle in a bath tub of cold tap water for about an hour, then I put the kettle in a large plastic keg tub w/ two batches of ice from my fridges icemaker. This usually gets me to pitching temps in about two hours. If it is late at night, I will just pitch the next morning.

Regarding aeration, w/ dry yeast I don't bother, for 5 gal. there is adequate cell count and o2 is not needed for reproduction.

If I am pitching a slurry from a previous batch, I merely sanitize a 2 qt. pitcher and "dip and pour" for a few minute untill the wort is all frothed up.

The level of gadgetry you want to persue is really up to you, IMO you can be succesfull and also keep it simple.
Click to expand...


I have a solution for that too.......a second 25 foot copper tubing coil hooked in line between the garden hose and the wort chiller in the boil pot. You simply set the 2nd coil in an ice chest with a couple bags of ice and water. That'll bring it down to 60 degrees super fast. This is what we do when we brew at a friends house who's on city water. I'm on a private well.....my water is 56 degrees year round.
 
ewbish,

I bet your prechiller works well! As I mentioned, I'm lazy. So rather than setting up a prechiller in a tub of ice water, I find it simpler, easier, and cheaper just to put the kettle in the tub of ice water, rather than a prechiller. It works well if you have already knocked most of the heat out of the kettle. Sometimes I have access to free ice...80 pounds or so of ice in a big ass tub chills pretty fast as well...not worth it if you are buying ice though. Ice bath chilling works tremendous...you just gotta go big, or go home!
 
wilserbrewer said:
ewbish,

I bet your prechiller works well! As I mentioned, I'm lazy. So rather than setting up a prechiller in a tub of ice water, I find it simpler, easier, and cheaper just to put the kettle in the tub of ice water, rather than a prechiller. It works well if you have already knocked most of the heat out of the kettle. Sometimes I have access to free ice...80 pounds or so of ice in a big ass tub chills pretty fast as well...not worth it if you are buying ice though. Ice bath chilling works tremendous...you just gotta go big, or go home!
Click to expand...


Oh yeah, 80lbs!!! wow, that is going big.

For me, the biggest reason for the wort chiller is so that I don't have to move the kettle. It kills my back.
 
Chello said:
i would consider a wort chiller a very good investment. Sure you can do the ice bath method, but it will take what seems like an eternity. Although this is considering you want to chill your wort. There are people here (The Pol) who have started doing a no chill method with claimed success.

As far as aeration, i don't think a pump is necessary. Just give it a good stir or shake and you should be fine.
Click to expand...

Ask the HBTers that have sampled my no chill wares. They were extremely surprised! Brrman? Eschatz?

I dont even OWN a chiller anymore.
 

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