CFC or IC for Keggle

Recently acquired some kegs that I'm in the process of converting. Tops are cut off, but thats about it.

I'm trying to decide to which would be the better/easier way to go with these.

I'll be brewing mainly 5gal batches with the occasional 10gal, but I don't see myself going any larger than that. It seems like alot of people use either style of chiller, but I seem to see alot more of the Immersion style. Is this mainly for ease of use? (being that they just drop right in)

I also plan on possibly still doing 5gal batches with a regular 4gal stock pot for when buddies are over brewing, so this makes me think a CFC may not be the best way to go unless I were to convert my SS kettle as well (which I would rather not do), but on that same note, would a big IC even fit into a standard stock pot?

If I did go with a regular IC, should I look into the 50ft, 1/2" versions, or will 3/8" be large enough?

Any help on this would be great.

I have the shirron plate chiller.. wouldnt leave home without it..

its the best thing since the autosiphon to come my way..

if you want "easy to clean and use" get an IC.. but if you want speed and efficiency, CFC or plate chiller is your way..

Neither the CFC or plate chiller would work with a regular stockpot though would they?

Then again, I guess I could just completely ditch the stockpot idea, let buddies use ice baths and could just figure out what would work best with the keggle.

How big of a CFC would I need to chill to 5-10gal boils? I saw one that AHS sells and its 28' http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=10458 I guess this would still be cheaper than a 50' 1/2 IC.

riored4v said:

Neither the CFC or plate chiller would work with a regular stockpot though would they?

Click to expand...

You really need a pump for a CFC or a plate chiller ( although I admit that I could be wrong on this because I have neither). An IC would be the lowest initial investment.

I use an IC and I'm typically at pitching temps in about 12-15 minutes in the summer. In the winter it's about 5 minutes.

If that's the case with the pump, then i'll probably just go with the IC. Not really looking to upgrade to that point yet.

I'm guessing with the keggle, you could just use the IC to chill it, and then either siphon the wort out, or just open the spigot correct(if there isn't to much material in the keggle)?

as long as you have a spigot on your kettle, and some gravity, a plate chiller will work..

aekdbbop said:

as long as you have a spigot on your kettle, and some gravity, a plate chiller will work..

Click to expand...

is this the one you have: http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=10572&osCsid=47dc51edd2ed21f1198d11ad6db333f4

if so, is it recommended to have the accessories?

my kettle will have a spigot, but as far as gravity goes, the kettle won't be very high as i don't have any sort of sculpture or anything tall to put the keggle on. it'll probably just be on the burner (so, a foot or so off the ground). is that sufficient? this chiller is pretty much the same price as the CFC and IC i've been looking into.

thats the one..

i didnt get any acc. there accept the quick connect fittings.... you can get what you need from homedepot for half the price..

i needed about 4 feet or so.. do a search for the wort wizzard too..

You don't need a pump for a CFC, I just use gravity. I also don't have a spigot on my kettle so I use a copper tube as a syphon.

Here's my rig in action.



To answer your original question; you can't go wrong either way, but I would concentrate on chilling the keggle, not the stock pots.

I don't ike CFC's since the cold break ends up in the carboy.

An IC with a method of swirling the wort around while cooling works well. I have yet to make a swirling device yet.

If I get a pump I will take my IC and put it in a bucket of ice water, pump beer from the outlet on the keggle through it and back in to the keggle, with the tip (submerged) pointed as to create a slight swirling action in the kettle.

ALternatively with a pump you could use a cfc and run the beer back into the kettle as above instead of the carboy.

after searching a bit more, i found a site called coppertubingsales.com, and i believe i could make a 50' of 1/2" refridgeration tubing for $47. not to bad. I figure this should also be sufficient to chill 5gal batches, along with the later 10gal ones.

i'm not sure if i like the idea of stuff getting sucked through CFC, or clogging up the plate chiller. i also saw some cool pics of someone sticking a straining bag over their IC and then using the autosiphon to suck out of the middle of the bag. would be a nice option for me since my kegs aren't fully converted yet.

thanks for the help guys.

My CFC is about 40 feet long and I think its too long. I would make it shorter if I was going to make it again. The reason I think this is I use gravity and it takes quite a while for the six gallons to flow throught it, but it comes out as cold as the water I am chilling it with. I used 1/4 inch for the copper tubing.

I was not happy w/ my CFC until I got a pump. Flow is very slow.

If you are firm that you will stick w/ 5-10 gal batches, I'd go IC. I wouldn't bother w/ 1/2" as increased flow rate is unnecessary / counterproductive. 3/8 x 50' would be great for a keggle, IMO.

I was thinking 50' x 1/2 as it might have better cooling ability since there is more contact area in the wort.

I'm all for saving a bit of money, so if the 50' x 1/2 is uncessary, please let me know. I had just read that with 10gal batches, 50' x 1/2 was a bit more desirable so I was trying to go on "big" side of things.

With the 5gal batches, i could definitely see getting away with 50' x 3/8.

riored4v said:

I was thinking 50' x 1/2 as it might have better cooling ability since there is more contact area in the wort.

I'm all for saving a bit of money, so if the 50' x 1/2 is uncessary, please let me know. I had just read that with 10gal batches, 50' x 1/2 was a bit more desirable so I was trying to go on "big" side of things.

With the 5gal batches, i could definitely see getting away with 50' x 3/8.

Click to expand...

3/8" would have more conctact area with the wort than 1/2" the smaller then the more contact as the volume of wort per square inch of copper is lower.

ah ok, i see what you're saying.

i was thinking because of the copper being larger, 1/2 vs 3/8, that there would be more copper touching the wort, which would help cool it down faster.

so is there any benefit to goin 1/2 then? maybe increased flow to help re-cool the warmed up copper? it seems that it was most stores try to push for larger batches. i'm starting to lean towards 3/8 now.

1/2" is less springy but tougher to bend.

i use a 50' 1/2" IC. It cooled 12 gallons down last week in about 10-15 min. I used tap water to get it down to 100 and then added ice to water and pumped that with an aquarium pump thru the IC to get it down to 68.

I think that is where the CFC will be nicer. It gets my wort down to the same temperature as the cooling water source. I never have to add ice. At worst, during the summer I can cool down to 80F.