Starting down the AG path and am curious on some things regarding the wort chiller. I am unsure if I should go the route of an immersion style or a counter flow. My question with the immersion style, I see a lot of directions say to add the immersion chiller to the last 20 minutes of the wort boil in order to sterilize it. Doesn't this impart a metallic, copper taste on the wort? If so, should I just boil it in water in a separate pot?
If I decide to go with a counter flow chiller, how do you sterilize this? Does the plastic hose melt in the boiling water? Do you just submerge it in some sterile solution?
I don't have a lot of room, so I was hoping to avoid the style of chiller in which the hot wort passes through copper coils that are submerged in a large cooler full of ice water. This has been the only type I have used, and it was at a friend's house. The immersion style seemed right up my ally, but the thought of imparting metallic taste on my beer is scary, very scary.
If I decide to go with a counter flow chiller, how do you sterilize this? Does the plastic hose melt in the boiling water? Do you just submerge it in some sterile solution?
I don't have a lot of room, so I was hoping to avoid the style of chiller in which the hot wort passes through copper coils that are submerged in a large cooler full of ice water. This has been the only type I have used, and it was at a friend's house. The immersion style seemed right up my ally, but the thought of imparting metallic taste on my beer is scary, very scary.