Chiller not getting it cool enough - solution?

Hi, I just switched to doing a full boil outside, and found a new problem that I'm not sure I'm solving correctly. Yesterday it was roughly 100F outside where I brewed, and with my wort chiller I could only get the wort down to about 90F, I think my tap water just isn't cold enough. Even that took about 45 minutes.

I gave up waiting then, and transferred to my better bottle. Then put it in my chest freezer. When the temp had dropped to 75F (temp sensor taped to side of the bottle) I added the yeast. The yeast was at about 77F. Are there any issues with this way of cooling it? Getting it as low as I can with the chiller then using the freezer for the rest?

Thanks,
Rob

as long as your sanitation is sound, you should be fine doing it that way. and make sure you are pitching the right amount of healthy yeast to get fermentation happening in a timely manner.

when it was very hot here, i did a double cool method of using an immersion chiller and an ice bath. that did the trick.

But since whats done is done, +1 to android.

I think your ok the way you did it. I can usually only get mine down to 80F with the chiller, then i sick the carboy in a cooler full of water and add ice til it drops to pitching temps.

I brew in TX. I use the tap water to get the wort down to about 100 degrees, (tap water is close to 90 degrees now) then put my submersible pump (210 GPH) in a bucket, add enough water to cover, then dump two 10# bags of ice on top of that. Plug in the pump, let the ice water circulate from the bucket through the immersion cooler, then return to the bucket. You can reach even lager pitch temps fairly quickly this way.

slinn said:

I brew in TX. I use the tap water to get the wort down to about 100 degrees, (tap water is close to 90 degrees now) then put my submersible pump (210 GPH) in a bucket, add enough water to cover, then dump two 10# bags of ice on top of that. Plug in the pump, let the ice water circulate from the bucket through the immersion cooler, then return to the bucket. You can reach even lager pitch temps fairly quickly this way.

Click to expand...

I will be trying that exact same thing next brew day. I grabbed a 180? 190? gph pump for 11.99 at Harborfreight. The thing is freaking tiny but for 12 bucks I can't go wrong.

You did fine. I've done the pump/ice recirculation and it works fine, if not a little slow for my taste. You may also want to make a second immersion chiller and place it in a bucket of ice water. Run your tap water through the "pre-chiller" first. Some may say your wasting more water this way...but your saving electricity and you can save the water for washing.

The last post, using a prechiller for the tap water, is what I am currently doing. It takes ~15 or 20 minutes to go from boiling to 100, and then I add water and ice to the prechill bucket. It still takes another 15 to 20 minutes of constant stirring of both the prechiller bucket and the wort to get it into the low 70's. More ice makes it better, but only a little.

I am seriously considering giving the submersible pump idea a go, and freezing a couple of milk jugs of water in my deep freeze to feed it. Either that, or a counterflow chiller with the prechiller, but I am not sure that that is going to get me where I want to be either. The submersible pump would probably be cheaper.

slinn said:

I brew in TX. I use the tap water to get the wort down to about 100 degrees, (tap water is close to 90 degrees now) then put my submersible pump (210 GPH) in a bucket, add enough water to cover, then dump two 10# bags of ice on top of that. Plug in the pump, let the ice water circulate from the bucket through the immersion cooler, then return to the bucket. You can reach even lager pitch temps fairly quickly this way.

Click to expand...

this is exactly what i do, but i also have a recirculating tube attached to my immersion chiller ("whirlpool chiller" - i don't get much of a whirlpool), and i can get the wort down to under 100 in 5-10 minutes (with tap) and down to pitching temps in another 10-15 (with the ice bath). i know this isn't probably an immediate option for you, but do consider a march pump down the line and go this route for chilling the wort, it is really nice to have your beer to pitching temps within 30 min of knockout.

android said:

this is exactly what i do, but i also have a recirculating tube attached to my immersion chiller ("whirlpool chiller" - i don't get much of a whirlpool), and i can get the wort down to under 100 in 5-10 minutes (with tap) and down to pitching temps in another 10-15 (with the ice bath). i know this isn't probably an immediate option for you, but do consider a march pump down the line and go this route for chilling the wort, it is really nice to have your beer to pitching temps within 30 min of knockout.

Click to expand...

Is that with stirring of the wort, or do you just walk away?

Thank you all for the info, sounds like what I did was fine and there are several other options for cooling as well.