Glycol in immersion chiller?

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strat_thru_marshall

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I am thinking about building a fermentation chamber similar to this one:

http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=42735&sid=8d5ef9377c8ffb9dca6a17383e1d4717

and was wondering if it would be possible to pump the cold glycol from the freezer through my immersion chiller to get my wort to pitching temp while still in the brew kettle. I could use a second pump or use quick disconnnects to move the glycol lines from the fermentation box to the chiller. It would be easy to rig, just wanted to make sure it would be a good idea. It seems like it would take awhile for 5 gal of 70 degree wort in a carboy to reach lager pitching temps with the cool airflow of the chamber alone, and why use 65 degree water to chill my wort when I have sub freezing glycol and the ability to put it through my chiller? Would a plate or counterflow chiller be a better idea or would the immersion work ok until I upgrade?

Thanks!!
 
If you can cool the glycol fast enough, it'll work fine. You may need some trial and error to get it right.
 
good point. maybe use tap water to get to 70 degrees, then switch to the glycol to get it down to pitching temp? I'd need two chillers, or a way to flush the water out of the coil before attaching the glycol pump.
 
Was wondering if it would be possible to pump the cold glycol from the freezer through my immersion chiller to get my wort to pitching temp while still in the brew kettle.

It's possible and some folks on this forum have calculated how many gallons of 32F glycol would be necessary to chill 5 gallons of 210F wort to 70F. I believe the conclusion was you'd need 10+ gallons of 32F glycol and you couldn't recirculate it (i.e., you'll need a separate reservoir to hold the warmed glycol).

Or, you could use ~40lbs of ice to achieve the same effect.
 

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