Doc Robinson
Well-Known Member
Chillzilla, Shirron Plate Chiller, or the Therminator...I'm moving to 10 gallon batches.
Which Chiller would you Choose?
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PERSONALLY, I wouldn't spend $190 bucks on a chiller. So that would eliminate the Chillzilla and Therminator.
I'm still stuck in ice baths, and I'm expecting an IC for Christmas. But if I were you, and you have the ability to do so, I'd make a CFC from garden hose and flexible copper tubing.
I'm still stuck in ice baths, and I'm expecting an IC for Christmas. But if I were you, and you have the ability to do so, I'd make a CFC from garden hose and flexible copper tubing.
iparks81
Well-Known Member
man, I dont know if your a DIY-er or not but I just made myself a counter flow chiller out of 30' 3\8 copper tubbing inside 30' of garden hose with the fittings found here
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_33_145&products_id=10644
wow... to test it out I put 198 ded water through it gravity feeding with 62 deg tap water and when the heated water came out the bottom it was the same as the tap water going in (62 deg)...very cool
The totall cost was $80 (if you use those fittings) if you go to home-depot or lowes you can do better
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_33_145&products_id=10644
wow... to test it out I put 198 ded water through it gravity feeding with 62 deg tap water and when the heated water came out the bottom it was the same as the tap water going in (62 deg)...very cool
The totall cost was $80 (if you use those fittings) if you go to home-depot or lowes you can do better
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Doc Robinson
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Wow. So you basically made your own Chillzilla...except that the inner copper isn't twisted. I'm down. Did you follow some instructions you found somewhere...I think I saw this posted by Bobby M.
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Doc Robinson
Well-Known Member
And dude, I may as well just buy this one if it cost you $80 to build the same thing...it's only $70.
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_33_145&products_id=10458
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_33_145&products_id=10458
annasdadhockey
Well-Known Member
This is the one that I made. $75 got me the materials to make 2. I sold the other one on ebay for $70.
EDIT: Well that's a crappy picture. Anyway, its in my Gallery. Basically the same as the yellow one above.
annasdadhockey
Well-Known Member
That's better!
wildwest450
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Or you could make a 50' IC, easy and cheap, and one less thing you beer has to run through. Mine cools 11 gallons as fast as 6 gallons.
alcibiades
Well-Known Member
how thick is ur copper?
I got the 50' ghetto ass 1/4 inch immersion chiller from brewster brown (I got got). Would that work for 10 gallons?
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Doc Robinson
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I hate using an IC. I am looking to set the pump, the hose, and run it to the carboy.
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Doc Robinson
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That is solid!
dunnright00
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That's better!
So, this may be a stupid question, but you HAVE to have a pump to run one of these, right? No other way?
wildwest450
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It's 1/2". Yours should work fine, especially if you use a water pump and some ice.
wildwest450
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They will gravity feed.
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Doc Robinson
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But pump is way easier.
HoppyDaze
Well-Known Member
why do they put the copper inside garden hoses?
iparks81
Well-Known Member
yeah Ive got a grand total of $50 in mine $10 50' light duty hose, and $37 for 50' 3\8 copper tubbing all at lowes
the fittings were a freebee from my LHBS (old phill chill phittings)
iparks81
Well-Known Member
the cold water runs through the garden hose around the copper tube (that the wort is flowing through) to cool it before pitching it is amazing how much heat you can draw away from the wort in a realitivly small length of tube that has this water jacket around it.
Those are a great way to chill - only problem is that if you puncture that outside garden hose, you pretty much have a lump of copper you can't use. That being said, how often does that happen? 
I say make your own at that point.
I say make your own at that point.
iparks81
Well-Known Member
are the plate chillers more efficient than Counterflow chillers....
annasdadhockey
Well-Known Member
Not sure how. All I do is open a valve and the flow starts.
Those are a great way to chill - only problem is that if you puncture that outside garden hose, you pretty much have a lump of copper you can't use. That being said, how often does that happen?
I say make your own at that point.
Not real sure how you'd puncture the outside hose. You would have to try to puncture it on purpose I believe.
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I've been using my CFC with gravity all summer. It cools to <70 in one pass from the boil kettle to the fermenter. I have bought a pump though that I'm going to integrate into a stand sometime soon (hopefully) and recirculate. This allows you to cool the whole volume faster because you're mixing the cooled wort into the non cooled stuff constantly. Where as gravity some wort sits there near 200 still until it gets its chance to run through the CFC.
I would say technically the pump is one more piece of equipment that requires fudging with. Not to mention the common 809 is not self priming and has a learning curve to use.
So faster chilling, YES, Easier to use, I'd say nope.
You flow the water through the hose and the wort through the copper tubing inside the garden hose. Wort flows in the opposite direction that the water flows, so that the warmest water hits the hot wort side and the coolest wort is on the cold water inlet, allowing for better cooling.
I made one from Bobby_M's post. I paid about $100 at Lowes, and that will build two. I haven't built the second one yet, but when I do, I'll sell it to recoup some of my cost.
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Doc Robinson
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You should know by now that I do everything the hard way...
Brew-boy
Well-Known Member
My opinion would be neither I feel the JZ whirlpool chiller is better for me.
iparks81
Well-Known Member
well cool wort or not, just please...dont poop in the bottling bucket when it comes that time....weve both done our experiments ...but im confident to say that it only makes beer taste like $hit...well..until it clears out about 3-6 weeks later...
iparks81
Well-Known Member
what is the JZ whirlpool cooler>?
You use an immersion chiller and at the same time pump the cooling wort out of the pot and back in to circulate while chilling. Keeps the wort moving so that the cooling coils end up getting more wort in contact.
You can sort-of do the same thing by giving the wort a stir with your sanitized spoon. Also helps center the hop and break material in the center of your kettle.
You are probably right, garden hoses are pretty durable. I was just pointing out what could happen. After all, I have never wanted to break a carboy with a carboy brush, but I did.
By the same argument, one could say brewing outdoors is dangerous because a meteor could hit you.
I've never had a garden hose puncture in regular use and I know I'm much more careful with my brewing equipment than my gardening equipment. :cross:
jvastola
Member
I HATE it when that happens!
There are so many variables at work in this discussion. Plate chillers are the most efficient but the one potential fatal flaw is clogging if you don't at least coarsely filter your hops in the kettle or use bags.
The CFC is more forgiving in that regard. Having a pump for any external exchanger does provide some advantage. For one thing, you can recirculate hot wort as the sanitation method. This is no additional work if you already have use for a pump. You can also push wort through the chiller faster when your coolant water is cold enough to support the added speed. In February when my tap is at 48F, I pumped the wort full bore while the coolant trickled in. It took only 7 minutes and about 15 gallons of water to chill 10 gallons.
The CFC is more forgiving in that regard. Having a pump for any external exchanger does provide some advantage. For one thing, you can recirculate hot wort as the sanitation method. This is no additional work if you already have use for a pump. You can also push wort through the chiller faster when your coolant water is cold enough to support the added speed. In February when my tap is at 48F, I pumped the wort full bore while the coolant trickled in. It took only 7 minutes and about 15 gallons of water to chill 10 gallons.
FireBrewer
Assistant Brewer
Spot on, Bobby. It really depends on your system and what you plan to do.
Each has their advantages and disadvantages. Initially I started with a garden-hose type CFC, then went to a Chillus Convolutus, and finally went with a plate chiller (Shirron). I wanted to hard plumb the whole thing, from input to output, something I had a hard time doing with the CFC. For my setup, the plate chiller works very well.
I've never had a clog.
I've never had an infected batch since installing it.
You can clog a 3/8" CFC with hop debris as well; may take a little more, but it certainly can be done. Because of the smaller passageways you do need to take greater care to keep hop debris out of the chiller, as BobbyM indicated. But some common sense measures, a little back-flush and periodic cleaning keeps it tip-top.
Good luck with your hunt!
Each has their advantages and disadvantages. Initially I started with a garden-hose type CFC, then went to a Chillus Convolutus, and finally went with a plate chiller (Shirron). I wanted to hard plumb the whole thing, from input to output, something I had a hard time doing with the CFC. For my setup, the plate chiller works very well.
I've never had a clog.
I've never had an infected batch since installing it.
You can clog a 3/8" CFC with hop debris as well; may take a little more, but it certainly can be done. Because of the smaller passageways you do need to take greater care to keep hop debris out of the chiller, as BobbyM indicated. But some common sense measures, a little back-flush and periodic cleaning keeps it tip-top.
Good luck with your hunt!
My issue with CFCs are that I can't see the inside, so I can never be 100% certain it's clean. Sure, the hot wort should sanitize it, but I like to be able to see, so I use an IC. I own both for some reason though...
FireBrewer
Assistant Brewer
I hear that a lot. And understandably so. But if you follow a good cleaning regimen, no worries. I recirculate StarSan through mine a few minutes before the end of the boil and backflush with water immediately afterward for 5-10 minutes. Every few batches I recirculate very hot PBW through it for about 30 minutes while the wort's boiling. Been doing this for probably 5 years now, never had an infected batch while using the plate chiller---and it's one of the biggest sources for infection.
Trust your skills. (Just imagine all the wild yeast and bacteria floating in while your wort's cooling with the IC and the water dripping into it from leaky connections
!)
I've used all three types of chillers and never had an contamination that I know of.
That is key - I'd like to think I'm a clean brewer, but I've given my beers to others and they pick out things that I can't taste/detect. You can obsess over it all you want, but at some point you have to just do whats right for you. For me, I don't want to use a plate chiller I cannot take apart. I cut one of those things open once and the nooks and crannies in there were scary - they aren't rounded corners or anything, they taper off into vast unknowns. Which is fine because they were intended for water only, not for liquids with particulate in them.
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