Wort chiller

Ok I'm planning on making a new wort chiller.

Here is my question is there any advantage to 1/2 tubing versus 3/8" ?

25 ft vs 50ft

What kind of chiller are you going for? If it's a counterflow chiller, 3/8" and 25' should do fine. If it's immersion, go 50'.

Immersion Althought I'm told that counter flow is better

Will1/2 inch give more
Surface for cooling versus 3/8 or is that a waste ?

They both have advantages and disadvantages. Immersion require nothing more than a water source. CFC will require either gravity or a pump, a valve on the kettle to drain and the ability to plug up although they tend to chill faster. I personally went from 30 minutes to 15 minutes in making the change to CFC.

1/2" tubing will give you more contact surface so chilling will be faster with an immersion. 1/2" tubing is more difficult to and rigid to coil though. depending on the size of your kettle and height will determine whether you should go 50' or 25'.

Ok how do these chillers (immersion and CFC) compare to a plate chiller ?

I was talking to a friend of mine tonight who works for Pepsi and he suggested a plate chiller stuck in ice but that takes me back to the expense of buying ice all the time

dpalme said:

Ok how do these chillers (immersion and CFC) compare to a plate chiller ?

I was talking to a friend of mine tonight who works for Pepsi and he suggested a plate chiller stuck in ice but that takes me back to the expense of buying ice all the time

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Plate chillers will do the same thing but they require pumps to circulate the wort, they will not work with gravity like a CFC, IMO the chill time difference is not worth the expense of the hardware required and some people complain they get plugged up with break material.

I made a 50ft 1/2in immersion chiller and have had no problems in cooling 6 gallons of near boiling wort down to 70F in 10-15min using tap water here in S. Minnesota.
My neighbors each use a counterflow chiller (25ft 3/8in copper) and their cooling times are longer (15-25min) and are fiddling with gravity and water pressure to assure a steady flow and temp control.
I like my system and they like theirs, just the personal taste of the user. But I do agree with duboman. Use 1/2in for immersion and 3/8in for counterflow for best results.
Plate chillers are nice and convenient but do require a pump to use effectively.

Choose a style that fits your brewing setup and is convenient for you, but for me a 50ft immersion chiller is easier on my old back to lift than a 6 gal brewpot of hot wort...

Redbeard5289

Question Red: are your neighbors recirculating their wort? If so, they are defeating the whole purpose of a CFC or plate chiller. They are heating their wort back up.

Redbeard5289 said:

My neighbors ... are fiddling with gravity and water pressure to assure a steady flow and temp control.
Redbeard5289

Click to expand...

OneHoppyGuy said:

Question Red: are your neighbors recirculating their wort?

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I'd say no, they're not recirculating since they're using gravity.

If MC Escher were a homebrewer, I bet he recirc'ed using gravity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfall_%28M._C._Escher%29

OneHoppyGuy said:

Question Red: are your neighbors recirculating their wort? If so, they are defeating the whole purpose of a CFC or plate chiller. They are heating their wort back up.

Click to expand...

Not necessarily... Some use a CFC and recirc to get the entire batch temp dropped fast to most utilize late or flameout hop editions.

When my neighbor uses my system, he whirlpools going through the counterflow chiller (water on) until the whole batch is cooled. Then a rest for about 10 before cast.

I prefer to whirlpool through the chiller (water off) for 8 mins then rest for 12. Start cooling water and cool as I cast, monitoring output and controlling wort flow rate to control the temp.

Summer in Georgia only lets us get to about 80 using straight city water with no other tricks. Using either technique, the time is about the same.

Like many others I started with a IC, then as I started doing bigger volume, I switched to a plate chiller. Now I pump the hot wort via plate chiller into the carboy and it saves a lot of time. 15gal at boil to 80F in ten min.