How many batches before you bought a wort chiller?

I boil in a keggle, ending up with 7.5 gallons (or around there) at the end of the boil. Trying to lift that into a sink with ice in it isn't an option. Even IF it would fit in the sink, I'm not about lift it that high. I also don't want to fill my freezer (either of them) with ice. I have one filled with hops :rockin: and the other has food in it. With making a batch of chili this week, there's very little room left in that freezer.

BTW, I'm chilling over 5 gallons of wort (see above) FAST. Far faster than when I did do cold water/ice baths (when brewing extract batches).

Bought a stainless chiller before my first batch, along with an immersion pump to run ice water through it. From flame out to pitching temp in fifteen minutes, no worries....

The first piece of equipment that I bougth was an inmersion chiller, months before I started brewing, and I borrow it to a friend before I use it so -1

I bought my immersion chiller after my first batch -- it took close to 2 hours to get to pitching temp (I'd neglected to buy ice). No I go from flame out to pitching in around 25 min.

unionrdr said:

I get my chill down to pitch temp ideally in 20 minutes. I thought the aluminum chiller would do it in 12 minutes or so.

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I heard of others doing what you're talking about (but with copper) and it apparently works fine. It would chill faster than tap water b/c of the ice water prechiller; I don't think the aluminum would have advantage over copper in terms of heat transfer.

Something kind of similar that I do is use a pond pump to recirc ice water through a std immersion chiller. I don't do it for faster chilling but rather to get to lower initial lager pitching temps. I start with tap water first to get to about 65 then hook up the recirc system to get down to 40. It saves some ice vs. starting w/ ice. I think this system would be more efficient since it doesn't involve a first heat exchanger. It may also cost less depending on how cheap you can get a pond pump.

Way too many before I bought a chiller. Got a Duda Diesel plate chiller last year. Made a huge difference in my brew day.

Just ordered a small high-temp food grade pump so I can recirculate (my "cooling" water is about 75-80F here). That should be a nice addition too.

You don't need a food grade pump for the chill water side of the chiller. Just something that can handle the temperatures it will be in.

BTW, I added a shutoff valve to the end of my chill water (source) hose. Once I'm done chilling the batch, I simply remove that from the plate chiller inlet and put the recirculation hose onto it. I can then send clean water through the wort side of the chiller, in either/both directions. :rockin:

After the first batch. The whole sink and ice bath was just too big of a PITA, so I bit the bullet and got one from New York Brew Supply cheaper than I could buy the materials and assemble it myself. The one I ordered was a 3/8 stainless by 25 foot coil, and it will cool a 5 gallon batch to pitching temp in about 15 or so minutes. My ground water from the well comes out at 72 degrees so I do not have to chill or refrigerate it prior to running it through the chiller. Hope this helps.
Wheelchair Bob

I brewed one Mr. Beer batch, then switched to a 5 gal kit. Did one batch and bought a chiller for the 2nd batch. Took my batch from boiling to 66 degrees in about 20 mins. Great investment!

Made my own. 25ft 3/8 OD soft tubing for $20, $3 for a pipe bending spring, few zip ties and two quick connects for around $28. I run how wort through the coils and dunk the coil in an ice bath. But you can do whatever.




Stuff I bought was cheaper locally but here is what I used.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000LF8WXG/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BOJ8NU/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AQFKCW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


Good temporarily until I get a plate.

I built an all copper counter-current chiller for my second brew (the first one was done with a friend's immersion chiller)
I used it for 4 batches before I got a salvaged stainless 40 plate chiller for free from work.

Plate chiller works more effectively and I can clean it aggressively with caustic soda (I would'nt be comfortable doing that with copper)

with a garden hose hooked up to the coolant side, on full (just tap water, no ice), and a 700 GPH pump running from my kettle and the pump outlet full open I hit 68F from a full boil as fast as it will run. 10 gallons in well under 10 minutes. AWESOME!

Slo chill. Pop that bad dad in the keezer to cool over night!

Nine batches for me. IC was just delivered today, can't wait to try it out!

As I mentioned earlier, I've been using an immersion chiller from early on. Lately, I've been looking at the Shirron plate chiller. It's considerably less expensive that other models (e.g., the Therminator) and appears from the specs to work as well.

Is anyone using the Shirron?

OldBunny said:

As I mentioned earlier, I've been using an immersion chiller from early on. Lately, I've been looking at the Shirron plate chiller. It's considerably less expensive that other models (e.g., the Therminator) and appears from the specs to work as well.

Is anyone using the Shirron?

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Check out the offerings from Duda Diesel before you get that one. You can get the DD plate chiller with hose fittings (both male and female so you don't need to use any adapters) and either barb or 1/2" NPT fittings for the wort side of it. Very happy with my long 40 plate chiller from DD... Seriously thinking about selling my ChillHog 4000 now...

I was able to use my 25' 3/8" IC last night for the first time on a 2.5 gallon wort, using near ice-cold Michigan water from the hose. Took about 20 minutes, which kind of seems high based on how fast I've read these things should take for 5 gallons.

Is there any thing that should be done to get a uniform temperature of the cooling wort? I left the floating thermometer in once I realized that my digital thermometer was caked in sticky "stuff" and was giving false readings, and ended up stirring the wort gently with the floating thermometer to disperse the cooler wort. Any other suggestions? I could always make up an ice bath, but when I start with full-boil batches this week, that's not much of an option anymore.

26 lol i did a lot of extract and just used the ice bath method

i did about 3 all grain full boil and decided it was time to cool it quicker

metanoia said:

I was able to use my 25' 3/8" IC last night for the first time on a 2.5 gallon wort, using near ice-cold Michigan water from the hose. Took about 20 minutes, which kind of seems high based on how fast I've read these things should take for 5 gallons.

Is there any thing that should be done to get a uniform temperature of the cooling wort? I left the floating thermometer in once I realized that my digital thermometer was caked in sticky "stuff" and was giving false readings, and ended up stirring the wort gently with the floating thermometer to disperse the cooler wort. Any other suggestions? I could always make up an ice bath, but when I start with full-boil batches this week, that's not much of an option anymore.

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You need to either constantly move the IC in the wort, to chill faster/better, stir the wort to get it moving around the chiller better, or go to another type of chiller. With IC chillers, your chill water should be flowing through it at a good rate (usually source/chill water is turned to max). If the water coming out of the chiller isn't HOT initially, you're doing something wrong. You should be able to chill 5-5.5 gallons of wort (from a boil) in under 20 minutes. Especially where you are.

I've done about 6 batches. Just made my first IC but only 20' x 3/8 so a bit worried. Maiden flight in 2 days on 2.5 gal wort.

Collecting ice from trays for a week was a PITA but my fridge icemaker couldn't keep up. Freezer not that big for storing a sack of ice and it all melts in 40 mins anyway!

stevescott123 said:

I've done about 6 batches. Just made my first IC but only 20' x 3/8 so a bit worried. Maiden flight in 2 days on 2.5 gal wort.

Collecting ice from trays for a week was a PITA but my fridge icemaker couldn't keep up. Freezer not that big for storing a sack of ice and it all melts in 40 mins anyway!

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If you have to, get a couple of bags of ice on brew day and set them in a cooler. That's what I did. Even though I bought my chiller, I still hooked it up to a sink and made sure it didn't leak around the hose clamps the day before brewing. Good luck.

Golddiggie said:

You need to either constantly move the IC in the wort, to chill faster/better, stir the wort to get it moving around the chiller better, or go to another type of chiller. With IC chillers, your chill water should be flowing through it at a good rate (usually source/chill water is turned to max). If the water coming out of the chiller isn't HOT initially, you're doing something wrong. You should be able to chill 5-5.5 gallons of wort (from a boil) in under 20 minutes. Especially where you are.

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Thanks for the advice. I think I'm correct in thinking that the lid should be kept on the pot as much as possible, but I believe I used to stir the wort quite a bit when I used ice baths. Definitely searching for the best way to create the optimum cold break.

metanoia said:

Thanks for the advice. I think I'm correct in thinking that the lid should be kept on the pot as much as possible, but I believe I used to stir the wort quite a bit when I used ice baths. Definitely searching for the best way to create the optimum cold break.

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Keeping the lid on is more for brewing outdoors or where something might fall into the chilling wort. You want to get the wort chilled as fast as possible, so if you need to leave the lid off so you can move the IC around, do so.

Golddiggie said:

Keeping the lid on is more for brewing outdoors or where something might fall into the chilling wort. You want to get the wort chilled as fast as possible, so if you need to leave the lid off so you can move the IC around, do so.

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Thank you, I'll have to see how no lid works on my first 5 gallon AG batch this weekend. Then perhaps I'll use another extract recipe to see how quick I can cool 2.5 gallons, just for informative purposes.

0.75 of a batch.

It is only the first batch and I discovered that trying to cool the thing from boiling to 80F is a total snore. Set pot in sink, add cold water, stir, drain, add more water, repeat, snore, gnzzzz...

Epimetheus said:

0.75 of a batch.

It is only the first batch and I discovered that trying to cool the thing from boiling to 80F is a total snore. Set pot in sink, add cold water, stir, drain, add more water, repeat, snore, gnzzzz...

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I believe that falls under "ice bath" and not "wort chiller," as in immersion chiller, counter-flow chiller, or plate chiller.

Some people leave their pots out overnight until the wort falls to pitching temperature naturally, but the general consensus of home brewers is that reaching pitching temp within 30 minutes provides the best cold break possible.

metanoia said:

I believe that falls under "ice bath" and not "wort chiller," as in immersion chiller, counter-flow chiller, or plate chiller.

Some people leave their pots out overnight until the wort falls to pitching temperature naturally, but the general consensus of home brewers is that reaching pitching temp within 30 minutes provides the best cold break possible.

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Yes... I think he realizes that. Which is why he said he gave up on Ice baths right away. He answered the question exactly as it was posed.

J187 said:

Yes... I think he realizes that. Which is why he said he gave up on Ice baths right away. He answered the question exactly as it was posed.

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My mistake. I assumed that if one was using an ice bath, that they wouldn't have an immersion chiller on hand to use 75% of the way through cooling.

metanoia said:

My mistake. I assumed that if one was using an ice bath, that they wouldn't have an immersion chiller on hand to use 75% of the way through cooling.

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Yea, again, I think he's pretty obviously saying that he realized right away he wanted a chiller.

I did 3 batches before I finally built my own immersion chiller. I had done the ice baths in our utility sink in our laundry room and I was getting sick of how much I was spending on bags of ice. Also, the length of time it was taking to cool the wort was no fun either. Went from at least 30 minutes to cool over 5 gallons of wort to around 15 minutes with my IC! :rockin:

metanoia said:

I was able to use my 25' 3/8" IC last night for the first time on a 2.5 gallon wort, using near ice-cold Michigan water from the hose. Took about 20 minutes, which kind of seems high based on how fast I've read these things should take for 5 gallons.

Is there any thing that should be done to get a uniform temperature of the cooling wort? I left the floating thermometer in once I realized that my digital thermometer was caked in sticky "stuff" and was giving false readings, and ended up stirring the wort gently with the floating thermometer to disperse the cooler wort. Any other suggestions? I could always make up an ice bath, but when I start with full-boil batches this week, that's not much of an option anymore.

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Move your chiller around in the pot a bit while chilling to eliminate the hot and cold zones. Do this every few minutes.

Yesfan said:

If you have to, get a couple of bags of ice on brew day and set them in a cooler. That's what I did. Even though I bought my chiller, I still hooked it up to a sink and made sure it didn't leak around the hose clamps the day before brewing. Good luck.

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You mean place the IC in the cooler before it goes in the wort? Any precooling is going to disappear in an instant. The point of building the IC was tyo move away from ice. All ice. I know one can have a second IC in a bath of ice which precools the water from the faucet before entering the IC in the wort but...that's more ice. I think almost any flow is better than an ice bath alone. I hope so because I'm brewing tomorrow and I have no ice! I made a little to chill my starter this morning but it's ...all...melted!

Or perhaps you meant put the kettle in ice and then run the IC...?

I'll monitor it with a thermometer and a stopwatch. But I have tested it for leaks and it's fine. I'll probably modify it in the future with elbows to bring the connections up and outside the kettle.

3

I still have yet to use one, but will be looking into it since I end up brewing late frequently and am up past 2 waiting for the wort to cool off which can take an hour or more.

So far I have made 8 batches and I don't have a fermentation chamber so I just keep a large supply of frozen water bottles around in my freezer all the time. I make sure I have at least 18 or so frozen on brew day and just throw them in a large bucket and stick the kettle in there and stir the wort frequently. I need to cool off a gallon of water to mix in there to reduce the temperature further next time.

My biggest concern is if the kettle were to tip over and I lose everything, I try to avoid having it floating around, but it gives the most cooling capability if the water level is higher than the wort.

But yeah, frozen water bottles are reusable and easy to have around. I also prefer them if I am loading up a cooler since once they start to melt it's ice cold water.

stevescott123 said:

........Or perhaps you meant put the kettle in ice and then run the IC...?............

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Yep, do both.


What I do is, the morning of brew day, I go out and get my bag(s) of ice and stick them in a separate cooler so they don't melt while I'm brewing. When I'm ready to chill the wort, I put the kettle in an ice bath, then hook up the chiller to the faucet and run it too. The best of both worlds.

rtb178 said:

I've brewed 6 batches or so, and am hoping to brew a few more before the end of the year. Chilling has been a big problem for me, but I've not bought a wort chiller because of funds and because my kitchen faucet is a bit weird. How long did it take most folks before they bit the bullet and bought a chiller?

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60+ batches and no wort chiller. I use the No Chill method and it has made my brew days so much easier.


-John

What is the "No chill" method?

sok454 said:

What is the "No chill" method?

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Its where you don't actively chill the wort. It can take a long time, depending on where you are and temperatures, to get to pitching temp this way. I'd rather actively chill my with and get it to pitch temp fast, with all the benefits there. With no-chill you can have increased DMS form that you won't get with an active chill method. IMO, not worth it.

Not really sure how my brew day would be easier if I chose the no chill method vs. using my IC?

MMJfan said:

Not really sure how my brew day would be easier if I chose the no chill method vs. using my IC?

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Probably no easier, if anything it could be more difficult depending on what you ferment in. Best case the fermenter would be ok with ~200F liquid going into it. If not, then you have to let it reach pitching temperature in the kettle/pot. Don't know about you, but I'd rather not need to lift my keggle with 7+ gallons of just boiling wort to place it where it will be safe to let it reach temperature. Especially when I can do that quickly via my plate chiller.