Closed System Wort Cooling (keggle upgrade) PICS

Well, McMaster got my parts to me ASAP and I threw together my closed wort cooling system today and converted my keggle for whirlpool cooling.

Here are some photos:


Keggle Fittings:




Keggle Recirc. Indside:

Your recirc tube looks a bit obscene there my good man.

True, true...

In about 2 weeks I will be doing a brewcast where I will be checking the mash for conversion, using a PH meter to check PH throughtout the mash, and doing the closed system recirc cooling. Stay tuned to watch me mess it all up!

Very cool. Way beyond my sophistication level but looks like a great setup. I will be looking for your brewcast.

So where does the cooling come in? I see the recirc but didn't see a chiller.

johnnyc said:

So where does the cooling come in? I see the recirc but didn't see a chiller.

Click to expand...

I think he is pumping the wort through his HERMS coil with ice water in the HLT.

remilard said:

I think he is pumping the wort through his HERMS coil with ice water in the HLT.

Click to expand...

Bingo, the HERMS coil does the cooling. 5.5 gallons from boiling to 57F in 25 minutes with no garden hoses.

The pump starts during the last 10 minutes of the boil to sanitize the HERMS coil, pump and plumbing.

The HLT is filled with 44# of ice and 4 gallons of water (yes it fits).

The lid containing the HERMS coil and stirrer is dropped into the ice water mixture.

The HERMS coil exhausts into the kettle via a recirculation tube (see above)

Testing has shown a temp. drop from 212 - 57F in 25 minutes!

The return to the kettle uses a length of LocLine from McMaster Carr, a 1/2 Brass Hex coupling and a 1/2" male QD to attach the hose.

I wonder what the effect this has on the wort. Doing this kind of recirculation of the wort through the chiller effectively chills and reheats it repeatedly in the process of getting it to the pitching temperature. Is it like getting a big cold break on small portions of the wort over and over? Could it be really bad for chill haze or actually improve it?

I'd love to see what your findings are once the brews you've chilled this way are in the glass.

FWIW, on my last batch I had a TON of cold break.

That said, when I brew "no chill" beers, they come out crystal clear too.

I think the "cold break = chill haze" is a myth, since no chill beers turn out like this:

The Pol said:

FWIW, on my last batch I had a TON of cold break.

That said, when I brew "no chill" beers, they come out crystal clear too.

I think the "cold break = chill haze" is a myth, since no chill beers turn out like this:

Click to expand...

I just started using a pretty similar method of chilling on my last batch. I fill my mash tun with ice water and recirculate both the ice water and the hot wort through a plate chiller. Took me about 45 minutes last time but I only used 20 lbs. of ice after using tap water to bring it down to 105F. I'm still trying to find the right balance to maximize the speed and minimize ice/water. Oh, yeah... I also undershot my target pitching temp of 59F and ended up with 52F. Anyway, I'm just trying all the usual remedies to cure chill haze (boil harder, chill faster) and was curious of whether the chill/reheat cycle in a recirculating chill method had any particular effects.

Me and my brew buddy use a drill motor and a stainless steel jiffy mixer(5-10 gal)[i got the idea when reading about whirlpooling]



which creates a very efficient tornado of post boil wort forcing it through our wort chiller(while ground water is ran through it) which is 3/8" nom(1/2" od) copper (cant remember but either 10' or 20'). I got the thing for about 50$ and I cooled 5.5 gal to 66 degrees in 6 minutes, our 10 gallon batch (10.5 g or post boil wort) cooled to 68 degrees in 8 minutes, both produced condensation on the outside of our SS converted keg/keggle. The mixer fits perfectly in the middle of the corney diameter size chiller. I drained our wort and pitched. The best part is i move the mixer from the bucket of starsan into the keggle with my wort chiller during the last 15 minutes to let the boil kill anything just in case. As soon as the burner is shut off I turn on the mixer and my partner hits the garden hose faucet and I right away start chilling, I dont have to wait for my pump to make a whirlpool(which I hear can take people up to 5 minutes possibly if their technique is not sound)

the mixer has a 20.5 inch shaft which is long enough to give you comfortable working room while running it in your wort. I found ours on ebay for about $45 shipped. The model you will want is the ps-1, if you really need more power theres a 10-15 gal but we found the ps1 does fine with 15 gal of wort since it is made for higher viscous liquid like paint and other industrial food processing. Note on the drill motor:the shaft diameter is 1/2" so youll need a 1/2" chuck, my dewalt 18 volt cordless does fine and my buddies ryobe corded 2 speed also fits.