Immersion or counter flow?

So after a year of partial mash brewing I am finally upgrading. The guy I am buying the equipment from is selling the immersion and the counter flow for 60 each. Wondering which would be the better deal.

Is the counter flow more efficent? Are they harder to clean?

I would go for the counterflow. Immersion chillers are dead easy to build and for way less than $60. Counterflows are a little more involved to build and will probably run around that in materials (guessing).

I'm pondering building a CFC this weekend, but haven't used one before so can't comment on how easy they are or aren't to clean, but most people seem to manage okay. They are much more efficient at cooling than an immersion and are a good way to knock some minutes off your brewday.

Baron von BeeGee said:

I would go for the counterflow. Immersion chillers are dead easy to build and for way less than $60. .

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Even if you wanted to buy one already made... stores are selling Immersion chillers for like $30 to at most $40.

Counterflows can be a real pain to clean. Is this home-made or commercial items made of SS? If it is SS, you can use some really nasty stuff for cleaning.

I disgree on the pain in the ass to clean statement concerning counterflow chillers. I use one and in fact went right from the stick it in ice water to a counterflow method and haven't looked back.
I rinse mine with HOT water right after use and then befoe use also and then I sanitize with Iodine solution. I have made many brews and not had any off flavors or infections to date. Oh and this thing is quick to cool, it cools as fast as I can run the wort through it.

I agree on the CFC, dead simple to use and super efficient. I'm currently putting a little how-to together on how to build one with no soldering involved, unlike the BYO version.

Chairman Cheyco said:

I'm currently putting a little how-to together on how to build one with no soldering involved, unlike the BYO version.

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Chop chop!

Yeah, I'd be interested in some good plans for one. I would really like to have a CFC. Also a new grain mill, bigger kettle, and bigger mash tun.

And HUGE pectoral muscles.

personally i've used nothing other than an imersion chiller - 50' of 5/8" copper. it fits the bill nicely - cools down 15 gallons of wort in around 10 minutes - and clean up is a dip back into the star san solution i make every brew day in the sink - and hang on the wall upside down to drain. it's prob paranoia - but i've heard other more experienced brewers comment that they can't inside the cfc and therefore how does one really know it's clean. i feel the same way which is why i haven't investigated one.

then again how could you not love the manly nature of the mega chiller:

15 gallons in 10minutes? From boiling? Woah.. Takes me about 20 minutes to do 5 gallons with an immersion.

Another advantage to using a plastic bucket for the primary: throw about 7 lbs of ice into the bucket and pour the hot wort onto the ice via a screen and you've got cooled, aerated beer just waiting for some water to top it off and some yeast to make it into what it wants to become.

The chiller might improve clarity, but my beer tastes perfectly fine even if it's a bit cloudy sometimes.

I went counterflow, no real specific reason why, but it's cake to clean. I followed the BYO plans and didnt use any soldering at all. In fact IIRC they told you to use a glue like JB Weld and never mentioned soldering. I rinse it VERY well after I'm done brewing. I also make some extra sparge water and run that through it then while I boil I empty my carboy of it's star san by siphoning it through the chiller.

15 gallons in 10minutes? From boiling? Woah.. Takes me about 20 minutes to do 5 gallons with an immersion.

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yeah but is your chiller 50 feet worth? 50 feet is a crapton.

50' of 5/8 copper yes - ok ok truth be told it's probably about 47'

i'm not familiar with the term crapton unless you're saying it's a lot.

mysterio said:

15 gallons in 10minutes? From boiling? Woah.. Takes me about 20 minutes to do 5 gallons with an immersion.

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I'm with you. Takes me around 15 minutes.

Look at the size of that guy's pipe.

Wait... did I just say that?

Crapton = sh!tload

I like my immersion chiller. Yes it takes longer than CFC's (Brewhead's Monster sized chiller the exception) but the ease of cleaning can't be beat. Just drop it in the wort during the last couple mins of boil and you're sanitized. Rinse it off for a couple secs afterwards and you're done. No messing around with Star- San or anything like that.

I'm still trying to decide on what chiller to use... I'm thinking about going with a double immersion chiller so I can use an ice bath as well and really cool things down... it gets hot enough in Alabama that hose water is in the high 80s, so even with a CFC I'd need an immersion chiller to drop in the ice bath during the summer (that's what several of the guys in my club do, immersion in ice bath to pre-chill the water before it hits the CFC)

Anyone else using 2 immersion chillers or an immersion CFC combo???

later,
mikey

I didn't think the original question posed was which is easier to use, but rather which is a better value for $60. I haven't seen many $60 immersion chillers, but I could be surprised. I know if I was an AG brewer laying out $60 in either case, I'd definitely go CFC and chill in half the time or less.

brewhead said:

personally i've used nothing other than an imersion chiller - 50' of 5/8" copper. it fits the bill nicely - cools down 15 gallons of wort in around 10 minutes [/IMG]

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My sentiments exactly, KISS is a great guide
no expense/care/cleaning for another pump too!

Hey Brewhead, what do you cool with? well water? what temp and how much?

I use ~20 gal of 64°F well water, thru ~20' of 3/8" copper tubing to cool 4.75 gal wort from boiling to 78°F in 15 min.