Wort Chiller Questions

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Mjkielec

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Hey Gang, I'm new to this home brewing thing and doing my first 5 gallon brew in 2 weeks. I've been doing some MR. Beer recipes for the past 3 months and slowly straying from the Mr. Beer rules to do more advanced stuff (second fermentation, racking from one vessel to another, priming instead of loading each bottle, etc.)

I feel pretty comfortable and just bought a beautiful 8 gallon megapot with a nice thermometer attached to it. I'm debating whether to get a wort cooler and I see a very possible problem in the future....

The thermometer for the megapot sticks out about half way into the pot. Most wort chillers look like they take up a large chunk of the pot. My pot is about 15" across and the thermometer uses about half that diameter.

Is it possible to put a wort cooler in there still? I'm seeing now that it may have been better to use a removable thermometer. I may transfer the boil to another vessel with the wort cooler in it to cool it down. (The megapot has a ball valve, too.) Extra work but it may be the only feasible way.

Input/advice?

Thanks!
Mark:rockin:

----------------
Now playing: Dave Matthews Band - JTR
 
My pot is about 15" across and the thermometer uses about half that diameter.

So there is a probe that goes into the center of the pot? Just trying to picture it. The chiller I bought on eBay is 9" in diameter, the height of the coils and spacing is adjustable since it's soft copper you can just carefully bend it.

Another option you may want to look into would be a plate chiller, that would chill the beer as you passed it through the device.
 
Is it like this guy?
image_2384.jpg


You might want to buy/trade for counterflow wort chiller. From my understanding you will connect a hose from the ball valve to the wort chiller (input) and then the output goes into your fermenter.

Here is a counterflow that it recommended for your case: http://www.austinhomebrew.com/produ...10458&osCsid=bd5a8d718c1927fd77337c76a036c58e
 
Congrats on the boil kettle purchase! RugerRedhawk is right, most immersion chillers for 5 gallons are around a 9" diameter. You can build your own chiller to ensure it fits, this is what I did for my Blichmann. I didn't want to solder so I used worm clamps to attach the hoses. You'll need a pipe bender ($20) at home depot.
 
Or you can buy the hand-bendable copper pipe at Home Depot. It's not that much more expensive. That's what I did - and attached the tubing directly to the copper (we wrapped it around an OxyClean container to have a pattern).

Then you just need an attachment for your sink and you're good to go.
 
Thanks all for your quick and helpful responses. I'm not the best handyman so I think I'll be going with the counterflow.

That is the kettle and yes the thermometer sticks out like a probe ~6" into the kettle. Not enough room for a non custom wort cooler. I'm getting a little leak out of the thermometer but I think some extra Teflon tape will help with that. Really looking forward to brew day next sat.

Thanks again!
Mark
 
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