3 Gallon eBIAB Chilling

[enormous13]

Hey Everyone,

I've got an eBIAB system that I'm doing 2.5-3 gallon batches on, and I need a chilling solution. Now, I had my heart set on something from JaDed Brewing, but after talking with them and considering my kettle dimensions/available space, they were very honest and advised me that anything they could customize just wouldn't provide results satisfactory for their price point.

So, that leaves CFCs and plate chillers. I'm not a fan of plate chillers at all, so let's not even consider those. As for CFCs, what's everyone here recommend? Only CFC I'm familiar with is the Exchillerator. What kind of chilling times could I expect on 3 gallons with my Orlando, FL ground water (~80*). I'm mostly interested in getting the entire batch temperature down as quickly as an immersion chiller would.

Thanks for the help!

 

[ODI3]

Hey Everyone,

I've got an eBIAB system that I'm doing 2.5-3 gallon batches on, and I need a chilling solution. Now, I had my heart set on something from JaDed Brewing, but after talking with them and considering my kettle dimensions/available space, they were very honest and advised me that anything they could customize just wouldn't provide results satisfactory for their price point.

So, that leaves CFCs and plate chillers. I'm not a fan of plate chillers at all, so let's not even consider those. As for CFCs, what's everyone here recommend? Only CFC I'm familiar with is the Exchillerator. What kind of chilling times could I expect on 3 gallons with my Orlando, FL ground water (~80*). I'm mostly interested in getting the entire batch temperature down as quickly as an immersion chiller would.

Thanks for the help!

At 3 gallons, i would just fill your sink, and put your kettle in the sink. Maybe freeze some water bottles, spray them and toss them in when wort gets to warm temp from sink. If u want to use a. Immersion chiller, a short 1/2 or 3/8 would work fine. Cfc or playe seems overkill to me

 

[enormous13]

At 3 gallons, i would just fill your sink, and put your kettle in the sink. Maybe freeze some water bottles, spray them and toss them in when wort gets to warm temp from sink. If u want to use a. Immersion chiller, a short 1/2 or 3/8 would work fine. Cfc or playe seems overkill to me

It's an eBIAB kettle, so I have the electrical element mounted to the kettle in the side wall near the bottom. Can't submerse that.

 

[MakeDankBeer]

I currently do 2.5-3ga batches with

https://www.morebeer.com/products/w...MIpd6167HE2gIVgcDACh2cMwyCEAQYASABEgL0gfD_BwE

the wort enters at cfc 200° and leaves at whatever your ground water temp is. Considering your ground water is 80° I'm not sure how effective it would be. You would have to run a pre-chiller to chill the water going so, a pump would be needed.

 

[enormous13]

I currently do 2.5-3ga batches with

https://www.morebeer.com/products/w...MIpd6167HE2gIVgcDACh2cMwyCEAQYASABEgL0gfD_BwE

the wort enters at cfc 200° and leaves at whatever your ground water temp is. Considering your ground water is 80° I'm not sure how effective it would be. You would have to run a pre-chiller to chill the water going so, a pump would be needed.

Yeah, figured with any kind of chiller I'd be using my 65qt. cooler full of ice water with a submersible pump to push that water through the chiller.

 

[enormous13]

Two of the most frequently mentioned options I'm finding are the Exchilerator and the JaDed Cyclone CFC.

The exchilerator has me worried with the PEX construction. 5 years from now, that stuff could totally deteriorate and who knows if they'll honor the warranty, or still be around.

The Cyclone is more robust, but damn is it huge. I'm also reading that chilling times aren't nearly as quick.

 

[Crice]

I picked up a CFC off of Amazon for around $100. NY Brew supply I believe it was, rubber hose on the outside, copper on the insde. Works surprisingly well for the $$$ 5 gallons to just above ground water temps in about 6 minutes.

 

[Bobby_M]

Even an immersion chiller made with 25' of 1/4" copper is going to pretty fast in 3 gallons and you can coil it small enough to sit on the side of the element rather than on top of it.

 

[enormous13]

Even an immersion chiller made with 25' of 1/4" copper is going to pretty fast in 3 gallons and you can coil it small enough to sit on the side of the element rather than on top of it.

I have to ask, Bobby, about the chiller sitting on top of the element portion of your comment. JaDed mentioned something similar. I realize you probably don't want to support the entire weight of the chiller with the element, but is it ok to just barely rest up against it? What's the negative outcome here?

 

[Bobby_M]

It's not the weight I'm concerned with, it's the large volume of beer that doesn't get touched. My chiller sits on top but it's a big flat pancake that doesn't stick out of the wort.

 

[mongoose33]

How big is your kettle, and how much wort is above the heating element? A 25-foot immersion chiller would be more than adequate for this provided it can be submerged in the wort. Just stir.

Since you're looking at a CFC whose price point is $150, and you'd need a pump to go along with it, price point not determined, maybe the better solution is a new kettle? Could you use the same element in a new kettle, and get a plug for the old one so it could be used for something else?

Another solution is simply pouring the wort from the e-kettle into one that has no element, and use an immersion chiller there. Using a dipper to move that wort would make it safer than trying to pour 3+ gallons of boiling wort. Or you could add a port to the bottom of your e-kettle and use that to drain/rack into something into which an immersion chiller would fit.

Sometimes the best solution is not finding something to fit our existing equipment; it's changing the existing equipment so we can use what we want.

Anyway, good luck.

 

[enormous13]

It's not the weight I'm concerned with, it's the large volume of beer that doesn't get touched. My chiller sits on top but it's a big flat pancake that doesn't stick out of the wort.

I was thinking of this "flat pancake" idea since my wort level isn't very high. I guess Jaded couldn't get one of their King Cobras down to 12" diameter, but is yours something similar?

 

[cubalz]

NY Brew Supply makes a nice stainless steel immersion chiller that is sized perfectly for 3 gallon batches. Check out their website.

 

[enormous13]

How big is your kettle, and how much wort is above the heating element? A 25-foot immersion chiller would be more than adequate for this provided it can be submerged in the wort. Just stir.

Since you're looking at a CFC whose price point is $150, and you'd need a pump to go along with it, price point not determined, maybe the better solution is a new kettle? Could you use the same element in a new kettle, and get a plug for the old one so it could be used for something else?

Another solution is simply pouring the wort from the e-kettle into one that has no element, and use an immersion chiller there. Using a dipper to move that wort would make it safer than trying to pour 3+ gallons of boiling wort. Or you could add a port to the bottom of your e-kettle and use that to drain/rack into something into which an immersion chiller would fit.

Sometimes the best solution is not finding something to fit our existing equipment; it's changing the existing equipment so we can use what we want.

Anyway, good luck.

Kettle is an 8 gallon MegaPot 1.2 (12.5" ID), with my regular batches of 2.5 gallons (more like 2.75 gallons to account for losses, trub, etc.) that gives me just under 5 inches of liquid depth. The top of the element is an inch high from the bottom of the kettle, so I've got 4 inches of liquid space to work with.

Already have a Mark II pump in the system, so that's paid for. As for the kettle, with my batch size, the taller/not wider kettle is about the only one I could find that'd fit the length of an electric element, but still was narrow enough to keep liquid levels as high as possible. I'd really rather not invest in another kettle. I've considered moving to a 3500 watt induction burner, but no one has seemed to find one that'll run off a PID/EZboil controller. If I could do that, then I may consider a new kettle if I could find one skinnier and taller than my current one (like 10-11" W - we're talking like Grainfather shaped).

These are all good ideas, except for that I'm constricted to a pretty small space, and adding more kettles and more equipment is a tough sell.

 

[enormous13]

NY Brew Supply makes a nice stainless steel immersion chiller that is sized perfectly for 3 gallon batches. Check out their website.

I'm not seeing anything on their site, could you please link it?

Shortest one I see is the SS 3/8" x 25', which comes in at 6" tall. That'd leave 1/3 of it above my liquid line.

 

[cubalz]

That is the one my buddy uses for 3 gallon. All we did was take thick natural colored zip ties and draw the coils closer together. Not touching each other but closer and it cools really nicely.

 

[enormous13]

That is the one my buddy uses for 3 gallon. All we did was take thick natural colored zip ties and draw the coils closer together. Not touching each other but closer and it cools really nicely.

Gotcha, yeah I was thinking you could do something like that with the open available space between each coil.

 

[mongoose33]

I'm not seeing anything on their site, could you please link it?

Shortest one I see is the SS 3/8" x 25', which comes in at 6" tall. That'd leave 1/3 of it above my liquid line.

That isn't necessarily a terrible thing. I've cooled 5.5-gallon batches with a 25' x 3/8" coil, and that worked. In your case it would be 2/3 of the effectiveness, but in about half the wort. It would work at least as well as mine in a full batch.

 

[enormous13]

So, after pushing a little bit and numerous emails, JaDed customized one of their Hydras for me. The Hydras are usually 8" tall/12" wide at the coils. JaDed was able to get a custom version down to 5" tall and 11" wide for me!

I'll still have about a half-inch to inch of unsubmerged coils for my 2.5 gallon batches, but 3 gallons and up will just about start to completely submerge it. I haven't gotten a chance to use it yet, I've got some tubing and fittings on the way still, but I can't wait to try it out.

They also built a custom "stand" for the Hydra for me, since I have an element in the bottom of my kettle. They absolutely nailed the specs I sent them, down to the sixteenth of an inch. Very impressed with the build.

Just wanted to report back on the outcome.