Apartment brewing re: chilling

[erock2112]

Hey all,

I'm returning to the hobby after a 2-year hiatus due to dietary changes and a new, less brew-friendly apartment. I'm re-introducing beer because, well, I want it, and I'm looking for a solution to the apartment situation.

I do 5.5 gallon all-grain batches (batch sparge) using a 10-gallon cooler MLT, 7.5 gallon kettle, and a turkey fryer burner. I use an immersion chiller to cool the wort.

There's a common patio area where I could probably brew at my apartment (I'd need to ask permission, assure management of legality, etc). I could also probably get away with brewing on my balcony without being seen. The big issue is that there's no spigot anywhere outside. I'd need to haul a lot of water around in order to make it work, and I'm particularly worried about chilling without having running water. I'm aware that a lot of brewers have good results with no-chill brewing, but I really like my cold break and the reduced risk of infection.

So what do I do? Bucket of ice water and a pump? Carry the hot kettle inside and hook the chiller up to the sink faucet?

I do have a friend who doesn't mind me coming over to brew. We make a day of it - grill, drink beer, etc. But I want to brew more often than I'm comfortable inviting myself over. Plus, hauling all of the equipment around is a bit of a pain.

 

[Rockn_M]

You could do the brew in a bag method. This way you can do it on your stove top or in the balcony without having to lug around do much water. Then chill with a sink full of ice or the no chill method.

 

[jtratcliff]

You do get a cold break with no chill... It just forms more slowly and is usually finer sized particles... There was a photo on here a few months ago showing a floating brain-like blob of cold break material floating in a clear container.

If you seal up you no-chill container after adding hot wort, the container is sanitized and there's minimal chance of infection... No worse than pumping/pouring chilled wort into an open fermenter, possibly better.

I do stovetop and overnight chill in the kettle. It works out fine for me.

 

[aviator01]

Pond pump and a bucket of ice water should do the trick with your immersion chiller. You'll want to start with just cool water to circulate to drop the temps, then swap out with fresh cool water and add the ice to pull the temps down the rest of the way.

 

[erock2112]

@Rockn_M: I'd really like to change my process as little as possible. I'm not opposed to BIAB, but it is a big change. I guess I'd be carrying less water overall, but it doesn't really solve the chilling problem.

@aviator01: Do you have a recommendation? It looks like there are some pretty inexpensive pumps available: http://www.amazon.com/b?node=13764351

 

[Onkel_Udo]

@aviator01: Do you have a recommendation? It looks like there are some pretty inexpensive pumps available: http://www.amazon.com/b?node=13764351

Anything with enough head to get from your bucket of ice water to the top point of the immersion chiller. The truth is, you don't have to have that much head but it makes like so much easier. Harbor freight carries them as well.

As far as flow rate, you only need a tiny amount because slow moving water has an almost 100% efficiency.

Consider using frozen jugs over bulk ice.

 

[aviator01]

I use this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EQ6MC32/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I picked it up as a lightning deal for under $9. It seems to work well for recirculating purposes.

If you're interested in using the pump as a carboy cleaner as well, I'd go with 400-600 GPH pump. This one might be good: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006M6MU90/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[erock2112]

Thanks for the recommendations! This pump looked good and was inexpensive, so I went for it: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002JPIQ1Y/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I'll report back when it arrives.

 

[aviator01]

That should be a great pump for recirculating and for a carboy cleaner.

My carboy/keg cleaner is just a simple pvc pip assembly screwed into the top of the pump and then just dropped into a 5 gal bucket of PBW. Works like a champ. I've seen far more complicated versions on here, but my simple build works great

Good luck with your chilling adventures.

 

[erock2112]

Cool, thanks! I liked the idea of double duty.

 

[brewguyver]

For reference, I just put the garden hose adapter on my kitchen faucet then run a line to the chiller and back to the sink. Works well since I live in Pittsburgh (cold groundwater) and I already have camlocks on everything (sometimes use my ic as a herms).

A pump is much more environmentally friendly, and doesn't require as many paranoid "am I flooding the house" checks.

 

[dyqik]

For reference, I just put the garden hose adapter on my kitchen faucet then run a line to the chiller and back to the sink. Works well since I live in Pittsburgh (cold groundwater) and I already have camlocks on everything (sometimes use my ic as a herms).

A pump is much more environmentally friendly, and doesn't require as many paranoid "am I flooding the house" checks.

For those with modern designer taps: I can't get an adapter to fit my sink faucet, so I'm now using a submersible pump in a plastic tub sitting in the sink with my CFC in the kitchen. I can use less water as I can recirculate at the start of chilling (I recirculate through the CFC back to the kettle to trap the trub), then turn the faucet on to supply ice cold tap water (thanks Boston winter) as the temperature drops. My pond pump is pretty weedy compared to the one linked above - I'd go for that one if I bought again, although it's twice the price.



Or I guess I could just leave the plastic tub outside where the it'll probably be snowing hard enough to supply all the cooling water I need. The snow piles outside are getting close to needing avalanche control teams.

 

[erock2112]

Yesterday I hooked the pump up to my 50 ft 3/8" OD copper chiller and found that it took 5:15 to pump 2.5 gal of water. That's about 0.48 GPM, which is a little more than a trickle. So far, not impressed.

I brewed on the balcony today, having left three 5-gallon buckets full of water outside over night. They had ice on top this morning, and by chilling time they were right at 34F. The pump got me down to 63F in 25 minutes with me agitating the wort with the chiller almost continuously. That's a lot better than I expected, given the low flow rate.

So I'm not sure what the verdict is. Today was a success, though it took twice as long to chill as the last time I used hose water. I'm not sure how it'll work in the summer when 15 gallons of ice cold water aren't as readily available. Those of you who are using pond pumps like this, are you seeing similar flow rates through a chiller? I'm wondering if I should step up to a higher GPH pond pump (the same company makes one rated at 1000 GPH) or even to a March or Chugger pump. Today's article was timely

 

[jtratcliff]

I think you can get a step up from pond pump off e-bay for under $20... before you make the leap to a chugger or march....


EG http://www.ebay.com/itm/5M-16-4FT-H...208?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a9c277ad0

there are threads here on HBT that talk about the merits of these different cheapies...

 

[Onkel_Udo]

I'm not sure how it'll work in the summer when 15 gallons of ice cold water aren't as readily available. Those of you who are using pond pumps like this, are you seeing similar flow rates through a chiller?

Your temperature differential is more important that flow rate. My pump averages about .5 gpm. With ice water I chill 11 gallons in about 25 minutes or with the mor economical frozen jugs, about 30-35 minutes. Does not change much winter or summer. If you cannot fit big jugs in your freezer, I think you can fit lots of pint water bottles in the spaces in between.

 

[erock2112]

Your temperature differential is more important that flow rate.

Thanks, that's what I was hoping. I never really did better than 25 mins with hose water in the summer, so if I can get close without needing the hose, I'll be in good shape.