I have been extract brewing up until now and just cooled my wort in a ice bath to get temps down. I just purchased a Mash and Boil and need to use another method to cool wort. I have a well for my water source and don't want to run my water for long periods of time just to waste it. Looking for some ideas from others that might have the same dilemma.
Best water efficient way to cool wort.
- Thread starter tgunn137
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I pour about 8 gallons of water into a plastic bin and then add 8 or 9 frozen juice bottles to the water bath and then stick a pond pump in that and hook up a copper immersion chiller to the pond pump and recirculate until the wort is in the 60s or 70s. I don't add the first 4 to 5 gallons of hot water to the ice bath, I just leave it in a bucket to cool. I add a cap full of bleach to the water to the water in the bin to try and keep it from molding.
I have seen on you tube, where they filled a cooler with ice water, used a small pump, and ran it through a chiller. They had the return go back into the cooler. They had to dump some ice ( or you could use the reusable ice packs, which I think they were using.) to cool the water down.
No chill uses doesn't use any water which is going to be hard to beat from a water efficiency standpoint. Otherwise, an immersion chiller with a recirculating system as redpappy mentions is pretty efficient.
Also realize you don't have to just discard the water with any water-based system. You can collect it and use it to wash dishes, clothes, bathe your kids, fill up the toilet, water plants ... or even drink ... but if I wanted to drink water I wouldn't be making beer.
Also realize you don't have to just discard the water with any water-based system. You can collect it and use it to wash dishes, clothes, bathe your kids, fill up the toilet, water plants ... or even drink ... but if I wanted to drink water I wouldn't be making beer.
You can always run the water from a chiller into a tub or cooler, then use that lukewarm water to wash your boil kettle/coil/stir stick/etc...
cyberbackpacker
Well-Known Member
The most efficient way is to reuse the water for other purposes once you are done!
For me, the first thing I do is I take the heated run-off water and fill my washing machine to run a large load of laundry.
By the time the washing machine is full, the wort has been chilled enough where I then add ice to the chilling water and recirculate the run off.
At the end of chilling some of the remaining run-off water gets used for clean up, and the rest gets stored in a barrel for the next time I brew to be used to chill again.
For me, the first thing I do is I take the heated run-off water and fill my washing machine to run a large load of laundry.
By the time the washing machine is full, the wort has been chilled enough where I then add ice to the chilling water and recirculate the run off.
At the end of chilling some of the remaining run-off water gets used for clean up, and the rest gets stored in a barrel for the next time I brew to be used to chill again.
bobeer
Fermentation Specalist
I second the no chill method. Been doing it for years with no issues. I made an immersion chiller maybe 6 years ago but I hated cleaning it and a plate chiller just uses too many hoses. With no chill I just take it off the burner and let it cool. If you have whirlpool hops you wait 15 mins or so then put them in. I think you get more flavor out of them this way too.
Out of Curiosity how long does it take the wort to get down to temp and what size? I have used a wort chiller since day one, ( with the cold weather) it takes me about 10-15 min with a 3 gal boil ( extract)
bobeer
Fermentation Specalist
Well it depends how cold it is outside. The last time I did it it was about 15 degrees F and it took about 3.5 hours to get to 70 degrees. I also kept the wort in the kettle because I figure it cools faster in stainless steel rather than in a plastic bucket. In the summer I leave it on the stove over night and it's good to transfer and pitch by morning.
i use a 10 gallon cooler filled with ice water and recirculate thru my immersion chiller with a utility pump, and use the water to clean..probably not the most efficient but works for me..i used to use cold tap water but i used like 30 + gallons probably and it all went down the drain
mirthfuldragon
Well-Known Member
Not quite an answer to the OP's question, but I use the cooling water to top off my rain barrels and then to water my hops - it is the circle of beer.
Aaron Beers
Well-Known Member
As others have said, use an immersion chiller and feed it with cold liquid. Rather than that cold liquid being water from your well/tap, you can use ice, which will have more chilling ability than the same amount of water. Further, compressors use electricity to cool, so you can get an aquarium chiller or glycol chiller and configure those in to your system to chill the same water recirculating through the immersion chiller.
This is effectively what I do. In the summer here the hose water is probably >80 deg, so it's not feasible to chill to [or close to] pitching temps. And any time of year, if I'm brewing a lager, I can't chill it all the way using hose water.
So I'll recirculate the boil kettle one way through my counterflow chiller while running hose water through the other way until I get it down to 100-120 deg F. Once I'm there, I'll fill the mash tun with ice water and then recirculate that through the other way in the chiller. This way I can get easily down to ale pitching temps, or with more time, take it all the way down to lager pitching temp.
I generally fill gallon ziplock freezer bags full of water and allow them to fully freeze over several days before brewing. That way I don't have to buy ice. Often if I were to buy ice, I'd be buying 2x 20# bags, which adds up over a year of brewing.
Carolina_Matt
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I haven't tried this yet, since I've only brewed three batches and I've done extract with cold top-off water, but this seems like it would work. Fill a two liter bottle with water, then put it in a Foodsaver bag and vacuum seal it. Repeat that a few times, and put them all in the freezer.
When you're done with the boil, spray the ice bags with Star San and put them directly into the wort. The foodsaver bags are BPA free and food safe (they're often used for Sous Vide), so I don't see any risk of damaging the wort. By putting them directly into the wort instead of using an ice bath, it should cool it down much quicker.
When you're done with the boil, spray the ice bags with Star San and put them directly into the wort. The foodsaver bags are BPA free and food safe (they're often used for Sous Vide), so I don't see any risk of damaging the wort. By putting them directly into the wort instead of using an ice bath, it should cool it down much quicker.
A plate chiller will be your most efficient chiller.
This chiller will use 13 gallons to cool a 10 gallon brew in just a few minutes:
http://www.dudadiesel.com/choose_item.php?id=HX115120
Yes it is over $2K, but you did ask for the most efficient available in terms of water use.
Also check this out, you should be able to find a happy medium for price vs efficiency:
http://www.dudadiesel.com/files/beerwortchart.pdf
This chiller will use 13 gallons to cool a 10 gallon brew in just a few minutes:
http://www.dudadiesel.com/choose_item.php?id=HX115120
Yes it is over $2K, but you did ask for the most efficient available in terms of water use.
Also check this out, you should be able to find a happy medium for price vs efficiency:
http://www.dudadiesel.com/files/beerwortchart.pdf
