CFC hose used at 140* for strike water

[phoenixs4r]

I'm trying to reduce my brew day length, the easiest way I can see at this point is to run HOT water to my brewery, which currently consists of only cold water from a hose. This will allow me to start with hot water for the strike/sparge water, as well as let me clean much better since I'll have hot water.

I'm curious if I use the rubber hoses like the DIY CFC builds use, will the water traveling through it and coming out at near 140* still be potable? I know nothing about hot water and whatever the hose is made out of. The hose would need to be about 7 feet long and I'd frankly rather not run copper as it's a rental and copper is expensive.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[aquenne]

This is somewhat off topic to your question, but depending on the age and type of water heater you have, you may not want to use it in your brewing process due to sediment or other particulate which are not desirable.

This comes from a cooks point of view, normally they would start with cold water for that reason, in brewing, who knows.. just thought i would throw it out there. There is nothing worse than trying to troubleshoot some odd ball off flavour only to find out its coming from your hot water heater.

 

[phoenixs4r]

This is somewhat off topic to your question, but depending on the age and type of water heater you have, you may not want to use it in your brewing process due to sediment or other particulate which are not desirable.

This comes from a cooks point of view, normally they would start with cold water for that reason, in brewing, who knows.. just thought i would throw it out there. There is nothing worse than trying to troubleshoot some odd ball off flavour only to find out its coming from your hot water heater.

That is a good point.

 

[outside92129]

I have a friend who does it to cut down on brewing days and his beer comes out great. He uses non-food grade hose (lead content??) but one can easily find food grade hoses/silicone/etc.

 

[jtlawlor]

RV hoses are cheap and food grade - well at least for potable water. Not sure on its rating on temp though.

I have also thought of this - but I know if I boil some of my hot water in a pot on the stove - then cool it - it leave a pretty obvious ring around the pot.

I guess it would be a decent test for your water too - boil heated water, cool, then drink it. Taste okay - I say go for it.

John.

 

[phoenixs4r]

I have a friend who does it to cut down on brewing days and his beer comes out great. He uses non-food grade hose (lead content??) but one can easily find food grade hoses/silicone/etc.

I think the price differential between a silicone hose and just running copper would be negligible, on top of the the fact silicone hose isn't rated for pressure is it?

RV hoses are cheap and food grade - well at least for potable water. Not sure on its rating on temp though.

I have also thought of this - but I know if I boil some of my hot water in a pot on the stove - then cool it - it leave a pretty obvious ring around the pot.

I guess it would be a decent test for your water too - boil heated water, cool, then drink it. Taste okay - I say go for it.

John.

I will ultimately have to try this me thinks. If not I'll have to invest switching my HLT to electric and just set it on a timer, which seems like a damn good idea anyways. I already have plans to feed the waste water from the immersion chiller back into the mash tun for boil kettle cleaning.

 

[Dan]

If you are considering copper but don't want to lay out the cash, PEX tubing might be a cheap alternative. http://www.plumbingnetworks.com/info/pex-copper/

 

[phoenixs4r]

If you are considering copper but don't want to lay out the cash, PEX tubing might be a cheap alternative. http://www.plumbingnetworks.com/info/pex-copper/

I did look into this but I think the tool needed to crimp the stuff costs more than then copper needed.

 

[Dan]

Thats to bad. The link I sent did mention something about special tools but I didn't research them. Sorry about that.

 

[phoenixs4r]

Thats to bad. The link I sent did mention something about special tools but I didn't research them. Sorry about that.

All good. I'll probably end up going the PEX route once I find a friend that has the damn tool.

 

[TwoDogBrew]

All good. I'll probably end up going the PEX route once I find a friend that has the damn tool.

Pex also has compression fittings and the tool is not required.. Lowes and HomeDepot carry a range of sizes. I Used to add a wash tub in a garden room a couple years ago and still have no issues on hot or cold lines.

 

[phoenixs4r]

Pex also has compression fittings and the tool is not required.. Lowes and HomeDepot carry a range of sizes. I Used to add a wash tub in a garden room a couple years ago and still have no issues on hot or cold lines.

Oh very interesting. I'll have to check those out.