Chilling the Wort question

[Lperes27]

Hi guys,

I've been looking everywhere for options to have my wort chilled to inoculation temp. for my new kettle that I recently bought and I'm really in doubt on which way should I follow. Thus, I ask you for your help/opinion.

As seen in the picture attached, my old boil kettle was 32L/8.45gl made of aluminum and I used an aluminum immersion chiller which gets almost the same diameter as the kettle (4cm/1.5in from the wall).

The new kettle holds 95L/25gl (50cm/19.6in diameter) and is made of 304 stainless steel. Evidently, I'm not willing to use the same aluminum as it is certainly insufficient to cool down the wort properly.

So, I've tought on the following options:

1. A new immersion chiller made out of stainless steel (I brew kettle sours, so aluminum is not a option), with something around 45cm/17.7in diameter
2. Counterflow chiller
3. Plate chiller

Naturally, each one has it own cons/pros and I'm currently leaning toward immersion chiller, mostly because is the way I'm already used to. However, I've never brewed this volume so I'm uncertain of the cooling efficiency.

What are your toughts?

 

[CodeSection]

When I switched from five gallon batches using a 8.5G BK to 10 gallon batches using a 20G BK, I switched from using an IC to a CFC. The CFC is so much faster in cooling! It cools 12.5G of wort literally in minutes (I whirlpool first before transferring to the fermenter) as opposed to when I was cooling 6G wort using an IC and taking 45-50 minutes.

My recommendation is to buy the CFC and get QC to make it easier to attach hoses. You will be glad you did.

 

[Lperes27]

When I switched from five gallon batches using a 8.5G BK to 10 gallon batches using a 20G BK, I switched from using an IC to a CFC. The CFC is so much faster in cooling! It cools 12.5G of wort literally in minutes (I whirlpool first before transferring to the fermenter) as opposed to when I was cooling 6G wort using an IC and taking 45-50 minutes.

My recommendation is to buy the CFC and get QC to make it easier to attach hoses. You will be glad you did.

Hi Code,

Thanks for the recommendation! I kept up reading, specially in BYO, and the more I read I realize that CFC should be the way to go.

Two silly questions that I couldn't find the proper answer yet:

Do you transfer from the BK through the CFC directly to the fermenter or you recirculate to the BK again until you reach the desired temp?

Also, what about the cold break trub? Since the chilling is happening inside the chiller tube, how you get rid of it?

 

[CodeSection]

I recirculate through the CFC back into the BK until I reach the desired temperature. In most cases that occurs in about 12-15 minutes. In the summer, the ground water only lowers the wort to about 80-82 F. Once it gets to that temperature, I recirculate using a five gallon ice bucket until I reach the desired temperature.

The whirlpool affect helps build a trub cone, especially if I throw hops directly in the BK. Many would argue I should just cool through the CFC and go directly to the fermenter.

In my process the cold break stays in the the BK. If you transfer directly to the fermenter, yes, the cold break will occur and during the transfer end up in the fermenter where it will eventually fall to the bottom along with dead yeast and hops.

Some Brewers believe removing the cold break before transferring to the fermenter makes for better flavor and taste. Others say having the cold break in the fermenter is flavor neutral. However, they say it helps with a faster fermentation.

 

[Vale71]

Also, what about the cold break trub? Since the chilling is happening inside the chiller tube, how you get rid of it?

Don't worry about cold break material. You cannot really separate it with homebrew equipment so it's all going to end up in the fermenter anyway.

 

[Blazinlow86]

I recirculate through the CFC back into the BK until I reach the desired temperature. In most cases that occurs in about 12-15 minutes. In the summer, the ground water only lowers the wort to about 80-82 F. Once it gets to that temperature, I recirculate using a five gallon ice bucket until I reach the desired temperature.

The whirlpool affect helps build a trub cone, especially if I throw hops directly in the BK. Many would argue I should just cool through the CFC and go directly to the fermenter.

In my process the cold break stays in the the BK. If you transfer directly to the fermenter, yes, the cold break will occur and during the transfer end up in the fermenter where it will eventually fall to the bottom along with dead yeast and hops.

Some Brewers believe removing the cold break before transferring to the fermenter makes for better flavor and taste. Others say having the cold break in the fermenter is flavor neutral. However, they say it helps with a faster fermentation.

I do the same and it works great. Additionally if you brew lots of neipas or anything with alot of whirlpool hops its great for that. I upgraded to a 1/2id chiller which also helped chill faster. Cheers

 

[Lperes27]

I recirculate through the CFC back into the BK until I reach the desired temperature. In most cases that occurs in about 12-15 minutes. In the summer, the ground water only lowers the wort to about 80-82 F. Once it gets to that temperature, I recirculate using a five gallon ice bucket until I reach the desired temperature.

The whirlpool affect helps build a trub cone, especially if I throw hops directly in the BK. Many would argue I should just cool through the CFC and go directly to the fermenter.

In my process the cold break stays in the the BK. If you transfer directly to the fermenter, yes, the cold break will occur and during the transfer end up in the fermenter where it will eventually fall to the bottom along with dead yeast and hops.

Some Brewers believe removing the cold break before transferring to the fermenter makes for better flavor and taste. Others say having the cold break in the fermenter is flavor neutral. However, they say it helps with a faster fermentation.

Got it!

I will proceed with a CFC. I already have a pump that will help me recirculate the wort, so I believe I will do the same process you mentioned.

Thank you all for the replies and as soon as I make a new batch in the new equip, I post the results!

 

[brownni5]

I think CFCs need to be dialed in - I brewed with a friend the other day and was totally unimpressed with his. Granted, it was a 20 gallon batch, but we realized no time savings from it, and we were worried it would clog. I suggested recirculating back into the kettle, but we didn't do that.

 

[augiedoggy]

I think CFCs need to be dialed in - I brewed with a friend the other day and was totally unimpressed with his. Granted, it was a 20 gallon batch, but we realized no time savings from it, and we were worried it would clog. I suggested recirculating back into the kettle, but we didn't do that.

recicirculating back to the kettle actually increases you chances of clogging the chiller because instead of the cold break forming in the chiller as its moving and exiting, its coagulating and forming into larger deposits of these solids in the boil kettle and being repumped into the chiller. this is a sure way for plate chiller owners to experience issues which clogging and again although much less likely with a normal CFC still more likely to be an issue than chilling in one pass.