Chilling wort: immersion vs counterflow, whirlpooled and not. Goal: time.

[Polyphaeon]

Hi All,
Need to get a new wort chiller and am wondering how the total time to cooling is effected with the following systems. I know there is various debate about cooling and hop flavours, cold break and DMS production but I am interested mostly in time (and water usage). I expect someone savvy in math/physics could actually crunch the numbers... Although this could also be done experimentally.

The four contenders:
Immersion
Counterflow
Immersion with whirlpooling
Counterflow with whirlpooling*

Not sure if plate counterflow should be separated from copper-in-a-hose style. Similarly I would expect different numbers from 25 and 50 foot chillers...

*to make the cone and deal with the cold break

 

[Yooper]

Plate filters generally are fastest.

Immersion chillers can be quick, especially for lower volumes, but agitation or stirring really is necessary for them to work well.

CFCs are in the middle as far as time. Not as fast as a plate chiller, but faster than a non-agitated immersion chiller.

As you noted, other things come into play- length and diameter (or number of plates), temperature of the ground water, agitation, etc, so it's hard to say what is "best" for any one person.

For someone with warm ground water, a prechiller would be a great investment and then maybe an immersion chiller would be sufficient.

 

[jgalati]

My vote is: Immersion with whirlpooling

1) It's much easier to clean an immersion chiller than a plate chiller
2) The whirlpool will eliminate the laminar barriers which plague immersion chillers
3) Cooling times comparable.
4) Immersion chillers are cheaper
5) Removing a plate chiller is one less component you have to worry about.
6) You don't have to sanitize an immersion chiller if it's soldered or welded into your boil kettle.
7) You don't have to worry about crap getting caught in an immersion chiller.
8) Keep it simple

 

[jgalati]

The biggest factor is going to be your pump. what pump are you using? If it's a huge pump, the liquid will be moving so quickly across the immersion chiller that it'll cool it in minutes, if it's a slow pump, it'll take longer to cool. your only limit with immersion chillers is how quickly the whirlpool moves.

 

[Polyphaeon]

Yes, I don't have a pump yet but am planning out my brew future. I will be getting a March or chugger. I can tell stirring makes a big difference when chilling so I imagine that whirlpooling would be even better.
I feel like I came to the conclusion a while ago not to get an immersion chiller but can't remember for the life of me why that was. There are many advantages over counterflow and plate chillers.

jgalati I don't understand your #6 I just stick it in for the last 10 minutes of the boil and that takes care of it. I would add #9 that it can also double as a HERMs coil where the rest are single purpose.

I am going to go with stainless steel. I know there is poorer heat exchange. SS is easier to clean AND I had a small disaster with a copper chiller. A kink became a crack and totally fubared a batch.

Now I just need to figure out 25 vs 50 feet and 3/8ths vs 1/2

Thanks for the input!

 

[WI_Wino]

Now I just need to figure out 25 vs 50 feet and 3/8ths vs 1/2

Thanks for the input!

I would say go the biggest you can afford. Especially if the 50' one isn't super tall and will be mostly covered by smaller batches.

 

[JaDeDBrewing]

Since speed is your main goal with your chiller, the two fastest chilling options that you have are the Hydra immersion chiller and the Therminator/B3-36A 20 plate chiller. The following is a brief description of pros and cons for each type:

The Hydra Immersion Wort Chiller:

Pros:

- Chills 5 gallons of wort to 10 degrees (Fahrenheit) above chillwater temps in 3 minutes while
stirring.

- Easily cleaned in 1 to 2 minutes by rinsing it off with water directly after using

- Meets 2013 FDA food grade requirements 4-202.11 and 4-202.12.

- Chills entire batch equally during chilling process, while stirring.

Cons:

-Must manually stir the wort using a brew spoon/paddle to achieve the specified 3 minute
chill time.

Therminator/B3-36A 20 Plate Chiller:

Pros:

-Chills 5 gallons of wort to 10 degrees (Fahrenheit) above chillwater temps in 2.5 minutes while
using an in-line pump such as a Chugger or March 815

-In-line and does not require manual labor for fastest specified chill times
Cons: -Takes 70 to 130 minutes for proper cleaning/ sanitization according to manufacturer
recommendations (may vary depending on manufacturer).

-Does not meet 2013 FDA food grade requirements 4-202.11 and 4-202.12.

- Requires additional hardware fittings and a pump to achieve the specified chill times. (only
capable of chilling 5 gallons in 5 minutes with gravity feed)

- Only chills the wort running through the chiller during the chilling process.

If you have a few specific designs of chillers that you are thinking of to compare, please let us know (obviously there are hundreds of possible configurations and comparisons) and we will be able to give you a good idea how they will perform against each other.

 

[acidrain]

I went from whirlpool + immersion,
to whirlpool + A23-20.
Cools fast (I have pretty cold ground water), and in my opinion, trying to whirlpool with an immersion chiller in the kettle ... well it cools well, but whirlpool? Not so much.