In the process of building a DIY counterflow chiller. Should be done by next weekend, or when I get a some extra time. I have been using an immersion chiller since I began brewing a couple years ago. Anyway, I want to know if anyone has a 25' counterflow chiller made from rubber hose and 3/8" copper tubing and if they experience a final temp that is too cold to pitch. One thing that I have always liked about my immersion chiller is that I can stop it at the temp I want, but a counterflow seems to be at the mercy of the ground water. In Michigan where I brew a lot, or in Indiana where I live, the hose water can be very cold. I want to pitch at normal temps like 70, but the ground water coming out of the hose can be in the 50's. How do you regulate the final products temperature?
Counterflow Chiller too Chill?
- Thread starter BeerDan
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you just need to slow down the flow rate of the water. if the flow is high for the water, it is constantly being replaced and essentially doing the most cooling. By slowing the flow of the water, you are keeping it in proximity to the wort longer which actually translates to less efficient cooling, which is what you need.
Interesting... In my inexperience with counterflow chillers I had not considered changing the rates in which the water, or for that matter, the wort, flowed. Sounds like come calclueless would probably make this more precise. Or I could just test it out on a rolling boil of just water. Probably the later, but I still have my college calculus book somewhere.
I have a temperature probe in the wort output flow from the chiller. It's simple to watch the temperature and regulate the water flow up or down to make hold an average temperature. I leave the wort flow at the maximum that my pump can do through the 3/8 dia. tube and have no problems chilling from boil to 70 deg. without maximum water flow. That's a lot easier than calculating the flow rates and heat transfer.
I do the same. If the temperature is too low, I turn the flow from the kettle up. If it's too high, I slow the flow down. I like to hit 60-62 degrees into the fermenter for all but lagers, and my tap water is around 45 degrees in the winter, 50 degrees in the summer.
My water at this time of year is about 40F. I have to throttle the water flow way down to keep me at the temp I want to achieve. Using a CFC is much more water efficient than an IC.
The main reason I am building a CFC is to be more efficient. I am always at nerves end when I am chilling with my immersion chiller. I know the wort is incredibly vulnerable to a multitude of problems during this time. Its hard to cool the wort this way without getting a little bit of hot side aeration, well at least the way I do it. I try to swirl the immersion chiller to more rapidly cool the wort. In addition to that, I worry about contamination during the slow decent to pitch temps. So long story short a CFC is more efficient in both time and technique.
It's just the nerd in me who wants to figure it out with a little math. I can't help myself. I teach high school science, so getting into the nerdy details of brewing is in my DNA. That, and of course, hops hops hops!
It's just the nerd in me who wants to figure it out with a little math. I can't help myself. I teach high school science, so getting into the nerdy details of brewing is in my DNA. That, and of course, hops hops hops!
Don't stress about it. The yeast will easily overtake anything that you might encounter in your brewing process, if you use relatively normal sanitation practices.
I mean it's not like you have to put lotion on your bare arms to prevent skin flakes from contacting your wort... (true story)
I mean it's not like you have to put lotion on your bare arms to prevent skin flakes from contacting your wort... (true story)
That's funny.
I am not as intense as some about sanitation, but I do take it pretty seriously. I don't lotion, but I do use Iodophor on just about everything, save my brew kettle. This kinda brings up a great point though... What is your technique for sanitizing a CFC? I was thinking that I would run Iodophor water through it just prior to running wort through it. I figure that should be enough. I have heard of running hot wort through it before cooling it, but the rubber hose surrounding the copper is only rated for 180 degrees. I don't want to damage the hose, so I think a hot run is out of the question.
I sanitize my CFC by recirculating hot wort during the last 5-10 minutes. I use the red hot water hose to surround the copper, I believe it is also rated for 180*. I haven't had any problems yet, I do like to at least run some water through the CFC before running the hot wort so that there is a little bit of a buffer, though.
EDIT: Before I got my pump, I santized my CFC by running Starsan through it. I would grab a funnel stick it in my silicone hose, and pour a pitcher of Starsan down it. (Think of it as a Starsan bong.)
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