How do you chill your big batches (10 gallon +)

[Photopilot]

My immersion chiller designed for my 5 gallon batches is just not cutting it. It adds an hour plus to what is usually a long day already. I have been contemplating other options. In a recent thread Bobby M says he is back to using an IC. So before I go buying or building more equipment I want to know what you all are using. If not an immersion chiller, how do you clean and sanitize it?

1. Describe you cooling technique:
   
2. What else have you tried:
   
3. How would you improve your current chilling setup:

 

[Photopilot]

My system was built for 5 gallon batches and works great for those but not so much for a keggle worth of beer. It is maybe 25 feet of copper originally wrapped around a corney. I recirculate in my keggle using a march pump which does not create a very powerful flow but keeps the wort moving. It cools down to under 140 in a short time but slows down a lot after that.

I am looking to cut my cooling time to under 30 minutes.

 

[Mustangj]

I did have a immersion chiller 50' 1/2'' that worked good but I wanted to cut down on how much water I was using to chill the wort. I now have a 25' counterflow that work real good. The only draw back is that you have to make sure it is sanitized real good.

 

[Photopilot]

I did have a immersion chiller 50' 1/2'' that worked good but I wanted to cut down on how much water I was using to chill the wort. I now have a 25' counterflow that work real good. The only draw back is that you have to make sure it is sanitized real good.

Jay how do you go about sanitizing it?

 

[Mustangj]

When I start my boil I hook my pump to the counter flow and a bottle bucket with a spigot. I fill the bucket up with star san and reciculate the hole time i'm boiling.

 

[RiverCityBrewer]

I used to use a whirlpool IC for 20 gallon batches, but I recently moved to a CFC and will not be going back to the IC. The WIC works great for 10gallon batches, but above that my pots and IC are not optimally sized to work good together.

 

[arturo7]

None of the above.

I have a copper coil that is placed in my mash tun. The wort from the BK is pumped through the coil.

Stage One: Water is circulated in the mash tun, wort pumped back to BK

Stage Two: ice is added to the mash tun, wort pumped back to BK

Stage Three: more ice in the mash tun, wort pumped into fermenter.


The wort is encouraged to splash into the fermenter, allowing aeration. For lagers I can pump 50 deg wort into the fermenter.

(sorry aboot the crappy pic)

 

[wildwest450]

Chillzilla baby! It's awesome, from boiling to mid 50's instantly, with water choked down half throttle. I used to hate external chillers, not anymore.


_

 

[SankePankey]

I had an immersion chiller for my 15 gal batches. It took forever.

I'm awaiting use of my 30 plate chiller that I'm doing a recirculation with (like a Jamil immersion, but using a plate) and I calculate I'll be getting 15 g from 212 to 68 in 8 minutes. Yeeee haw.!

 

[Krelja]

50 foot IC and I'm working on a jamil-o-chiller too

 

[johnnyo1977]

I love my Plate Chiller. I gave my immersion chiller to my neighbor as a christmas gift.

 

[shortyjacobs]

I have a 50' 1/2" IC. Chills 11 gallons to 70F in ~10 minutes with stirring, ~20 minutes with occasional jostling of the IC.

The jostling is starting to piss me off, I don't like stirring, so I'm planning on getting a March and retrofitting my IC into a CFC.

 

[IrregularPulse]

I uncoiled my 25" and made a CFC. Now looking to make a second one. I like the one I have now, but coiled it around a bucket so it's large and about 4 coils. I want to make a second that is taller and skinnier just for spacial reasons.

 

[CoolHandLuke]

I have 50ft of 5/8 OD copper formed into an IC by coiling around a corny keg and soldering brass hose fittings for in/out. This fits perfectly in a keggle. In addition, I circulate the wort during the chill to create a nice cold break cone in the center of the keg.

During the winter I circulate ~60F water from my outdoor pool via a 12v marine pump . During the summer, I use ~70F well water and let the heated water go into the pool. When I brew lagers, I finish the chill by circulating ice water from a GOTT water cooler. It generally takes ~15-20 minutes to chill ales and for hot break to settle prior to transferring to the fermenter. Add 10 additional minutes for lagers. I no longer purchase clarifying agents, since little-to-no hot break or cold break makes it into the fermenter.

I used to employ a CFC, and I thought about adding the CFC as part of the wort circulation. This would bring the temp down quicker, but I'd still need to wait for the hot break to settle. For 11-12 gallon batches, I'm content with the IC and circulation (Jamil-o-Chill) method.

 

[carluchi]

CFC.
I'm on a well, so even on the hottest summer days, I can get from 212 to 60 as fast as I can drain the boil kettle.

 

[JuanMoore]

None of the above.

I have a copper coil that is placed in my mash tun. The wort from the BK is pumped through the coil.

Stage One: Water is circulated in the mash tun, wort pumped back to BK

Stage Two: ice is added to the mash tun, wort pumped back to BK

Stage Three: more ice in the mash tun, wort pumped into fermenter.

The wort is encouraged to splash into the fermenter, allowing aeration. For lagers I can pump 50 deg wort into the fermenter.

I do the same thing using the HEX coil in my HLT. Ice is a must here in the summer when the "cold" tap water is in the 90's.

 

[rockytoptim]

1. Describe you cooling technique:
   
2. What else have you tried:
   
3. How would you improve your current chilling setup:

I use a plate chiller. I had a shirron 10 plate chiller but I got Duda Diesel 50 plate chiller for Christmas from the wife. I haven't brewed with it but I did test run with 7.5 gal of water and chilled from boiling to 58 deg in 3 minutes. Ground water here in Michigan was 47 deg at the time. At the moment I just do a single pass straight into the fermenter.

I clean by running one step through and then put in oven for 20 minutes. On brewday i run some starsan through it.

I used to use a homemade 25' 3/8 copper immersion chiller but did like how i had to stir wort to speed up chilling.

 

[BrewBeemer]

Chillzilla baby! It's awesome, from boiling to mid 50's instantly, with water choked down half throttle. I used to hate external chillers, not anymore.


_

I had an "external chiller", called the 'ex wife she could look at a leg and freeze it. Sorry.

 

[Photopilot]

None of the above.

I have a copper coil that is placed in my mash tun. The wort from the BK is pumped through the coil.

(sorry aboot the crappy pic)

I think this may be my next attempt at chilling. My IC is not very big or thick copper tubing but I have a few coils of copper from other projects.

1. I am going to try getting one of my random copper coils to nest inside the other attached together with tubing.
   
2. Place it inside the MLT with cold water.
   
3. Pump the wort through the "reverse immersion chiller" to get the wort down below 140 using side spout of keggle for return.
   
4. Then begin returning chilled wort through top of keggle using some splashing to aerate.
   
5. Add ice as needed
   
6. Stir wort to create whirlpool get trub and cold break to fall into center.
   
7. Pump into fermenting keg when temp nears pitching.