jigidyjim
Well-Known Member
So I used a wort chiller for the first time (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/gonna-use-immersion-wort-chiller-first-time-154493/). The short story:
* I couldn't get a good connection to my sink.
* It was probably 40 minutes total before my beer was cool.
* I broke my kitchen sink nozzle
* I sliced my fingers at least 3 times.
* i also made several questionable decisions regarding the beer itself... so I hope the beer still turns out ok.
The details:
It started with trying to cut a 15' hose into 2 pieces, and adding my own connectors. It was a 5/8 hose and supposedly the connectors could fit in either a 3/4 or 5/8 hose... getting them in was nearly impossible. I had to soak the ends of the hose in hot water to loosen them up, stretched them with pliers, and in the end, I think I scrunched up the inner lining and crimped the hose, making the connections not that great. Lesson learned: going to find a "one piece" hose without an inner lining, and make sure the connectors can be inserted more easily.
Next, to connect it to my sink, I took the aerator out of my nozzle and put in a hose adaptor. First problem: the aerator threads were so deep in the nozzle that the first adaptor I bought wouldn't catch. So I searched 3 stores until I found one that worked. Awesome. Tested it out, seemed fine.
So then it comes time to cool the beer. Got it all hooked up, turned on the faucet and it starts spraying out the adaptor connection. after resetting it several times, 10 minutes or so later, I finally put the kettle on the ground (instead of on the sink), and that helped out enough to get water flowing through the chiller, with some still coming out the connection... so I let it sit. It probably took 25-30 min. I think an ice bath would have been faster, especially with the 10+ min I spent resetting the connections. Lesson learned: I think I might completely take off the nozzle next time, and find an adaptor that connects directly to the sink hose.
Oh, meanwhile I had sliced my fingers while griping the various threads on the adaptors. Lesson learned: don't turn pipes and stuff by their threads with your bare hands.
So I finally finish making the beer. Time to clean up. Go to put the aerator back in, and the nozzle is leaking like crazy. Try to reset it several times, and eventually the nozzle snaps open. Oops. Luckily home depot is still open, so I run down there, grab another nozzle, come home, put it on, and get back to cleaning up.
Meanwhile regarding the beer, I topped off the fermenter higher than I wanted to (should be quite a blow off with the 3068 too...), I didn't think to sanitize tongs to place the orange in the carboy so I used my bare hands without thinking about infection risks, and when i pitched the yeast out of my starter I didn't shake it up well enough and left a bunch of stuff stuck to the bottom of the beaker.
Oh well, time to relax and have a home brew or two (or three), wait a few weeks, and figure out a better setup for my wort chiller!
* I couldn't get a good connection to my sink.
* It was probably 40 minutes total before my beer was cool.
* I broke my kitchen sink nozzle
* I sliced my fingers at least 3 times.
* i also made several questionable decisions regarding the beer itself... so I hope the beer still turns out ok.
The details:
It started with trying to cut a 15' hose into 2 pieces, and adding my own connectors. It was a 5/8 hose and supposedly the connectors could fit in either a 3/4 or 5/8 hose... getting them in was nearly impossible. I had to soak the ends of the hose in hot water to loosen them up, stretched them with pliers, and in the end, I think I scrunched up the inner lining and crimped the hose, making the connections not that great. Lesson learned: going to find a "one piece" hose without an inner lining, and make sure the connectors can be inserted more easily.
Next, to connect it to my sink, I took the aerator out of my nozzle and put in a hose adaptor. First problem: the aerator threads were so deep in the nozzle that the first adaptor I bought wouldn't catch. So I searched 3 stores until I found one that worked. Awesome. Tested it out, seemed fine.
So then it comes time to cool the beer. Got it all hooked up, turned on the faucet and it starts spraying out the adaptor connection. after resetting it several times, 10 minutes or so later, I finally put the kettle on the ground (instead of on the sink), and that helped out enough to get water flowing through the chiller, with some still coming out the connection... so I let it sit. It probably took 25-30 min. I think an ice bath would have been faster, especially with the 10+ min I spent resetting the connections. Lesson learned: I think I might completely take off the nozzle next time, and find an adaptor that connects directly to the sink hose.
Oh, meanwhile I had sliced my fingers while griping the various threads on the adaptors. Lesson learned: don't turn pipes and stuff by their threads with your bare hands.
So I finally finish making the beer. Time to clean up. Go to put the aerator back in, and the nozzle is leaking like crazy. Try to reset it several times, and eventually the nozzle snaps open. Oops. Luckily home depot is still open, so I run down there, grab another nozzle, come home, put it on, and get back to cleaning up.
Meanwhile regarding the beer, I topped off the fermenter higher than I wanted to (should be quite a blow off with the 3068 too...), I didn't think to sanitize tongs to place the orange in the carboy so I used my bare hands without thinking about infection risks, and when i pitched the yeast out of my starter I didn't shake it up well enough and left a bunch of stuff stuck to the bottom of the beaker.
Oh well, time to relax and have a home brew or two (or three), wait a few weeks, and figure out a better setup for my wort chiller!
keep at it mate!
