So for my last 3 brews I have stepped up my system to 10 gallons but the problem I'm running into is my copper immersion chiller which worked ok for 5gal batches takes forever on my 10gal batches. Like an hour or more! I'm even recirculating ice water with a pump through the chiller and still takes that long. It's not that big of a chiller, maybe 25' x 3/8".
This obviously adds a lot of time to my brew day because I'm otherwise quite efficient. So I've been reading a lot about the plate chillers and it looks like I would need a pump for the brew end. I'm on a budget and pretty handy so I'm considering buying 1/2" x 50' soft copper and making my own immersion but I'm wondering if I should just go the plate chiller route and how much would that set me back?
What's your experience when jumping up to 10gal and how do you handle the cooling? What do you guys suggest?
This obviously adds a lot of time to my brew day because I'm otherwise quite efficient. So I've been reading a lot about the plate chillers and it looks like I would need a pump for the brew end. I'm on a budget and pretty handy so I'm considering buying 1/2" x 50' soft copper and making my own immersion but I'm wondering if I should just go the plate chiller route and how much would that set me back?
What's your experience when jumping up to 10gal and how do you handle the cooling? What do you guys suggest?