Question on Chilling with an Immersion Chiller
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I agitate every once in a while as I find cools the wort faster. Just an occasional back and forth, up and down to redistribute the liquid.
Without some current in the wort it will cool around the chiller tubing and very slowly cool the rest.
I bought a slow turning electric motor to make a mixer but have yet to mount it to a base that will sit on the top of the kettle with a paint stirrer to move the wort.
I bought a slow turning electric motor to make a mixer but have yet to mount it to a base that will sit on the top of the kettle with a paint stirrer to move the wort.
Hmmm... it would be cool to install some sort of in-line turbine that's powered by the water flow. :rockin:
Splashing too hard can get oxidation when you don't want it (you know if you're one of us crazies that believes things like that:fro
If you have a pump I'd install a whirlpool arm and just circulate through that while chilling. Once you reach your target (or as close as you can get) let sit with the pump off for 10-15 minutes before transferring and you'll leave 80% of the trub behind with no effort.
If you have a pump I'd install a whirlpool arm and just circulate through that while chilling. Once you reach your target (or as close as you can get) let sit with the pump off for 10-15 minutes before transferring and you'll leave 80% of the trub behind with no effort.
Work on it, get it going and sell it for less than $10 and I will buy one.....
Use a cordless drill and one of these. It works wonders with an IC. Also, don't believe the Hot Side Aeration warnings for a minute.
buzd
Well-Known Member
Splashing too hard can get oxidation when you don't want it (you know if you're one of us crazies that believes things like that:fro
If you have a pump I'd install a whirlpool arm and just circulate through that while chilling. Once you reach your target (or as close as you can get) let sit with the pump off for 10-15 minutes before transferring and you'll leave 80% of the trub behind with no effort.
Don't you want oxidation at that point to fuel the yeast?
Setting up the crowd-funding page right now!
Yes, but some people believe that splashing the hot wort before it gets below a certain temp. caused "Hot Side Aeration" which they think is bad. Search the term and you will find many threads on the subject. In my opinion, it is a fictional boogie man.
Agitation is a good idea. I know, it's not your questions, but some sort of recirculation whirlpool into the center of the immersion chiller is best. I.e. http://www.mrmalty.com/chiller.php
Oxidation above about 80ish°F can cause long term stability issues, the limit of dissolved oxygen to make a difference is low. There are plenty of other things to worry about first that make a greater impact to bring beer from bad to decent to good, from recipes to fermentation temperatures to ingredient variations and cold side oxidation that make oxidation of hot wort an "imaginary" issue to many brewers. However, I wouldn't think that rapid stirring with a stick or splashing around your chiller to be a best practice when there are other just as easy options.
Brewing Science and Practice Briggs, Boulton, Brooks and Stevens 2004The greatest interest is in the effects of lipids on flavour deterioration of beer during storage. During mashing some lipid seems to disappear because it is oxidized, by oxygen dissolved in the mash, to more polar substances, some of which reach the beer and, during storage, give rise to unsaturated aldehydes [...] which give the beer an unpleasant, cardboard like flavor. The chain reactions is complicated...
Not degassing the water first, stirring and using a copper cooler likely put the "no HSA" batch above the low limits of dissolved oxygen.
Like I said.... way down the list of things you can do to make your beer better and way up on equipment costs. With the major effects on beer that is light and malty, heavily hopped or is around for a long time. But why get into a habit that you "will" have to change later if you continue to improve your process? Whirlpooling is more efficient, less time consuming, has other benefits and removes one of the O2 ingress points.
Like I said.... way down the list of things you can do to make your beer better and way up on equipment costs. With the major effects on beer that is light and malty, heavily hopped or is around for a long time. But why get into a habit that you "will" have to change later if you continue to improve your process? Whirlpooling is more efficient, less time consuming, has other benefits and removes one of the O2 ingress points.
I just swish my IC back and forth in the kettle. This creates a nice current moving the wort around.
Back in the early months of 2016 I had some pretty cold incoming water to cool with; lately, though, the temp has risen to about 67 degrees, and about all I can get the wort down to is 74 or 75 degrees, unless I want to wait forever. Not a bad pitching temp anyway.
I've been toying w/ the idea of a pre-chiller arrangement with ice and a pump. I know I'll have to agitate the water in that environment too. I'm considering an arrangement where the return water has to pass through ice before it is drawn in by the pump. Something like a false bottom and fly sparge diffuser so the return water is sprinkled over the ice.
Work in progress. Meanwhile, I swish the IC.
Back in the early months of 2016 I had some pretty cold incoming water to cool with; lately, though, the temp has risen to about 67 degrees, and about all I can get the wort down to is 74 or 75 degrees, unless I want to wait forever. Not a bad pitching temp anyway.
I've been toying w/ the idea of a pre-chiller arrangement with ice and a pump. I know I'll have to agitate the water in that environment too. I'm considering an arrangement where the return water has to pass through ice before it is drawn in by the pump. Something like a false bottom and fly sparge diffuser so the return water is sprinkled over the ice.
Work in progress. Meanwhile, I swish the IC.
I have an above ground water supply for the next few weeks due to utility upgrades on my street. Our groundwater is always very cold, but I can't get below 85F right now. It sucks. I've been chilling and then sitting the fermentor on the concrete basement floor for a few hours to get it down around 70.
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