Wort Chiller - hoses can melt

[ArcLight]

I don't yet have a wort chiller.
From many pictures I've seen the 2 ends , where the hoses attach, protrude a few inches from the "center of the chiller", but don't extend outside the pot.
To use such a chiller one would have to attach hoses to the hot (200 degree) ends of the chiller after the boil is over. This risks water dripping / leaking into the wort. If you leave the tubing attached, the heat from the burner can damage it, right?

I have seen other wort chillers (probably home made) that are distorted and extend way over the pot, so there is no risk.

Also - it seems taht a very tall pot is a problem because it is taller than the chiller hose attachment points.

So my question is - do you
1 - get a shorter but wider pot
and
2 - if you dont have metal conects for a hose, and instead have a tube that is held on by a clamp - how do you prevent this tube from being damaged by teh heat (especially from the burner). Do you Attach / Remove it, along with the clamps each time?

It seems to me a nice solution is to have a metal quick disconnect attached to the ends of chiller

 

[LeeIII]

From many pictures I've seen the 2 ends , where the hoses attach, protrude a few inches from the "center of the chiller", but don't extend outside the pot.

A quick search of homebrew supply sites for wort chillers will show you that this is not the case. Every chiller on northern brewer , austin homebrew supply, rebel brewer, and more beer (just the sites I checked just now) will show you that all of the wort chillers they carry that are intended to be placed directly into the brew (not pre-chillers that go into ice, or chillers that you actually run the brew through) have connections that extend above and out over the top edge of the brew pot.

So, it's basically a moot point. Buy a good chiller that extends out over the pot.

 

[jsweet]

A quick search of homebrew supply sites for wort chillers will show you that this is not the case. Every chiller on northern brewer , austin homebrew supply, rebel brewer, and more beer (just the sites I checked just now) will show you that all of the wort chillers they carry that are intended to be placed directly into the brew (not pre-chillers that go into ice, or chillers that you actually run the brew through) have connections that extend above and out over the top edge of the brew pot.

So, it's basically a moot point. Buy a good chiller that extends out over the pot.

TBH, the one I bought from AHS, I am always a little nervous about the tubes flopping onto the burner. It extends UP pretty high, but not very far OUT. Haven't had a problem yet, but it makes me a little nervous. YMMV.

 

[phenry]

TBH, the one I bought from AHS, I am always a little nervous about the tubes flopping onto the burner. It extends UP pretty high, but not very far OUT. Haven't had a problem yet, but it makes me a little nervous. YMMV.

If you're worried about contact with the burner, move it away from the burner? In the winter when I brew I boil outside and bring the kettle inside to the laundry room to cool (not much point in watering snow). When it's warmed up I still take the kettle off my propane burner to cool it.

Also, if it matters at all, I don't put my chiller into the boil for the last 15 minutes to sanitize. I just spritz it with Starsan a minute before I turn the boil off then dunk it in. Much easier IMHO.

 

[jsweet]

If you're worried about contact with the burner, move it away from the burner?

I mean when it's in the boil for the last 15 minutes. Yes, it is off the burner when I'm doing the actual chilling.

I suppose I could just spritz it with StarSan like you say, but I think that would make me more nervous than the hoses thing It's not a problem, I'm just saying I sorta wish they had just another couple inches of copper going perpendicular away from the chiller before the plastic hose. It's no big deal, though -- I just have to be careful when I put it in the brewpot.

 

[integrator]

You can make your own, and design it however you wish! That is what I did. I extended mine over the side of the pot, and put on ends that I can screw my hoses directly to.

 

[LeakyBucket]

We use a CFC and don't have any concerns at all.

 

[Kaz]

I melted the hose on my IC a month ago. Didn't realize that it had rested on the burner. Wasn't a big deal to replace, and now I make sure that the chiller hoses are going to stay out of the way.

 

[jsweet]

You can make your own, and design it however you wish! That is what I did. I extended mine over the side of the pot, and put on ends that I can screw my hoses directly to.

I was originally going to DIY it, but then I priced out copper at Lowes, and it turned out I wasn't really going to save all that much money, at least not for a small chiller. I think it came out to a savings of maybe ten or fifteen bucks at the most.

If I go all-grain and start wanting a bigger chiller -- the one I bought is 30', so that's just fine for the ~3.5 gallons that is left in my BK after evaporation, but for a full 5 gallon (or more) boil, I think I'd want a bigger one -- then I'll definitely make it myself. At that point, the price difference between DIY and pre-fab starts to get significant.

 

[jsweet]

Wasn't a big deal to replace

Good point. I'll stop worrying about it so much. In fact, I think in a pinch I could replace it with hose I already have on hand...

 

[ArcLight]

A quick search of homebrew supply sites for wort chillers will show you that this is not the case. Every chiller on northern brewer , austin homebrew supply, rebel brewer, and more beer (just the sites I checked just now) will show you that all of the wort chillers they carry that are intended to be placed directly into the brew (not pre-chillers that go into ice, or chillers that you actually run the brew through) have connections that extend above and out over the top edge of the brew pot.

So, it's basically a moot point. Buy a good chiller that extends out over the pot.

From the pictures I've seen on their websites, their chillers don't really extend far enough. The hoses are at risk. And I'd be worried about moving the kettle off center. I could wait until after the heating, and sanitize it before placing it in the kettle.

There is a 7.5 gallon Bayou Clasic stock pot (with bruner for $60 on Amazon) that seems too tall for most chillers also.

 

[upperNY01brewer]

I would advice not to remove the hoses and clamps. I place my wort chiller into the pot the last 15 min. of boil. I once removed the hoses and as the water that remains in the coiled chiller heat up they started to spit out boiling water, needless to say it burned sections of my hands...oucchhh never will make that mistake again..

 

[LeeIII]

From the pictures I've seen on their websites, their chillers don't really extend far enough. The hoses are at risk. And I'd be worried about moving the kettle off center. I could wait until after the heating, and sanitize it before placing it in the kettle.

There is a 7.5 gallon Bayou Clasic stock pot (with bruner for $60 on Amazon) that seems too tall for most chillers also.

They look like that on the pics, but I bought the 25' from morebeer and it extends over the top of my 8 gallon brew pot. So I wouldn't make assumptions about their size based on the pics. You could always call the retailer and get a measurement on how tall they actually are.

 

[ArcLight]

I took the measurements of both, and the pot is taller than the chiller.
I googled several sources to get the pot dimensions.
Not all Chillers are the same hight though.