Wort Chilling Container

[HiImBrian]

I'm brewing in keggles and have an undersized immersion chiller which, by itself, takes a long time. I went out and picked up the plastic tub with rope handles that a lot of people seem to use, but I quickly found that my keggle wont fit with the ball valve installed in the bottom. I found a shallow tub that worked in a pinch, but I'm wondering what other keggle brewers might be using. I've searched through all of the plastic tubs at Walmart, and they weren't quite wide enough without the keggle rubbing up against the side and potentially melting the plastic over time.

 

[DAJDive]

You could buy a garden submergible pond pump and use it to pump ice/cold water through the chiller? You could invest in a plate chiller if you have the funds.

 

[HiImBrian]

I am a bit hesitant of a plate chiller simply because they are harder to clean and I've read they can clog up easily. Thoughts?

I thought about maybe trying to widen a tub with some rods or something so that it doesn't get burnt from the hot keggle.

 

[Trox]

Could always get something like this this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NNJ7DK/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 but personally I would see about investing into getting a properly sized chiller instead (probably by building it myself).

 

[blizz81]

You could buy a garden submergible pond pump and use it to pump ice/cold water through the chiller

My vote.

 

[NedStackey]

You need to get a larger immersion chiller (more surface area), or make one using a 50' 1/8" copper pipe you can get at Lowe's for like $50. This will only help a little. You need to get the tap water chilled down lower before it goes through the immersion chiller in the wort. I have an older chiller used with my smaller kettle which I know put series with the wort chiller which goes in my mash tun, now filled with ice water. I also recirculate the wort using a chugger pump and whirlpool arm which is attached to the 50' immersion chiller. This works amazingly and much easier than using a plate chiller. Those are still only as good as how cold your tap water gets.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

One or the things that sucks about any chiller is that you can't chill colder than your chilling water. A prechiller is one way to approach it, chilling your chilling water. Another way is to wait until your ground water temps are colder.
Of course, a large chiller, either in length or tube diameter, will help.
I just tested a counter flow chiller and found I could get 6.5 gallons from boiling to 2 degrees over tap temp (70) in 25 minutes, recirculating the wort back into the kettle for whirlpooling.

 

[HiImBrian]

I think I'll try the pump with my IC and not worry about wasting so much water. Thanks for the ideas guys!

 

[Brews]

I use a pond pump in a cooler with ice water and run it through my IC after I use tap water to get the initial temp down to about 130. I hooked a garden hose "Y" somewhat reversed and turn the tap water side on and the pump side off. when I hit the 130 deg mark I turn off the tap water side and turn on the pump side, then just turn on the pump and recirculate back into the cooler. Works like a charm.

 

[Cbaddad]

The prechiller idea is a good one. It makes a huge difference and you don't need a ton of copper tubing to make one. Give it a thought

 

[HiImBrian]

My hose water temp seems pretty cool actually. Even the water leaving the IC feels slightly cool. This could be because I only have a 20' IC though. I am going to keep searching for a large container that I can submerge the keggle in as well as a pump and then circulate the water through that way.

Did you guys just pick up a pump from Home Depot? Looks like roughly $50 a pump???


edit: Looks like a fountain pump might be a bit smaller/cheaper. Anybody care to post up specs on their pump? I don't see why 120gallon/hr wouldn't be sufficient.

 

[ChelisHubby]

My hose water temp seems pretty cool actually. Even the water leaving the IC feels slightly cool. This could be because I only have a 20' IC though. I am going to keep searching for a large container that I can submerge the keggle in as well as a pump and then circulate the water through that way.

Did you guys just pick up a pump from Home Depot? Looks like roughly $50 a pump???


edit: Looks like a fountain pump might be a bit smaller/cheaper. Anybody care to post up specs on their pump? I don't see why 120gallon/hr wouldn't be sufficient.

I tried a 90 gallon per hour and found it would not lift the water, So i went with a 264 gallon pump and it does fine. It does not move 264 gallons because it lifts the water it probably does 1/4 of that but I have not measured it. I got my pump from Harbor Freight, 30 something I think.

 

[Brews]

Harbor freight pump # 68372. 200 GPH and works fine. On sale for $10.99 right now.

 

[ChelisHubby]

Yesterday I brewed and it was upper 90s when I Chilled, I used tap water to bring the wort to 96 then I emptied the Ice maker in a bucket and a few frozen water bottles and put a gallon of water in the bucket. I stopped chilling at 60 degrees and still had ice floating. The ice water in the chiller works this is my 3rd time doing it, so I know it wasn't a fluke the first time.

 

[HiImBrian]

Just found an ad on craigslist where a company is giving away 20 -275 gallon IBC totes! I'm going to pick one up later today and cut it down to size. Good things come to those who wait!

I'm thinkin I can rig up a nice pump setup in the tub along with the keg to circulate ice water through the chiller and back into the tub. I'll post up some pics once she's finished.