Is my chiller coiled too tight?

It takes me over an hour to chill to 68f, even in winter. I understand most people manage to chill quicker than this. I bought a chiller from a homebrew shop. It is fairly small and is coiled very tightly.

I've started to wonder if it was more spaced out it might be more effective. Anyone modified their chiller like this?

 

What size is the tubing and how many feet. It's the surface area that will make the difference. As long as you have some spacing it will be fine and if it fills the kettle. By that I mean make sure it's not sticking out of the wort.

 

this is the chiller.

http://www.hopandgrape.co.uk/public/detailv1.asp?itemcode=IMM20027639

It is submerged in my wort. It is the cheapest one i found so maybe they skimped on copper.

 

How big a batch are you trying to chill?

 

Are you stirring your wort while chilling?

 

6.5 gallon

 

I try to swirl the chiller round once every 5 mins or so

 

How fast is the water going through? Even a short chiller should chill faster than that if you're stirring. Maybe stir more often?

 

I have been trying to keep it fairly slow going through, hoping not to waste too much water. normally after about 20mins it starts coming out the other end cold until i stir it. i figured more water wouldn't equal more cooling. But maybe its time to try a faster flow rate.

 

Constant stirring and increased water flow will help a ton. I cut cooling times in half when I started whirlpooling (I do it with a pump but stirring is basically the same thing).

 

If the waste water gets hotter when you stir, your best bang will be to stir continuously. I usually waited until it got down into the low 100s before doing a lot of stirring, but once it got there, I'd fire up the drill with the mixer and let 'er rip. Temp would drop like a rock.

 

I threaded 14 gauge wire between the coils on mine to allow for greater flow around/through the coils. I also stir constantly with a stainless steel spoon. I can drop from boiling to less than 140 in just minutes doing this. Getting down to pitching temps takes a little longer but the temp drop is much faster due to the interwoven wire and stirring constantly.

 

Use the cold water (going through the chiller) at wide open. Combine that with moving the chiller in the kettle, or stirring the wort, will help you to seriously reduce your chill times.

You're probably wasting more water by having the flow reduced than if you went full bore from the start.

 

I would worry about sanitation taking the lid off and stirring. Especially as I brew out side, isn't this a problem?

 

I was using a grout mixer on my drill. I cut a square out of my lid and hinged it so it could still close and seal, but would still allow the chiller to be in. The grout mixer went through the same slot. I could be chilling and mixing all with the lid 95% closed. Worked really well with no infections. You would have to be careful especially outdoors with the lid open.

 

That's why you want to chill as FAST as possible. You can set the lid partially on the kettle/pot to stop things from falling in. Otherwise, shift the kettle/pot inside before you start to chill.

I did my latest batch fully outside. I use a plate chiller, so I'm also able to have the lid protecting my worth from falling/flying things. At some point I'll get either an umbrella (large) or canopy to brew under that will help. Looking for one that will also stop the rain to make it even more use full.

 

It was SO nice of the retailer to advertise the length of the chiller.

Oh wait....

 

With the coil section being just under 6.75" tall, the total copper tubing length is probably about 25' (or less). It would be good to have the total copper length in the listing, or at least how much copper is in the coil section.

I suspect the slow chill times is also compounded by the short copper length. You can offset some of that by moving the chiller (or the wort over it) in the kettle/pot while chilling. But, you'll still have longer chill times than if the chiller was made with 50' of copper. Especially in 6.5 gallon batch sizes.

Personally, I got tired of moving the wort, or chiller, when using an IC. That was one of the reasons I moved to a plate chiller. Now, I just open valves, and turn on the March pump, and watch the temperature drop.

 

you want to adjust the water flow based on the water temp coming out. As long as the water coming out is hot you can increase flow. At some point between inlet and outlet it has equalized temperature and stopped cooling.

The more often you stir the more uniform the wort temperature and the faster you can get that heat into the coil. If you don't have a pump to whirlpool the wort then plan for a workout after standing around drinking beer while it boils. ;-)

 

I'll try running the faster. Don't tell my SWMBO. I'll also try and swirl the chiller round with the lid on. Might brew tonight so i'll see what happens.

 

I managed to pull the chiller until it was a quite spaced out and ran the water faster. I managed to get it to about 22c in 45mins which is an improvement. I was surprised how cold the water came out even at the beginning. I might try to run the water fast enough so it comes out cold. So fast at the beginning and slower towards the end.

 

The water coming from the chiller should be HOT when it first starts coming out. It will get cooler as the wort cools down. If its cold/cool from the start something isn't right.

 

yeah, initially mine steams - I have two 1/4" copper tubes 25' long each with a Tee fitting at the inlet so it's like two 25 footers - even at wide open on a garden hose it steams for at least the first 5 minutes.

If it's not immediately making hot water something weird is going on. Are you putting it in before flameout to sanitize the chiller? I always put mine in about 10min left so it kills any bacteria on it. If you put it in at flame out and immediately start cooling water full flow you would be removing the heat as the copper warms so it would take time for the exiting water to warm. Other than that I can't imagine how it is cold from the start.

Short answer: You want the water exiting just a bit cooler than the majority of the wort - too hot and you're no longer cooling, too cold and you're just wasting water. If it starts out coming out cold then you might as well decrease water flow slightly.

 

The water was ofcourse hot when it first came out but it soon cooled down.

 

The water is coming out cold because he increased the flow and it's not lolly gagging around in the coil. For a chilling efficiency standpoint this is good when its coming out hot (especially steaming or at the same temp as the wort) it means that somewhere in the chiller the temperature difference became equal and the cooling water stopped effectively removing heat from the wort. I used to have a 1/4" do chiller the challenge (and reason it comes out so hot) is at there is so little water in the coil.

 

So what is the verdict? run the water full so it is cold as soon as possible? or try and decrease as I go?

 

The temperature differential decreases as time passes, slowing the cooling even if you keep the water flow constant. Reducing flow will make your cooling time longer...way longer. Keep water at constant rate and stir or whirlpool, that's what i do.