Are there any adverse effects in using an immersion fermentation chiller?

[eddiek85]

I'm about to make one of these but before I go through with it I was just wondering if there are any adverse effects that the copper would have on the wort.

Do most copper piping have some type of coating on the outside that I need to be concerned about? Will it affect the flavor?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Sadu]

I asked the same question a while back and the consensus was to use stainless instead of copper.

TLDR was that yes, there are compounds in the copper coil that will react with the beer - not a problem in a short boil but potentially a safety concern over several weeks fermenting.

I worked around the problem by putting the copper coil outside the fermentor. This setup works really great for ales, I have this NEIPA fermenting comfortably at 65f with ambient temps of mid 70s. The trick is to use glycol or vehicle antifreeze for the coolant. Otherwise the water reservoir in the fridge keeps freezing up and it's a hassle to unblock ice out of everything.

This works so well I have no intent of moving the coil inside the fermentor - I probably would if I got a nice stainless conical but for plastic buckets and glass demijohns this setup works great.

 

[eddiek85]

Wow, thanks for the reply. That's a way simpler solution than what I was thinking about building. I have very similar vessels, but they are 60l so I'm wondering if I can find a wide enough cooler to fit them. Do you usually leave it open like that or do you have something to cover the exposed inside of the cooler?

 

[Sadu]

I put a towel over the top to protect against light but the insulated chiller holds temps a lot better than a regular plastic tub (I tried both). Not shown in the pic is a $4 aquarium pump sitting inside the coil to move the water around the cooler.
I use an aquarium heater in winter when the beer needs both heating and cooling.

 

[eddiek85]

Sweet man. Thanks for the help. You brought up something that made me wonder about the fermenter. If I want to have external fermenters but don't have any closed space to hide them, what are the usual methods people use to seal their plastic containers from light? Lol smooth segway.

 

[beermanpete]

I cover mine with towels.

 

[Chesterbelloc]

I use a stainless immersion chiller in my fermenter. The changes in temperature in a fermenter should be gradual so copper performance is not necessary. Works well enough.