Chiller

[pearlbeer]

Groundwater temps in Texas are...well, warm.

Since I moved up to 10g batches, my 30' immersion chiller (with recirc arm) is just not keeping up. Pumping city, followed by ice water takes me close to an hour to cool to 68.

I either need to

A) buy/build a bigger 50' imm chiller
B) go with a plate chiller

My rig does have two march pumps, if that helps.

debate and discuss the merits of A and B.....

 

[pearlbeer]

bump....would like a few opinions before I make a purchase.

 

[rico567]

First, I regard the move from 5 to 10 gallons as a chasm I won't jump, and for a number of reasons, most of which I won't discuss here. Rather, I will just state that I would go with the larger IC. Right now, you're trying to chill 10g with god-knows-how-warm water with the same size chiller I use to do 5 gallons with 55F well water. It takes me about 15-20 min. I reject the idea of a plate chiller on grounds of complexity of maintenance, but I think very hard on the K.I.S.S. principle any time I make a change in my brewing methods.

If I were confronted with your situation, I would make or buy the bigger IC, and use your current IC to pre-chill your water by running it through an ice bath if the bigger chiller still produced unacceptable times.

 

[Golddiggie]

Get a plate chiller. Iwould get at least a large 30 plate, or 40 plate. puta thermocoupke and ball valve on te wort out port and you'll be able to better control the chilling rate/temp. I have this ability on my Chillhog 4000 and really like it. Had I know I would end up going with this chiller three months ago I would have saved a lot on copper and time trying to make a better IC. Live and learn.

One of the benfits of the plate chiller is that its compact. Another is that you leave the kettle lid on while chilling the wort.There are a lot more reasons to go with one, those are just the first two to come to mind.

btw, a plate chiller is no more complex to maintain than an IC. If anything its easier. Take it from someone that was seriously against needing a plate chiller for long enough. Now that I've used one, I can't see ever going back to an IC.

 

[pinkfloyd4ever]

I always have these 2 concerns with plate and counterflow chillers:

1) cleaning. You can flush & backflow to your heart's content, but it's pretty much impossible to KNOW if there are solids still stuck in the wort side of the chiller. Then you drain it and let it sit for a week or a month till your next brew, and you could end up with some bacteria growing in your chiller.

2) The cold break material goes into the fermenter. Yeah you could then rack the chilled wort off the cold break, but that's another container to sanitize and one more step in an already-too-long brew day.

 

[Celticway]

I always have these 2 concerns with plate and counterflow chillers:

1) cleaning. You can flush & backflow to your heart's content, but it's pretty much impossible to KNOW if there are solids still stuck in the wort side of the chiller. Then you drain it and let it sit for a week or a month till your next brew, and you could end up with some bacteria growing in your chiller.

2) The cold break material goes into the fermenter. Yeah you could then rack the chilled wort off the cold break, but that's another container to sanitize and one more step in an already-too-long brew day.

1. I have a CF, and it cleans easily. Just run some PBW right after each use. To sanitize, run your wort through it last 15 min of your boil. I'm in Ga, and I have to prechill my supply water.

2. Excellent point! What I do is run it back to my kettle which has a false bottom and let the whole thing cool down. It helps filter if you use some whole hops. Even better is if your kettle has a thermometer you can tell when you have cooled enough without buying another therm!

 

[badhabit]

Before I did anything new I would open the coils on the 50' IC. You may be very happy with the end result.

 

[bannonb]

I've transitioned from immersion to counterflow and finally to plate where I'll stay.

You can make your own counterflow chiller with your 30' of copper and a garden hose. The performance will likely surprise you.

 

[_JP_]

I use an immersion chiller with warm summer water temps also. I get the wort down to 85°F or so, then pitch the yeast and put it in my ferm chamber which is set at 68°F. Maybe try pitching a little warmer?

Have you considered no-chill? It's all the rage with the Aussie's - they tend to conserve water much more than we do. I may try a no-chill batch this summer myself.


To answer your question though, my vote is for a plate chiller. There's a reason plate chillers are the standard for industrial heat exchangers: efficiency.

 

[jagg]

I am using 2 immersion chillers, 1- 50 ft., and 1- 25 ft. I bought the 50 and just went to Lowes and bought 25 ft of copper, both 1/2 inch. I use these with 2 pond pumps to pump ice water through the chillers, I freeze my own ice. I can chill 17 gallons to 68f in 20 min. When I was doing 10 gallon batches, the 50 ft. chiller worked ok, but after I moved up to 17 gallon batches I had to have another chiller, and man did it make a difference, good luck whichever route you go.

 

[Northcalais40]

I stick a standard 3/8" IC in a bottling bucket filled with ice (crushed), or snow in the winter. I run my wort through this. I have to drain the water as it warms, to make room for more ice. It chills to almost too cold as fast as it can drain, 10 min for 10 gal.

Pros? Cheapness and awesomeness.

Cons?
You have to clean it out well. I hook it up to the bucket drain after cooling and run out the whole bucket, then flush it with iodine solution. Then soak it in iodine solution immediately before use (I already have done so with the carboys)

You need to buy 3-4 bags of ice (the five pounders) unless you have it at home.

 

[chthonik]

We have three chillers- one double IC bought new for doing 10 gallon batches, 1 that came in a haul of used equipment for cheap, and one really small one.
For what its worth, we use the cheapo chiller as a prechiller in a bucket filled with ice water before the hose enters the IC in the wort. Works pretty well, if you've got a spare IC!

 

[pinkfloyd4ever]

Have you considered no-chill? It's all the rage with the Aussie's - they tend to conserve water much more than we do. I may try a no-chill batch this summer myself.

While I applaud their water conservation efforts, that sounds like terrible idea. Leave all that cold break protein in solution with the wort? No thanks. If you want to save water, take a faster shower or don't water your lawn. You can always collect your hot chiller water & reuse it if water is that expensive or hard to come by.

 

[_JP_]

you could whirlpool out the cold break after it chills, maybe. (???) there is some data out there that says cold break acts as yeast nutrient in the initial stages of fermentation, also.

There are lots of cons to no-chill, and its merits are still being debated. I was just throwing it out there for consideration. I continue to use my immersion chiller myself, and use the hot spent water for cleanup.

 

[wolfman_48442]

My latest batch was no chill. The lazy part of me (i.e. the vast majority) loves the minimal effort involved. Clean up consists of washing my boil kettle.
Haven't tasted anything yet as it's still in primary, but I have high hopes!
The caveat is that I use my fermenter to get the wort down to pitching temps, so there is some equipment involved.

 

[Northcalais40]

As far as cold break, it exists whether you leave it in the kettle or the fermenter. It has no effect on volume, so its in the fermenter with me. I consider it worth the convenience of chilling in 10 or so minutes.

 

[corncob]

I live in South Carolina and my well water is quite warm now, too. I just did my first 10 gallon batch, but I did it as 2 x 5-gallon gyles, boiled in 2 (cheap, CL)8-gal. aluminum pots. I had about a half hour between them and had plenty of time for the old 3/8 x 50 IC to take each one down to a positively brisk 90 degrees. Which is fine because the fermenters had to wait outside to be topped up from the second gyle anyway.

Then they went into my handy-dandy water-circulating, ice-powered, modular fermentation rig (TM) where they rested for a few hours before pitching. What temp was the wort at pitching? Stay tuned--I need a longer thermometer.

Works like a charm, though.