Cooling Wort Without Threaded Faucets

[sbwiles]

I've successfully brewed 3 batches so far; all have been cooled using an ice bath and or ice in the hot wort.

I am looking to begin doing full boil worts but I'm concerned with cooling it. Thanks to the wife to be we only have new fancy faucets. Without the ability to connect a chiller directly to the faucet, i am concern there will not be enough water pressure to continuously force water through the chiller and cool the wort.

Is there another better alternative or do you think i will get enough water through a chiller?


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[freisste]

If you're handy, you could solder a T fitting downstream of your shutoff valve under your sink. Put a threaded connection on that.

Personally, I went through the same thing (my wife worked for Kohler at the time, so at least the replacements weren't expensive), I was just lucky that the wash sink in the basement has a threaded connection.

After that I switched to a CFC with a pond pump.

 

[masonsjax]

There are adapters that accept a garden hose connection that can be used in place of your faucet's aerator. Just swap it as needed.

 

[flars]

Do you have a separate hand held spray head or is that included in the $300 dollar faucet?
If it is separate you might be able to connect a immersion chiller to it.

Are your plumbing skills good? You could tap into the cold water line under the sink for a separate hose and shut off valve.

 

[sbwiles]

After that I switched to a CFC with a pond pump.

Using a small pond pump isn't a bad idea.


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[livetaswim06]

There are adapters that accept a garden hose connection that can be used in place of your faucet's aerator. Just swap it as needed.

I would be EXTREMELY careful with that. The adaptors you get are heavy and the thread inside a faucet is extremely fragile. I stripped the thread just lightly hand tightening it. Even if you can put an adaptor on, you will constantly be taking it off and putting it back on which will make your new faucet look scratched up.

There is something called a Claber Koala, which works only with specific styles of faucet. You can only really get this online so make sure it works with your style. I have heard this works well and if it fits, this is the cheaper option.

My preferred method is a pond pump. I got the 620 GPH pump at Harbor Freight and it works perfectly. You will need a brass adapter to make it work with a garden hose connection. You can submerge the pump in a sink filled with cold water, run cold water into sink and run pump to immersion chiller. After temp in wort goes down to 120 or so, just dump some ice in the sink and recirculate the water. This saves water and chills really quickly. Also this works better during summer when tap water is not cold enough. I get from boiling to pitching in 15 minutes.

If you have any questions about the pump method send me a pm and I'll send you a photo of the setup.

Edit:I don't find that I use much water at all using this method. I would estimate 3-4 gallons in sink, 10 gallons through the chiller, and half gallon of ice for recirculation. This is a very good process.

Also just to add, it really depends on where the pump is in relation to the kettle. My pump goes in sink at the same level as the kettle. If you had a bucket on the floor the pump would need a lot more oomph.

Lastly, check the immersion chiller for leaks. I had a steady leak out of box, and needed to add another hose clamp and retighten everything to stop the leak.

 

[freisste]

Using a small pond pump isn't a bad idea.


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One thing to keep in mind (that I should have realized, but didn't) is that chillers are pretty restrictive, so make sure yours has enough power to push the water pretty quickly. The water moves pretty slowly through my CFC, and it comes out really hot. Works pretty well when I can periodically replace some water with snow in my reservoir bucket. Not sure what I'm going to do during the summer, because it uses quite a bit if water.

In your case, if you're not worried about water usage, you could have your boil kettle in the sink with a bucket on the counter. Run your faucet into the bucket, pond pump running from the bucket through the wort, and dumping down the drain.

Good luck.

 

[mikeprooo]

Hi guys!

I'll chime in with my vote for the pump method. I bought a bunch of home brewing stuff off of Craigslist and a SS wort chiller was part of it. One end of the tube had a garden hose attachment, the other was just the end of the tube. Like the OP I have one of those spiffy faucets in the kitchen where its a sprayer/faucet combo and I couldn't quite figure out how to hook it up, and then I thought of the pump method (Still too cold to brew outside and use the hose.) I went to Lowe's and got the 300-500 GPM pump they sell for fountains. I was able to hook up the chiller tube to one of the adapters. I did a 5 gal batch with 4 gals of hot wort to chill. I put the pot in the right side of the double sink, and the pump in the left side submerged in ice water and plugged it in. The pump easily moved enough water and cooled the wort like a charm; It was done within 15 - 20 minutes!

Mike

 

[BWE]

I know it may be a little more equipment, but if you want your wort cooled down fast (like in 5 minutes), then get a pre-Chiller and put that in a cooler full of ice, maybe even some dry ice and then run that to your actual wort chiller. Then use another hose on the secondary side and run it out to your yard and water the grass whilst brewing beer. :rockin: