Lil' Sparky
Cowboys EAC
OK, so a little light went on in my head today (or maybe off, it's hard to say).
Anyway, there's been several threads this summer about trouble cooling with hot ground water. My last brew session was the first time I tried the technique of recirculating the wort through the chiller (I have a CFC) and back into the kettle until the wort's down to ~ 120' and then pump ice water through the chiller as the wort makes its final pass into the fermenter.
This may not take that long with 5.5 gal batches, but with 11 gals it really seemed to take too long.
Now, here's the idea. Any of you do this?
Why not just daisy-chain two counterflow (or plate) chillers together and effectively chill your wort in a single pass? If you use your warm hose water in the first CFC, the exiting wort will be 90-ish (at least it was for me), and then ice water pumping through the 2nd CFC can easily get the wort down (below) pitching temps.
I know it requires the extra cost of another chiller, but I've invested SOOOO much more than an extra chiller in other parts of my brewery. It seems like worth it to me to take the extra step out and get the wort chilled that much faster - especially with 10 gal batches.
The only counter argument I could see is that you may not get the entire batch cooled below 140' as fast as the recirculate first method, but I'm not sure. I think I could pump the entire batch through in about the same time to get it cooled below 140'. It would be really close anyway.
Comments?
Anyway, there's been several threads this summer about trouble cooling with hot ground water. My last brew session was the first time I tried the technique of recirculating the wort through the chiller (I have a CFC) and back into the kettle until the wort's down to ~ 120' and then pump ice water through the chiller as the wort makes its final pass into the fermenter.
This may not take that long with 5.5 gal batches, but with 11 gals it really seemed to take too long.
Now, here's the idea. Any of you do this?
Why not just daisy-chain two counterflow (or plate) chillers together and effectively chill your wort in a single pass? If you use your warm hose water in the first CFC, the exiting wort will be 90-ish (at least it was for me), and then ice water pumping through the 2nd CFC can easily get the wort down (below) pitching temps.
I know it requires the extra cost of another chiller, but I've invested SOOOO much more than an extra chiller in other parts of my brewery. It seems like worth it to me to take the extra step out and get the wort chilled that much faster - especially with 10 gal batches.
The only counter argument I could see is that you may not get the entire batch cooled below 140' as fast as the recirculate first method, but I'm not sure. I think I could pump the entire batch through in about the same time to get it cooled below 140'. It would be really close anyway.
Comments?