Getting Wort down to 60F degrees with Immersion Chiller

[Aaron_3000]

I apologize for the long post. My main question is will leaving the immersion cooler in for 30+ minutes get the wort down to the 60F's eventually? It's a Silver Serpent 25' IC. See full post for more info:

I've been brewing for about 5 months now using extract kits. I recently invested in a nice 10 Gallon Spike BK so I could do full volume boils. My first full volume boil came out way better than my prior versions. My process is pretty locked in, but I'm still unsure if I'm taking out my immersion chiller too soon.

So after the boil, I got the wort down from 200F to about 75F in 12-15 minutes. But then the next 5 mins or so I barely see the thermometer drop, and since it's wasting so much water in the backyard I just shut it off and proceed to transfer to my fermenter. Since I'm mostly using Ale Yeast (US-05) I like to pitch at 62F and then ferment around 65-67F. In order to get the wort from 75 down to 62 for pitching I had to stick it in my Cooler Bag fermentation chamber with 3 packs of Cooler Shocks. It took about 2.5 hours to get down to pitching temps. Everything turned out fine, but I guess I don't like the idea of having to wait those extra hours to pitch the yeast. How do you guys/gals get your wort down to the 60's? If I leave my wort cooler in for say 30 minutes will it eventually get there?

Thanks!

 

[camonick]

What is the temperature of the water supply your chiller is attached to?

 

[Jtvann]

The closer your wort temp gets to ground water temp, it will drastically slow. Your wort can never get cooler than your ground water temp. Depending on where you live, it works nice in the winter and not so nice in the summer.

You can chill initially like you’re doing then switch to ice water via pump if you’re not happy with ground water alone.

 

[Redpappy]

Not sure if you are willing to go this route or not, but, i'm going to through it at you anyway.

To help me get my wort down in temp and to reduce waste water, i use electric. I Have a cooler that i have water sitting in, and then i use a pump (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017R708QO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1) to recirculate the water. Then I add ice (22LBs)to the cooler to get the temperature down. I will say I have not tried to get my wort down to 60F, however I know I can, if would add more ice. You may be able to use your method to get the temp down 75, then swap over to a recirculation system to finish the job, and by doing that might be able to get away with less ice.

 

[Aaron_3000]

Ah okay, thanks so much for the input! That's a great question, I will check my ground water temperature from my hose first and foremost. I'm in Northern California so our summers get warm, but nothing extreme. With winter around the corner I feel like the water will be a lot cooler. Last time I brewed was on a hot day too.

@Redpappy thanks for linking me that pump! I will definitely look into the ice water recirculation method. So you submerge your Brew Kettle into your cooler with the recirculating water?

 

[Sammy86]

@Redpappy thanks for linking me that pump! I will definitely look into the ice water recirculation method. So you submerge your Brew Kettle into your cooler with the recirculating water?

No, attach the pump to the IC and have the water run back to the cooler...colder water=faster chilling

 

[Redpappy]

@Redpappy thanks for linking me that pump! I will definitely look into the ice water recirculation method. So you submerge your Brew Kettle into your cooler with the recirculating water?

I had to buy some hose and attachment fittings (the male side for a garden hose)for my pump so that it will connect to my IC.

I just go ahead and use my circulation system from the start, where you may want to start with your hose.... so this is my procedures:
I attach my pump hose to my IC, The first 2 1/2 to 3 Gals goes into a bucket for washing (can't beat free hot water). From there I stop the pump, take my exit hose (which came with my IC) and place it into the cooler. Then I turn the pump on and let it run its coarse, I am still working on figuring out the best procedures. I started out adding the ice at the begging, but now have waited till my temp stops dropping. The following picture is my IC attached to my line to my pump, that is sitting inside the cooler (i used a 1/2 hose). The cooler is on the ground, I am thinking of getting a smaller one though.




my brew stand, with the cooler by it, along with my setup for the Steam Slayer.
i

 

[NGD]

I’m another NorCal resident and do this as well. I have a cooler with a bunch of ice and a small amount of water. Run the IC off the hose until I get down to 100f or so. Then switch over to the pump and recirculate until pitch temp. Works great and I save a considerable amount of water.

 

[Jim R]

Here is my immersion chiller cooling protocol to get 5 gal of wort from 212 degrees to 60 degrees in 22-25 min. Before brew day I make two ice blocks in gallon milk jugs in my freezer. Then I also take 2 batches of ice cubes from my refrigerator ice maker and throw them in the freezer also for brew day.

I then use an old cooler about half filled with water with the below utility pump from Amazon. Before I start my 60 min boil time, I throw the two ice blocks into the cooler to start cooling the water down. At the 15-30 min boil time, I throw in the first batch of ice cubes into the cooler. At the 30-45 min boil time I throw in the second batch of ice cubes into the cooler.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000X05G1A/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
After the 60 min boil, I start running my garden hose tap water through my immersion chiller for 10 min just to keep the warmest water out of my ice cooler. I also save some of this warm water for later cleaning. At 10 min, I switch over the hoses to my cooler and utility pump system for another 12-15 min and return the water from the immersion chiller back to the cooler. I try to stir the wort every 1-2 min or so to keep the wort moving across the cold immersion chiller coils. After 22-25 min total time I am almost always down to 60-64 degrees and ready to transfer to my fermenter to pitch the yeast. It works perfect with minimal wasted water.

The utility pump above that I use will pump 1800 gal/hour. I think the other fish tank pump that was linked above is too small (only 550 gal/hour). For $30 more, it will pump 3 times the amount of ice cold water and cooler much faster.

 

[Redpappy]

Here is my immersion chiller cooling protocol to get 5 gal of wort from 212 degrees to 60 degrees in 22-25 min. Before brew day I make two ice blocks in gallon milk jugs in my freezer. Then I also take 2 batches of ice cubes from my refrigerator ice maker and throw them in the freezer also for brew day.

I then use an old cooler about half filled with water with the below utility pump from Amazon. Before I start my 60 min boil time, I throw the two ice blocks into the cooler to start cooling the water down. At the 15-30 min boil time, I throw in the first batch of ice cubes into the cooler. At the 30-45 min boil time I throw in the second batch of ice cubes into the cooler.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000X05G1A/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
After the 60 min boil, I start running my garden hose tap water through my immersion chiller for 10 min just to keep the warmest water out of my ice cooler. I also save some of this warm water for later cleaning. At 10 min, I switch over the hoses to my cooler and utility pump system for another 12-15 min and return the water from the immersion chiller back to the cooler. I try to stir the wort every 1-2 min or so to keep the wort moving across the cold immersion chiller coils. After 22-25 min total time I am almost always down to 60-64 degrees and ready to transfer to my fermenter to pitch the yeast. It works perfect with minimal wasted water.

From my understanding, big chuck of ice cools the water less than small chunks. I am by no means trying to change how you do things, I am inquiring more for information for my own part, and to improve my process if possible...

Have you ever taken temp readings ? I did at one point, but it was before all the ice was melted and the temp was about 38F. But I never checked again. I have thought about doing a reading before adding the ice, about mid way and then at the end... Not sure if it would help, but it is a thought.

Probably a failure on my part, but I never stir(i do move my IC around at the beginning though), So the question to you is, do you see more trube go into your fermentor since you stir, than what you might see without stiring?

Do you feel that having the bigger chunks of ice help you keep the water colder?

 

[Jim R]

Small ice cubes definitely cool faster with more surface area than larger blocks of ice but I was going through a lot of ice cubes when that was all I used. I then started cooling much earlier (before my boil) with a couple milk carton ice blocks which are very easy to make in my freezer beforehand. Then I switch later to the ice cubes. I have never check my ice water temperature but it must be well into the 30's. When I hit my 60-64 degree pitching temperature I now usually have a lot of ice cubes still left in the water.

Stirring the wort around the immersion chiller coils definitely shortens the cooling time. You could do the same by continually moving the immersion coils in the wort. You almost need to stir though to get a good average temperature reading of the whole wort. I am not concerned with stirring up trub and debris because I whirlpool the wort anyway before transfer to the fermenter. In fact, I use a whirlpool paddle with a cordless drill to do some serious whirlpooling (as well as adding some oxygen). After I let it rest for a short time, I transfer to the fermeter through a kitchen strainer to keep a little more trub out of the fermenter

 

[Redpappy]

Just so that my simple mind will grab hold. Your thoughts are that by placing the gal size cubes in the water( do you cut the containers, or leave them so that you can reuse) will cool the water to a very low temp, and use the smaller cubes to maintain the temp?

Where did you get the whirlpool paddle? I'm not much on e-bay?

 

[Aaron_3000]

I had to buy some hose and attachment fittings (the male side for a garden hose)for my pump so that it will connect to my IC.

I just go ahead and use my circulation system from the start, where you may want to start with your hose.... so this is my procedures:
I attach my pump hose to my IC, The first 2 1/2 to 3 Gals goes into a bucket for washing (can't beat free hot water). From there I stop the pump, take my exit hose (which came with my IC) and place it into the cooler. Then I turn the pump on and let it run its coarse, I am still working on figuring out the best procedures. I started out adding the ice at the begging, but now have waited till my temp stops dropping. The following picture is my IC attached to my line to my pump, that is sitting inside the cooler (i used a 1/2 hose). The cooler is on the ground, I am thinking of getting a smaller one though.


View attachment 700181

my brew stand, with the cooler by it, along with my setup for the Steam Slayer.
iView attachment 700184

This is awesome! I'm going to buy one of those pumps and give this a try next time. I had no idea you could hook up the immersion chiller directly to the pump instead of the hose faucet.

Thanks everyone for the input!

 

[Redpappy]

This is awesome! I'm going to buy one of those pumps and give this a try next time. I had no idea you could hook up the immersion chiller directly to the pump instead of the hose faucet.

Thanks everyone for the input!

Not sure of your location, but I would look for the parts need to attach to a garden hose first. They are out there. Just might be difficult to find in the size hose needed for the pump.

The connecting hose to the pump is not clamped, I just pushed it onto the fitting and left it as is. This is not a discouragement, but just a heads up. The pump runs very quite, and does a great job.

 

[DarrellQ]

I apologize for the long post. My main question is will leaving the immersion cooler in for 30+ minutes get the wort down to the 60F's eventually? It's a Silver Serpent 25' IC. See full post for more info:

I've been brewing for about 5 months now using extract kits. I recently invested in a nice 10 Gallon Spike BK so I could do full volume boils. My first full volume boil came out way better than my prior versions. My process is pretty locked in, but I'm still unsure if I'm taking out my immersion chiller too soon.

So after the boil, I got the wort down from 200F to about 75F in 12-15 minutes. But then the next 5 mins or so I barely see the thermometer drop, and since it's wasting so much water in the backyard I just shut it off and proceed to transfer to my fermenter. Since I'm mostly using Ale Yeast (US-05) I like to pitch at 62F and then ferment around 65-67F. In order to get the wort from 75 down to 62 for pitching I had to stick it in my Cooler Bag fermentation chamber with 3 packs of Cooler Shocks. It took about 2.5 hours to get down to pitching temps. Everything turned out fine, but I guess I don't like the idea of having to wait those extra hours to pitch the yeast. How do you guys/gals get your wort down to the 60's? If I leave my wort cooler in for say 30 minutes will it eventually get there?

Thanks!

I'm a newbie also and trying to learn, so pardon my question. I'm not certain why you have to get to 62 to pitch US-05? I've done two brews so far, each time from kits and using US-05 and I've pitched both around 72 degrees and then into my mini-fridge for a constant 65 throughout fermentation. Both batches have turned-out excellent (and I'm not just saying that because I made it!) I welcome thoughts, again, I'm just trying to learn.

 

[hottpeper13]

Getting it down to 68-70 is important cause cold break happens at 70 and you can leave it behind in the BK. I always pitch the next day , so as far as that concern , it really isn't. Most chill to 68 let it sit an hour or two then rack put in chamber to cool to pitching temp overnite. I typically pitch at 12 hrs post boil but I do pitch a vitality starter and I'm off and running in ~ 4 hrs.

 

[Aaron_3000]

I'm a newbie also and trying to learn, so pardon my question. I'm not certain why you have to get to 62 to pitch US-05? I've done two brews so far, each time from kits and using US-05 and I've pitched both around 72 degrees and then into my mini-fridge for a constant 65 throughout fermentation. Both batches have turned-out excellent (and I'm not just saying that because I made it!) I welcome thoughts, again, I'm just trying to learn.

Yeah I'll let the more experienced homebrewers chime in too, but for me I've read that pitching on the higher end of the fermentation range and then dropping it down to 65 right away can cause some yeast to flocculate and drop out early. Also, my last brew came out a bit estery so I've been extra careful to not pitch too high in the beginning. John Palmer recommends pitching at about 2-3F below your ferm temp. So 62F for a 65F fermentation. He mentions that once the yeast is pitched, you want to wort temp to gradually increase, but never really decrease. Sounds like you got a nice set up with the mini fridge ferm chamber! I bet that's why your beers have turned out well too!

Cheers

 

[Jim R]

Here are the standard garden hose connectors I have clamped to my immersion chiller hoses. They are readily available at any big box hardware store and probably on amazon. They allow me to connect to the garden hose and then also twist directly onto the top of the utility pump from Amazon I listed above.

 

[DarrellQ]

Getting it down to 68-70 is important cause cold break happens at 70 and you can leave it behind in the BK. I always pitch the next day , so as far as that concern , it really isn't. Most chill to 68 let it sit an hour or two then rack put in chamber to cool to pitching temp overnite. I typically pitch at 12 hrs post boil but I do pitch a vitality starter and I'm off and running in ~ 4 hrs.

If you let it sit overnight, do you then aerate just before pitching? I have an aeration wand that I intended to use with an aquarium pump, but haven't used it yet. Thoughts? Many thanks!

 

[bobeer]

I pitch the next day too. I built an IC a long time ago but was so tired of cleaning it and worrying about what to do with all the water wasted, buying ice, etc. Plus when I added 2 kids it was just easier to not deal with an IC.
I also use sa05 a lot and do not have temp control. My basement is a steady 67-68 degrees so on brew day I usually have a whirlpool addition of hops so I let the wort cool from boiling to 180 degrees F or so, then whirlpool the hops for 10 minutes with a big spoon, then put the lid on it.
The next day when the kettle is cool to the touch I strain the beer from the kettle ball valve through a fine mesh strainer to clear the wort and to aerate it, then pitch. What's left behind is a nice pile of hops and other trub. Been doing the "no chill" thing for years with no issues. Not saying it's the only way, as I've done both, but it's just another alternative. I brew mostly american style ales with the occasional Belgian or German thrown in.

 

[hottpeper13]

I pitch the yeast then use a stone on a stick with O2 and stir for the amount of time ( higher OG more time). I read a technical bulletin from the MBAA that showed the yeast take up O2 rite away and since absorption is greater the colder the substrate is and I'm adding it at ~60* ,I figure more uptake if done this way.