Immersion Chiller

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shibbypwn

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Using my immersion chiller for the first time tonight- about how long should it take to chill?

Obviously tap water temp plays a role, just curious about what an average time might be to expect.

I'm in Dallas, so I'm assuming my tap is warmer than most of the country
 
What's your volume? Mine usually takes a minimum of 30 minutes to cool 5 gallons from boil to 70F but I suspect our ground water is a bit cooler in NY. Gentle stirring helps speed things along.
 
I'm in ny too, ground water 50 degrees. With a 3/8 stainless 25' chiller it takes about 15-20 min to chill to 75 degrees
 
Too many variables you haven't provided. How long is the ic, what is the diameter of the tubing, how hot is it outside, how big of a batch are you cooling? Are you cooling in the sun? Etc. etc. All of these things can make a huge difference. I actually couldn't cool my wort to 80 the other day here in AZ because the ground water was in the upper 70's and the sun was on the keggle heating faster than I could cool (luckily I have a setup to recirculate through an icebath).

For me, a 5.5 gallon batch, in the winter when I have 50*F ground water, cools in less than 15 minutes on a 50' 1/2 inch IC. In the summer I can cool to 110-120 in 10 minutes then recirculate through an ice-bath for 10 minutes to get 70*F wort.

Basically there isn't a "Generic" or "common" time. It all depends on your specific environment and equipment.
 
I suppose a better question would be:

What time should I aim for? At what point is my chilling taking too long, and likely to produce off-flavors or infection?

Should I have a goal time for reaching pitching temp? And what is it?
 
Like HexKrak said, too many variables. I'm in Dallas, too, and the one thing I will guarantee is that you won't get down to pitching temp in the summer using tap water. I have a 50 foot, 3/8 inch immersion chiller - I run tap water until I get down to about 80ºF in winter and about 100ºF in summer, then disconnect from the tap and begin recirculating ice water from my 10 gallon RubberMaid cooler mash tun. I pump it from the cooler through the chiller and back into the cooler and usually put about 7-8 gallons of ice water in the cooler in the summer, less in winter. You really need to either stir contantly (slowly but steadily) during the cooling or build a whilrpool IC which pumps wort back into the kettle tangential to the kettle wall to keep the wort swirling. I haven't timed how long it takes me, but I get down to 110-120ºF pretty quickly (maybe 10 minutes or so), but then it really slows down. Getting all the way to pitch temp. from 100 - 110 probably adds another 20-25 minutes (I need a bigger pump). After I reach pitch temp, I stir (whirlpool) for a few minutes, then let it sit covered for 20-30 minutes to let the trub settle while I sanitize the carboy and aeration equipment. I haven't had any problems with this time period.
 
What kind of pump do you use for the ice water? Could you maybe send me a link?

Thanks for the input- I'll have to try that next time
 
I follow the same process DeafSmith posted. The pump I use was just a simple pond pump I got at Lowes for around $65. Plug and play. Can't remember exactly but I believe it circulates 330 gph. It's plenty strong.
 
I suppose a better question would be:

What time should I aim for? At what point is my chilling taking too long, and likely to produce off-flavors or infection?

Should I have a goal time for reaching pitching temp? And what is it?

Sorry I just wanted to address this one point. You will not get off flavors from chilling slowly. I feel like most threads I reply to I simply try to campaign for the "no chill" method...guess I'm doing it again. Look into the no chill technique, makes for an easy brew day and great tasting beer.
 
MJDore said:
I follow the same process DeafSmith posted. The pump I use was just a simple pond pump I got at Lowes for around $65. Plug and play. Can't remember exactly but I believe it circulates 330 gph. It's plenty strong.

And you hook this up to your wort chiller? Do you need any special hookups, or does it have a hose fitting already?
 
What kind of pump do you use for the ice water? Could you maybe send me a link?

Thanks for the input- I'll have to try that next time

I've just been using my March pump, but it doesn't develop enough pressure to get much volume through 50 feet of 3/8 inch tubing, so I'm looking for a better pump for this application, which doesn't need to be food safe or withstand high temperature - maybe a pond pump?
 
I also use a pond pump and you'd need to make a fitting. When running my IC off tap water it comes out through a vinyl hose. When I run it the other direction I plug that vinyl hose into the pond pump, and water exits through the garden hose side.

I always try to chill after the sun goes down this time of year, but I'll try and snap some pics when I brew next weekend.
 
shibbypwn said:
And you hook this up to your wort chiller? Do you need any special hookups, or does it have a hose fitting already?

Yep. The output fits a 3/8" or 1/2" ID vinyl line just like I have on my IC. Plug and play.
 

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