Inline Coolant Chiller - No pond pump required.

[jpgilman]

I guess it all depends on what you have lying around for free sometimes. I got my pump free, then $5 in fittings and I had a pump/recirc chiller. I have seen pumps for $20-$30

The idea I had, but haven't yet tried, is to just drop a small, sanitized, submersible pump into the middle of my immersion chiller with the outflow pointed through the coils at the side of the kettle. The goal would be to simulate the whirlpool effect of Jamil's chiller without mucking about with plumbing, added external pump cost and sanitation complexity.

What I haven't yet found is a cheap food rated pump. FWIW, I don't think the pump has to handle boiling temps because I could wait a couple of minutes for the high temperature delta between the wort and the chiller to knock down the temp to 140 or so before I drop in the pump. <edit>That said, a high temp pump would be nicer because of the risk of continued DMS production above 140.</edit>

Has anyone already tried this? Any opinions?

John

 

[conpewter]

I suppose you could try and find a pump that would work like that, but wouldn't it just be simpler to stir the wort with a spoon?

 

[jpgilman]

I suppose you could try and find a pump that would work like that, but wouldn't it just be simpler to stir the wort with a spoon?

It would be simpler; but slower, subject to greater contamination because of the open kettle and it is more work stirring for half an hour. Cooling the wort is really the only semi-frustrating thing left for me in brewing. It is the step I'd most like to improve.

John

 

[johnnyc]

This sounds like an awesome idea. Did anyone do this successfully? And did you measure the drop in water temp?

 

[bentonre]

I like the idea of using a corny. I have a 4 gal pinlock that I never had a real "use" for. Even though the ice may be gone before all the wort is chilled, it will help provide some additional chilling over using standard city water temps. I was kinda thinking of rigging up a "Y" hose fitting to split the water to the corny and as a bypass and then remix before entering my CFC. I could adjust the flow split to control water temp.

 

[Bobby_M]

Just run the water really slow. It depends a lot on how warm the incoming tap is but you can conceivably get 32F chilling water for the whole cooling run.

 

[johnnyc]

I posted this pic from a recent brewday but I thought I should put in here too. It worked pretty well, just needed a couple hose clamps. I put 2 bags of ice in the corny and went from the hose spigot to the corny out to the IC then out to the yard. I put a sprayer nozzle on the exit end of the hose to slow down the water flow and it was still coming out very cold. I was happy with the setup but it still doesn't cut down on water use enough for me.

I'll prob still go to a submersible pump in a bucket of ice water instead. Run the hose into the yard for about the first 10 minutes to dump the warmer water out instead of melting all the ice then switch to the bucket. I'll use the pump from the beginning though to pump the coldest water possible through the chiller the entire time.

 

[Bobby_M]

If the water is coming out very cold, you need to get your wort moving better. Do you stir it while chilling?

 

[johnnyc]

Definitely, stirred w/ the chiller itself frequently.

 

[Bobby_M]

When the water going in is near 32f, you can really bring it down to a trickle to save water. Ideally, the output temp should be pretty close to the current temp of the wort if water savings is the concern. I'm going to try this on my next batch because I have a few cornies I don't really need for beer. I need a way to make a lot of ice. I don't have a lot of ice trays and it would be cool to be able to make slightly larger pieces, like tubes. I do have a bunch of plastic sour cream tubs and that's about as big as will fit in the corny opening.

 

[bendavanza]

Tapered mason jars? I never have enough ice from my ice maker in the fridge to cool as much as I'd like. maybe those or some other tapered shaped storage containers could be used. Hmmm, ice blocks have more longevity but ice cubes have more surface area. A mix of both should be nice.

 

[Bobby_M]

I also have a bunch of those Glad disposable tupperware type things. Heck, even 16oz plastic beer cups would work out well I'd think. Then again, I could probably find a truckload of icecube trays on any given garage sale Saturday. You'll actually get more ice into the corny the smaller the chunks are.

 

[hexmonkey]

I would think that the short "pint" containers that they put chinese food in would be a good size/surface area compromise. It'd be even better if you could somehow freeze them with a "donut hole" in the center to increase surface area, like some restaurant icemakers do.

 

[Geoffington]

You could try taking a piece of tupperware and glue or place some straws throughout to increase surface area. That would be a fairly good compromise. I don't have to worry about ice supply since where I work has a huge ice maker that barely even sees a dent in supply during everyday use.

 

[Bobby_M]

Maybe I'll just stop at the closest hotel and fill a garbage bag up with ice from the ice machines. It's not like they ask for ID every time you walk in. KIDDING!

 

[johnnyc]

There was still ice left in the keg after I got the wort down to 65. I used 2 bags of ice last time so I may be able to get away with emptying my ice maker once the day before into a cooler then the the full tray again right after I brew. I think that would be enough. At least that's my next try. Trying to cut the per batch cost every little bit and home frozen ice is one less thing to pay for. If it all melts early it'll just take longer but I'd like to think this will work. Not brewing til at earliest Sunday but it may be next weekend. I'll update afterward.