Love my new immersion chiller

[rdwj]

If you're not doing full boils, it's not going to help any

 

[kingjam]

Well that was my first question when do you do full boils. I am new so iam just going to start with an extract ale. I have read that you always just boil 2 gal. then add the rest with cold water. I was going to get this starter set and it comes with a chiller http://www.homebrewery.com/beer/beer-gs-deluxe-kit.shtml What should I do??

 

[rdwj]

Well that was my first question when do you do full boils. I am new so iam just going to start with an extract ale. I have read that you always just boil 2 gal. then add the rest with cold water. I was going to get this starter set and it comes with a chiller http://www.homebrewery.com/beer/beer-gs-deluxe-kit.shtml What should I do??

You can do full boils as soon as you have a pot that's at least 7.5 (but 8.5 is much better) and the ability to bring it to a boil. I could do it on my stove before I got a propane burner by setting the pot on two burners.

 

[kingjam]

So full boils are not just for all grain.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

I chimed in on this topic a while back, singing the praises of counterflow chillers (along with a bunch of other extraneous crap). I may have had a change of heart! Counterflow chillers work really well at chilling wort FAST, but I used an immersion chiller with my last batch, and I think I like it!

It took a little longer than my CFC (mostly because it's a tad short and only 1/4" ID), but I got very little break material in my fermenter. I used whole hops and a perforated stainless hop screen. That combination actually filters the wort a bit like a grain bed. Some argue the virtues of having cold break in the fermenter. I'm sure I got enough cold break into the fermenter to serve as yeast nutrient, but I kept the vast majority of the "miso soup"-ish particles out. The fermentation has been quite healthy. WLP002 English Ale yeast has taken my IPA from 1.078 to 1.022 (and dropping slowly) in one week.

Here's why I really like it: I gave up on saving the yeast from my last batch because there was so much trub and break material that it became frustrating and nearly impossible to separate the yeast out. This time, I got nearly 2L of what appears to be almost entirely yeast! There's a little trub at the bottom, but not much. Here's a pic of my fresh conical harvest:

 

[McKBrew]

I bought my immersion chiller just before the last batch and wish I would have bought one sooner. That thing is awesome. I cooled 4.5gallons down in about 10min.

I have an extra large pot, so I just boiled it in hot water while my wort was boiling.

 

[RedSun]

Wow, I have a great immersion chiller and mine took nearly 30 minutes on a full boil to cool to 75 degrees. Not real fast at all, been looking at a CF now because of it.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Wow, I have a great immersion chiller and mine took nearly 30 minutes...

By "great," what do you mean? Mine took less time than that to cool 15+ gallons of wort, and it's only 25' of 1/4 OD copper. I recirculated ice water through it (40 lbs of ice, until it melted), which helped immensely. It also helps to gently agitate/swirl the chiller during cooling (IMHO, it's necessary).

 

[Biermann]

I have both a 50 ft immersion chiller and a CFC. I pump my beer into the fermenters, and I have my system set up so I can easily use either.

I'm split. I really like the CFC, but the times I have used the immersion chiller, I liked it as well. I do like the concept of less trub, but with the conical, its easy to bleed it off and collect yeast during the secondary.

I thought about selling the immersion chiller, but after reading this thread, I'm commited to keeping it. Its always a great backup too, especially if my CFC goes bad, leaks, or gets clogged.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

I do like the concept of less trub, but with the conical, its easy to bleed it off and collect yeast during the secondary.

I find that the trub and yeast collect as one big mass at the bottom of the conical, so if I can eliminate a bit of trub, it makes the yeast harvest easier.