Prechiller

[Tobor_8thMan]

To cool wort I put ice into water that's in my HLT and feed it thru the counterflow wort chiller.

PITA collecting ice, running out of ice, having a LOT of water let over (before the earth huggers get involved, we do use the water for other things. In other words, the water doesn't go down the drain.)

Any suggestions on an easier way to get things pre-chilled?

 

[RPh_Guy]

Don't pre-chill. Use tap water down to 100°F and then circulate ice water.

 

[Robert65]

Don't pre-chill. Use tap water down to 100°F and then circulate ice water.

This.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Don't pre-chill. Use tap water down to 100°F and then circulate ice water.

In my first few batches with the counterflow wort chiller I did indeed recirculate. In my experience, takes too long to chill to pitching temp.

 

[gnef]

My suggestion is to get another counterflow chiller and recirculate ice water through that as your second stage of chilling. So the output of your current counterflow goes into the input of the second counterflow.