Question about Immersion chilller

[sportscrazed2]

I am thinking of going into full boils and recently bought a turkey fryer. I want to get an immersion chiller so i won't have to buy ice every time i brew. i tested my garden hose water today and it was 69.2 degrees. is this good enough to cool wort rapidly? or would i need some kind of pump to recirculate ice water?

 

[BendBrewer]

70 degrees? Did you check temp after running it for 10-15 minutes?

That will cool it down. The last 10-20 degrees will seem like an eternity but just do some cleaning while it cools.

 

[Bluesssman]

Obviously the cooler the chiller water the more heat it can move. One thing you will need is to move the wort past the chilling coils. This can be done by just moving the chiller around in the wort. You might want to give a look at a plate chiller. I gave my immersion chiller away once I tried a plate chiller. Just a thought...

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

I built a 50' chiller, and I don't see a point in moving on to anything bigger. I can cool 15 gallon boils in 15-20 minutes. I still use ice though. I fill a tub with ice water and submerge a pond pump into it. It pumps the ice water through the chiller and back into the tub.

 

[Plastered_Marble]

70 degrees? Did you check temp after running it for 10-15 minutes?

That will cool it down. The last 10-20 degrees will seem like an eternity but just do some cleaning while it cools.

You can lower a plastic bag with ice/road salt into your kettle for the last few dozen degrees. It's what I do right before serving gazpacho on summer barbecues.
I guess you should weigh the risk of infection between using said bag and leaving the kettle open longer with temperatures already dropped.

 

[rgray58]

What Bluesssman said. Rate of temp drop decreases as the temp differential between wort and chiller water decreases. My wellwater hose dumps into a bucket where an immersion pump takes over pumping through my chiller. When the wort temp drop slows down, I start dumping ice into the bucket to run colder water through the chiller. The wort starts dropping temp quicker.

 

[specialkaye]

I built a 50' chiller, and I don't see a point in moving on to anything bigger. I can cool 15 gallon boils in 15-20 minutes. I still use ice though. I fill a tub with ice water and submerge a pond pump into it. It pumps the ice water through the chiller and back into the tub.

I had thought of doing something like this. Maybe a small jockey box kind of set up, filled with ice and water, with a pump going to an immersion chiller in the wort. I'm thinking your set up would be just as efficient but less of a PITA and cost less to boot. Right now isn't too bad but when the temp is really up, the water at my faucet is 86f no matter how long you run it. Last batch took 40#s of ice to get down to 78f, which is my normal room temperature.

 

[JewBrew]

with my IC during the winter the tap water is cold enough to cool it down quickly. During the summer I use tap water to cool it down to around 160, then I recirculate ice water using a pond pump. I start stocking up on Ice by freezing big Tupperware a couple of days before brewday

 

[edie]

with my ic during the winter the tap water is cold enough to cool it down quickly. During the summer i use tap water to cool it down to around 160, then i recirculate ice water using a pond pump. i start stocking up on ice by freezing big tupperware a couple of days before brewday

+1

 

[sportscrazed2]

would a coleman crate with a bag of ice and some water be enough along with immersion cooler to cool down wort? thinking of moving from wooden deck to driveway but there is no water supply around besides the tap water. here is a pic of where i'm thinking of setting up shop . btw i managed to get my tap water down to around 64 after letting it run for 5 minutes. edit picture removed because i accidently captured liscense plate number and am paranoid about someone looking it up. the picture is basically a flat area of my driveway with a window up above. the sink is right inside of window