What's new in the world of chilling?

[RobbyBeers]

So, when it comes to wort chilling, I'm still hanging out in the no-mans-land of the ice bath. One of the reasons is because I am not that amped on any of the obvious alternatives.

An immersion chiller seems unwieldy, and the last thing I need is another big piece of equipment laying around my brewhouse (read: tiny kitchen).

No-chill methods still scare me a little; and again, it requires new equipment.

Are there any clever chilling alternatives that I'm missing out on? For instance, I had thought about getting a short coil of copper, working it into the middle of my siphon line, and then dropping it into an ice bath as a mini-heat exchanger. No idea if this is actually feasible.

FYI, I'm brewing all-grain, so "add cold water" is not an option.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[WIP]

Get a plate chiller. It is a counterflow that is very small.

 

[JVD_X]

FYI, I'm brewing all-grain, so "add cold water" is not an option.

Any help is appreciated.

That's not true. I brew all grain all the time and use slushy distilled water to top up. I set my top up water in beersmith and it works just fine.

 

[android]

you could get like 20' of copper and make a small chiller, i used one that size for quite a while and could get to a good pitching temp in like 30-45 mins...

 

[avibayer]

I started all grain, borrowing my friends pot and chiller. I went and got my own pot, but have yet to build the immersion chiller. For me, dealing with the hoses is annoying.

Until i get off my lazy bum and build one, i have been letting the wort sit overnight, and then pitching in the morning. So far its worked for me. (benefit is, you dont need any equipment)

 

[Jimmies]

I have a double sink in the kitchen. I put my wort from the stove right into a bath of cold water, add ice around it once its in, bringing water level equal to wort level. I stir the wort slowly with one hand while circulating ice water on the outside with my other. When the first bath gets warm, I switch to the other sink and do the same.

Doing that I go from boiling 3 gallons to ~75* in about 9 minutes. Should be good enough for anyone.

 

[wyzazz]

Plate chiller from http://www.dudadiesel.com/

 

[addis29]

Plate chiller from http://www.dudadiesel.com/

Which one of these do you use?

 

[punk_rockin2001]

I have been trying to get myself to buy a chiller too, but I still can't do it. I have a deep sink and I just make an ice bath (w/free ice from the restaurant I work at), and it takes about 15 minutes for 5 gal, and 7-9 minutes for 3 gal. Even if a chiller cut that time in half, I don't think I'd really gain much, except for 7.5 minutes. And then I'd have to clean it. Also how do you guys oxygenate you're wort when you use a chiller? If you cool it and then stir it up, then it might actually save time to use the ice batch since you're stirring it up for those 15 minutes anyway.

 

[wyzazz]

@addis29 - I use the 20plate 1/2 inch, and I use gravity to feed it to my fermenter. Chills to pitching temps in 1 pass.

@punk_rockin2001 - I use a venturi tube after the chiller to aerate my wort. Here is a link that shows a lot of ideas on how to do this.

 

[peter_]

Get a plate chiller. It is a counterflow that is very small.

You can get plate chiller online at: http://www.brazetek.com/products

 

[Bobby_M]

Peter, you're obviously pimping your own business. All of your posts here are shill ads. I think it's time to get a Vendor account. Play by the rules and people will support you.

 

[RobbyBeers]

I kind of lost track of this thread, but I thank you guys for all the suggestions.

I continued (mostly by inertia) to use an ice bath, but I did do the double-sink switch, as suggested in this thread. Worked pretty well, actually. But I recently moved, and now my kitchen has just one sink, so I decided to (finally) get a plate chiller---from Duda Diesel, again, as suggested on this thread.

I'm hoping this is efficient enough for single-pass cooling, and I like the purpose-built homebrew fittings. I'll try to update after my first use.

Thanks again.