Worried about bursting Pipe in cold weather from chilling wort

[ndhowlett]

It's a high of 48 here in Denver today, and it's my brew day. I usually use the hose outside with my wort chiller to cool my wort. Since it's so cold I'm worried about bursting a pipe. Any experiences? Suggestions?

Right now I'm figuring out how to run it from my kitchen sink to through my wort chiller, but not sure I can do it.

Thanks.

 

[Bobby_M]

Pipe bursting only happens in temps below 32F and even that is unlikely. Most hose bibs will have problems after prolonged outside temps of 20F or less. Most will have a shutoff inside the house about 20" inches away from the outside wall. Use your chiller, then shut off the water from the inside.

 

[Parker36]

Its 48. Water freezes at 32. You will be fine. If you are double nervous, run the hose for a little before you hook it up to the chiller to make sure everything is running fine. The only thing that will happen is your wort will chill faster because the water is colder. If you want to hook it up to the sink when it gets to be too cold to be outside, you can get an adapter at any hardware store for under $2. It just screws onto the sink nozzle and allows you to hook up your hose adapter to it.

 

[BuffaloSabresBrewer]

Young Jedi it takes time for pipes to burst. You said it a high of 48 or something like that, there nt gonna freeze in temps like that! Your not going to be out there very long anyways. Brew on!

 

[BuffaloSabresBrewer]

Also if you like in any kind of a freezing zone that outdoor tap should be a frost free tap. After you turn the water off all the water should run back down the pipe and away from the freezing temps=no holes in pipes.

 

[Ecnerwal]

For the kitchen sink, look for a "portable dishwasher adapter".

Part screws into the aerator threads on your kitchen faucet. Part has hose-type threads on it. I have one with my jet carboy and bottlewasher screwed onto the hose-type threads.

My chiller hose (not a garden hose) slip-fits inside the male fitting of the disconnect. For a garden-hose type chiller, just use the garden hose threads on the female part.

 

[ndhowlett]

You guys rock!!

Thanks!

 

[krc333]

I brewed on Saturday as well in Denver and things went fine. Octoberfest that I will be ready in time for a Novemberfest. I did notice it took a bit longer for my boil to get going.

 

[wildwest450]

If your worried about pipes freezing at 48f, are you sure you can make beer?:cross:

 

[CBBaron]

If your worried about pipes freezing at 48f, are you sure you can make beer?:cross:

+1
Seriously, where did you go to school? Water freezes about 32F. This can be changed a little depending on whats dissolved in it but no way is any tap water going to freeze at 48F.

Even if your outside temp is below freezing the water coming out of the house is going to be much warmer. Unless the outside temp is well below freezing and you are running a long hose to the chiller, nothing is going to freeze. If you do get to a situation where flowing water could start to freeze it will begin freezing in your hose not in the pipes. I have chilled outside using an outside faucet in temps below 20F without a problem.

Craig

 

[jay4e]

i think his point was a high of 48 which likely means bellow freezing in the morning and later at night. but as long as the watter is running it wont freeze unless its real cold. think of how cold it has to be for a river to freeze. once your done just make sure you empty the hose and seal up the faucet however you would normally in such temps.

 

[jds]

Yep, it's getting to the cold time of year.

I've had no problems using my immersion chiller in colder-than-freezing temperaures. Just remember a couple of things:

Make sure you have a frost-free faucet.
Store your hoses in the garage, and make sure they're empty when storing.
Hook up hoses and chiller just before you plan to use them.
Run the water fast. Slow-moving water is more likely to form an ice plug.
Unhook and drain the hoses as soon as your wort is cold.

Freezing in a hose won't hurt it. Freezing in the pipes will hurt them. Don't forget to drain your sprinklers tonight.

 

[BierMuncher]

When I brewed outside I ran the garden hose in zero weather all the time. The tap water temp was still around 50 degrees since it's trenched well below the freeze line.

Talk about some great cold break though...

 

[bearkluttz]

no worries

 

[drunkatuw]

I brewed last winter in MN when it was -10F and didn't have a problem. You just have to make sure that you don't turn on the water until you're ready to chill and you remove the hose as soon as you turn off the water. Moving water is not likely to freeze, you only run into a problem when you leave a hose connected with no water running through it (I did that a few years ago and was rewarded with a busted copper pipe in my basement).