Wort Chiller - Dumb Question

[grizzly2378]

Alright, I just got my first wort chiller, the Silver Serpent, in the mail today. Forgive me if this is a colossally stupid question, but which side is the inlet and which is the outlet? My gut feeling is that the inlet is on the left side, which leads to the bottom of the coil and then flows upward to the outlet on the right. Both sides have a female garden hose coupling on the end of the tubing, hence the question...I guess I was expecting only the inlet side to have the garden hose attachment. Thanks for helping a relative noob out!

 

[day_trippr]

This is one of the few cases in brewing where "It doesn't really matter".

An IC chiller demands the wort be kept moving, and that makes stratification impossible, hence the direction of water flow is moot...

Cheers!

 

[wilserbrewer]

Agree with the above, but I wonder if one is lax w/ stirring, would it be better to have the input at the top of the chiller hoping to chill the top of the wort and have it "fall" to the hotter wort below, resulting in passive mixing?

Idk, just a thought. Another reason I no chill / passive chill, Im lazy and hate babysitting a chiller....

 

[brewbama]

That has never crossed my mind. My inlet is at the top of the coil and outlet is at the bottom. ...but I had to go look because I didn't know.

 

[The10mmKid]

That's Correct!

This is one of the few cases in brewing where "It doesn't really matter".

An IC chiller demands the wort be kept moving, and that makes stratification impossible, hence the direction of water flow is moot...

Cheers!

 

[Scriv]

I plan to connect mine with the coldest water hitting the top coils first and working its way down. Heat rises, so this may be slightly more efficient.

 

[oogaboogachiefwalkingdeer]

Can't say it would matter or not. I cooled two five gallon kettles down to 60 last night in a tub. Took 25 minutes and I only stirred two times.

 

[feinbera]

It's actually more efficient to have the cooler water next to the cooler wort, and warmer next to warmer, so you've got a temperature difference across the whole area of the chiller, versus a big difference at one end, and no difference – and, thus, no cooling – at the other. This is how counterflow and plate chillers are designed. Although, especially if you're stirring, it probably won't really make much of a difference on an immersion chiller.