Wort Chiller Idea

[MagicRat]

Just used a wort chiller for the first time a couple days ago. It worked great, to a point. Problem is that our tap water here is about 83F and I couldn't get the wort to cool below about 93F.
So I have an idea for a solution and wanted to get some comments. I'm thinking of connecting two wort chillers - one that runs the tap water through a container of ice water before it is sent to the second chiller that's used conventionally in the brewpot.
Has anybody tried anything like this or dealt with similar problems?

 

[invictusbrew]

This has been done many times by others with great success, and I'm sure can be pulled up in search if you need any more detail, but it seems like you get it.

 

[burninator]

You're thinking of using a pre-chiller.

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/Beer/Chillers/15-Foot-Pre-chiller.html#.VZ6-yK5VhBc

 

[MagicRat]

You mean I didn't invent this process? Damn ...

 

[bbohanon]

I have used a el cheapo garden fountain pump ($20 from any big box store) to pump water from a cooler filled with ice and water through the IM with solid results.

 

[outside92129]

Use the 80F water to lower the temp to ~100F or so, then start with the ice water. No sense in wasting ice (unless you're in a place with no water)

 

[Murphys_Law]

I used a garden fountain pump for the first time last week. Worked OK but as noted, it quickly melted my ice! For the next brew I'm going to fill a few 5 gallon buckets with the hot water which will be used for cleaning, and then draw the water from the ice bath.

 

[BrunDog]

I live in south FL and have the same problem with high ground water temps. I have two counterflow chillers inline. The first cools the hot wort using the tap (ground) water. That exit water is either dumped or collected. The second cools using ice water. I put a small fountain pump at the bottom of a bucket, fill with water a bit to submerge, then dump a 10lb bag in. The return hose feeds water back onto the ice. This works very well and i can chill 6 gallons from near boiling to 64 degrees in about 8 minutes. If I slow the wort flow rate down, could likely get it into the 50's.

If you try to chill the whole volume from boiling, you will need a lot of ice. Using a pre-chiller (or two stage), you can use less because of the smaller delta at that point.

-BD

 

[govner1]

I used a garden fountain pump for the first time last week. Worked OK but as noted, it quickly melted my ice! For the next brew I'm going to fill a few 5 gallon buckets with the hot water which will be used for cleaning, and then draw the water from the ice bath.

I use a pump from HF in a bucket of ice water as well. I start by using ground water to get down as far as I can then switch to the ice water. I save the initial hot water in a bucket w/ SaniClean then fill others for watering plants & garden.
If you use just a prechiller in an ice bath consider putting a small pond pump in the bottom. It will circulate the chilled water & improve the efficiency of your chiller.

 

[ArcLight]

I have used a el cheapo garden fountain pump ($20 from any big box store) to pump water from a cooler filled with ice and water through the IM with solid results.

I do this too AFTER I have chilled the wort down to 15-20 degrees F above the ambient water temperature. No need to use chilled water when the wort is near boiling.

 

[MagicRat]

I do this too AFTER I have chilled the wort down to 15-20 degrees F above the ambient water temperature. No need to use chilled water when the wort is near boiling.

Understood. I was able to chill to about 10F above ambient within a few minutes but wasn't making any progress beyond that. Sounds like the pre-chiller system is exactly what I need.

 

[MindenMan]

I too am using the "back-to-back" chiller idea. I get the wort as cool as possible using the tap/hose water, and then place my "other IC" in a pot filled with iced water and run the IC's in series. The water speed is super slow to save water and to get maximum temperature transfer in both IC's. My out water is used for cleanup and on the garden plants.

 

[Dr_Floyd]

The cheap water fountain pump drawing water from a bucket of ice water worked wonders for me. Just circulate the hot water on the ejecting end into the ice bucket with the pump and voila! Perhaps the people that didn't have as good of an experience bought a pump that doesn't move as much volume as mine does. Fastest wort chilling for me to date, plus you save a ton of water which is usually just wasted (a big no no here in drought ridden California). Bought mine at Home Depot for something like $50, totally worth it.

 

[MagicRat]

I too am using the "back-to-back" chiller idea. I get the wort as cool as possible using the tap/hose water, and then place my "other IC" in a pot filled with iced water and run the IC's in series. The water speed is super slow to save water and to get maximum temperature transfer in both IC's. My out water is used for cleanup and on the garden plants.

I think it's actually preferable to have max flow rate through the IC. The faster the flow, the lower the average temp throughout the the length of the IC at any given moment and therefore a greater delta-T and more efficient heat transfer. It's been 30 years since I studied this stuff, so I could be wrong, but this is my understanding.

 

[Natdavis777]

I have used a el cheapo garden fountain pump ($20 from any big box store) to pump water from a cooler filled with ice and water through the IM with solid results.

I was going to say, I think this is the most solid process for high ground temp/draught issues.

 

[pointcity-homebrew]

+1 on the submersible pump and ice bath. I freeze a 1 liter bottle of water and let the hot output water run over that ice and it cools it down enough that it will not melt my ice too quickly.

 

[deepbluegroove]

Materials:
Pump, Immersion chiller, silicone tubing. Frozen water bottles.

Method: (initial chill with tap, further chill with water and frozen water bottles)
1. I have a pump I put in the sink, attach to immersion chiller with silicone tubing. (one tube attached to pump in sink and one end of the IC, and another tube from the IC back to the sink)
2. fill the sink with tap water. Run pump until water in sink is pretty warm. While I do this I swirl the Immersion chiller to make sure its cooling the wort in the kettle uniformly.
3. Drain the warm water into a bucket.
4. Fill sink again, add water bottles with frozen water. Swirl the Immersion chiller to make sure its cooling the wort in the kettle uniformly. At this point the wort is pretty good, maybe 80 degrees.
5. transfer wort to the fermentation bucket, this process aerates and also cools the wort further.
6. put lid fermentation bucket
7. Set Fermentation buck into water bucket, put t-shirt over the bucket (now I have my passive cooling technique)
8. in an hour or so I check the buckets temp using the sticker on the side. This is usually pitching temp.
9. Water plants with bucket of water. Empty sink into bucket, water more plants. (I live in California; I try to be careful with water usage)
10. Refreeze water bottles for future use.

 

[ferm.adventures]

Use the 80F water to lower the temp to ~100F or so, then start with the ice water. No sense in wasting ice (unless you're in a place with no water)

This. I use a small prechiller in a bucket of ice water until about 100, then lose the prechiller, and use a submersible pump in the ice water to get to 60s or 70s.

I also recirculate my wort from the bottom of the kettle to the top of my chiller to whirlpool and mix the cooling wort. Works really well, but you need a chugger or similar.

 

[beerplumber]

I used two coils earlier this evening. The fist was in an ice bath with some salt and was connected to the second which sat in my pot with near boiling wort. From the second the hot water dumped into the sink. I connected my sink faucet directly to the first coil to pre chill the tap water. I was able to chill the wort from 195 down to 85 degrees in just under 15 minutes.

 

[Mikeystew]

I think it's actually preferable to have max flow rate through the IC. The faster the flow, the lower the average temp throughout the the length of the IC at any given moment and therefore a greater delta-T and more efficient heat transfer. It's been 30 years since I studied this stuff, so I could be wrong, but this is my understanding.

You aren't wrong.

 

[arnobg]

Last week was my first time using my DIY wort chiller ever and since my tap water was like 78 degrees I did this with success:

In the sink I poured a little water with ice and just coiled up a few feet of my 10' vinyl hose that goes into the chiller in that ice bath. I also placed the brew pot in a large Rubbermaid bucket that had tap water with home made ice packs I freeze (just recycledGatorade bottles with frozen water). This method was able to get me from boiling to 71 degrees in less than 20 minutes off that tap water.