Fermentation chamber/cooler. It will (at least in my experience) vastly improve the quality of your beer. Wort chillers are a convenient thing to have, but arent necessary. I have one, but Ive found that more and more I am making a push towards no chill to cut down time on my brew day. Just my 2cents
Just curious, how does "no chill" cut down on time? If anything it would seem to add time, as now you're waiting several hours for your wort to chill to pitching temps. Also, I would imagine the thermal shock from putting near boiling (or even >150°F) wort into a glass carboy would stress it to the point of breaking. Is this not the case?
Maybe you're using a different wort chiller than I am (I use a CFC), but it adds no time to my brew day to chill, as it happens inline while I am transferring to the carboy, which has to happen anyway.....
Just curious, how does "no chill" cut down on time? If anything it would seem to add time, as now you're waiting several hours for your wort to chill to pitching temps. Also, I would imagine the thermal shock from putting near boiling (or even >150°F) wort into a glass carboy would stress it to the point of breaking. Is this not the case?
Maybe you're using a different wort chiller than I am (I use a CFC), but it adds no time to my brew day to chill, as it happens inline while I am transferring to the carboy, which has to happen anyway.....
I'm not sure I get the question. Isn't a wort cooler (chiller) and a fermentation chamber two different things? A wort chiller is used to rapidly cool wort from near boiling to yeast pitching temperature as quickly as possible. A fermentation chamber, or cooler, is generally a temperature controlled chest freezer or refrigerator (and lots of DIY variants) to maintain fermenting wort at a constant temperature. I guess you could have a large cooler that you put ice into and place the boiled wort into to cool it as quickly as possible. Some people use a sink for this as well. If I misconstrued the question I apologize!
What you are missing from the OP is that he can only afford one or the other right now. I'll cast another vote for the ferm chamber. There are other (possibly better) options for chilling wort, but a ferm chamber is the best way of controlling fermentation temps.
Ah I see now. I've only ever used a CFC from day 1, so no experience with an IC. Didn't realize you have to stand there and stir it.
Not to jack the thread or go too far , but since you mentioned the water issue, I would suggest using a tub filled with ice water and recirculating that instead of using a hose. I found I have to do this when brewing in the hot summers here as the ground water is a bit too warm (75-80°F). The only extra equipment you would need is a submersible pump.
To the OP, I agree that a Fermentation chamber is more likely money better spent. It will have more influence over the quality of the finished beer. On a side note, you can build your own counter-flow chiller for about $40 if you can solder, or about $60 using compression fittings (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=9395).
What you are missing from the OP is that he can only afford one or the other right now. I'll cast another vote for the ferm chamber. There are other (possibly better) options for chilling wort, but a ferm chamber is the best way of controlling fermentation temps.
Does anyone chill their wort in a ferm chamber? Not exactly a no-chill, but more actively try to cool the wort using a prechilled (0F) freezer and attaching the temp probe to the warm kettle/fermenter. Is that just asking to burn out the freezer?
Ferm chamber is more expensive than an immersion chiller. So get the immersion chiller but save the extra money for the ferm chamber.
Does anyone chill their wort in a ferm chamber? Not exactly a no-chill, but more actively try to cool the wort using a prechilled (0F) freezer and attaching the temp probe to the warm kettle/fermenter. Is that just asking to burn out the freezer?
+eleventy billion for the chest freezer. Fermentation temp control is #1 to vastly improve your beer. You could even ditch the wort chiller altogether and let it chill overnight and youd still be golden with a chest freezer. I have bought so much equipment over the past 18months of my brewing. Nearly all of it (save the $1800 brew boss system I just ordered) is all "cold side" stuff. I still have my first 9gal kettle and immersion chiller I use for BIAB
I have money for one, which one would give me the best bang for the buck and better beer?
This is actually a trick question!
IC: you could do 25' 3/8 for under $40; DIY maybe a little less.
Fermentation cooler (chamber):
5 to 7 cubic chest freezer off craigs list maybe $50, or at least under $100.
plus you need a temp controller, so STC1000 with sensor under $20 on amazon.
Lets say you get lucky on craigs list, so Fermentation chamber system is about $100.
if you do a dorm frig from craigs list and buy material from Home Depot for DIY...maybe can do less, but you still need a controller, so I think the chest is best value and no DIY, so do the chest.
One choice is twice the price of the other. It's not an apples to apples choice. First you have to have a budget, so which one fits the budget is the one you have to go with first. If your budget is around $150, you can do both!
You're right, I guess I should add that I'm lazy and want things done correctly. I was thinking about building the wort chiller but if it cost $40 I'd rather just path the extra $30 and get one that I know will work without the hacking. I might even skip it until I can afford to get a counter flow which seems like a better long term solution.
Same goes for the freezer, I could get one of craiglist but I'd have to worry about it breaking or even just the logistics of finding and picking it up. I'ad rather pay more to get a new one that I can pick up easily.
So, if I wanted to I guess I could get both, the question I guess is what is more important if I only want to get one right now and that seems to be the chest freezer.
You're right, I guess I should add that I'm lazy and want things done correctly. I was thinking about building the wort chiller but if it cost $40 I'd rather just path the extra $30 and get one that I know will work without the hacking. I might even skip it until I can afford to get a counter flow which seems like a better long term solution.
Same goes for the freezer, I could get one of craiglist but I'd have to worry about it breaking or even just the logistics of finding and picking it up. I'ad rather pay more to get a new one that I can pick up easily.
So, if I wanted to I guess I could get both, the question I guess is what is more important if I only want to get one right now and that seems to be the chest freezer.
I was considering a CFC and actually decided to stick with a IC. I upgraded to a 1/2 inch dual coil one and am very happy. I didnt want to have to worry about cleaning out the inside of the CFC.
CFC or PC (Plate Chiller)?
I went withimmersion because it cools plenty quickly (I do 10-12 Gallon batches) and you can see everything that is going to touch your beer. Since I dont bother filtering, using clarifiers and could not give two turds regarding if kettle trub ends up in my fermenters or not the last thing I want is stuff (a highly technical term I know) to get stuck or grow inside a Counterflow or Plate Chiller. They both seem to have the same downside of cleaning, especially since I am not using pumps in my system yet either.
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