Wort Chiller or Propane Burner?

[VTrider]

Looking on some advice for an extract brewer - I can either purchase a propane burner or buy the equipment to make a wort chiller - not sure what's the best choice here.

I've been leaning to the wort chiller, but here's some info: I have a 22 liter BK & usually do a 4gallon boil on my indoor oven/burner (propane). Problem is, I want to get as close to a full boil as possible, but my stove just isn't getting a full 'roiling' boil. On the flip side, I have year round very cold well water and with an ice bath I can cool down my wort from 212 to pitching temp in 30 minutes.

I know it's important to get a good boil as close to 5 gallons as possible (hop utilization, etc.), but also understand the importance of a quick cool down - what to do?

 

[CalmYourself]

I would go for the propane. That being said, im on a big nochill binge at the mo.

Even if i werent though, your stove is already struggling with a rolling boil at 4 gallons so you'd never be able to move to all grain until you can step that up (assuming you'd like to do ag eventually)

The boiler is the bottleneck, you can chill with icebath until you can afford a chiller but the boiler options are limited.

Just my 2 cents

 

[the_bird]

Well, figure that if you DON'T get a wort chiller, best-case on getting down to pitching temps with an ice bath is going to be pushing 40 minutes. A good wort chiller, even just a decent immersion chiller you're looking at maybe 15 minutes (maybe less if your water is that cold). It's not just a matter of minimizing the risk of infection, a quick chill also precipitates a nice cold break (making the beer more clear).

I'd go with a chiller for now, but keep your eyes open for turkey friers; you'll see sales either before or after Thanksgiving. My SQ-14 was only $40 from Depot when I bought it (might be more like $50 now), it's an outstanding burner for not a lot of $$.

 

[VTrider]

Actually it was the SQ-14 I had in mind from Home Depot - I have about $55.00 credit there right now and can get that for about $50.00. I'm not too worried about infections, and I could live with not so crystal clear beer. The main thing i'm concerned about is the end product, making 'tasty' good beer.

So basically would a large, full roiling boil with the ability to cool & pitch in 30 minutes be more beneficial than a mediocre 4 gallon boil (or a 2-2 1/2 good boil) with a the ability to cool & pitch in 15 minutes?

If it makes any difference, I was planning on getting a 50' coil of 3/8 copper.

 

[Skins_Brew]

I would go with a chiller. You figure if you get a burner then you are going to want a bigger pot, and after you get the bigger pot you are going to possibly give AG a go and then you need another pot and a cooler and a manifold. It just keeps going on and on and on. When I got a burner, thats what really sparked the purchase chain. The end is still not in sight either.

 

[MBasile]

Since the winter is coming, I'd go with the chiller. That's because with my luck, if I got the burner it'd start raining outside nonstop.

 

[VTrider]

Wow, nothing like real world advice from fellow homebrewers! I do plan on going AG, nothing pressing on the horizon though. As I expected, sounds like everyone is leaning toward the IC plan rather than the efficient boil option.

The latter would be so easy, just click-click, UPS guy - boom, here is my new propane burner, no worries. The former, a little more work - okay now I have to pick up the copper coil, connects, tubing & tune my soldering skills once again - but hey, i've always been a DIY kinda guy and I know if i run into any questions I can count on you guys to steer me in the right direction.

Well, as it stands I'll take this boards advice an build myself a nice IC & enjoy the benefits a clean cold break & decrease chance of infection - unless of course somebody can sway me in a different direction! Either way, thanks guys for the feedback

 

[RunBikeBrew]

IC was one of the first things I built when I started brewing (extract w/ a 3gal boil). It makes the brew session shorter, easier, and makes your beer clearer. Now that I do AG, my IC (50' of 3/8" tubing) still works great for full boils. Build the IC now, then wait another couple of months and buy a propane burner after Thanksgiving.