Wort chiller pics?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Brewin_the_goods

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2009
Messages
106
Reaction score
0
Since I'm new to the brewing scene, I'm trying to obtain as much info as possible. I've been reading the chiller threads and such but would like to see one in action. If any of you have pics of yours in action would you please post'em up, I'm more of a visual person and can't quite seem to grasp how it is done. Thanks
 
chiller.png


Water goes from hose into chiller, all the way through, then back out the other tube.
 
No pics in action, but you can take a look at my DIY chiller. Click the link in my sig. My20' of 3/8" chills 5 gallons in 9 minutes. The temperature of the incoming water was 42* so that gave an initial temperature delta of 170*.


Just a quick rundown though, Place immersion chiller in the pot 15 mins before the boil is done. Keep hoses away from flames! When wort boil is finished, hook it up to the hose/faucet and start cranking cold water through the coils. Transfer wort to fermenter pitch yeast. Done. Wash, rinse, repeat (next brew day) :D
 
Thanks I wasn't sure if you actually submerged the cooler in the wort or not, my friend who has brewed a few batches is pretty worried about contaminating the beer. While it was cooling in the sink he told me not to stir it cause he didn't want the sediment to get stirred up (which didn't make sense to me cause it all gets mixed up again when you siphon it to the ale pail)
 
You put the chiller into the boiling pot with 10 min left in the boil, be sure you have the hoses connected first it will get real hot. The boiling wort will sterilize it.

You want to stir occassionally while chilling to help the cooling process. Stering up the sediment won't matter once you get it cooled and into the fermenter you are going to shake it like you hate it anyway.
 
the immersion chiller does get immersed in the wort. The last 15 minutes of the boil kill any bacteria on it. Then you pump cold water thru the coil and it comes out as hot water on the other end taking heat from the wort and chilling it.
 
unless you have another way to get oxygen in it, like a diffuser stone aka aquarium... a few hours of reading will answer all the basics and make sense of them.
 
I also use a lees stirrer. I attach it to my cordless drill and let it stir up the cooled wort. I got one to oxygenate my mead during its feeding schedule and it worked well so I tried it on the wort before I pitch the yeast and it works well there too! I usually go for about 5 mins and move the stirrer up and down in the carboy to get it mixed well.

I am not the strongest girl in the world and the idea of shaking a 6.5 gallon carboy with 5 gallons of wort in it sounds like a broken carboy for me... The lees stirrer has helped fix that...
 
Only after adding the yeast initially. Later in the process if necessary to get the yeast back into suspension you just give it a swirl no longer shake.
 
If you use Better Bottles, you probably already have a handy aeration device laying around the house- a tennis ball! Stick a tennis ball under the Better Bottle in the indentation, and spin it around for a while. Works like a champ for me. :D
 
I saw somewhere - I think in the DVD that came with my Midwest kit - that you can use a whisk to aerate.
 
Also, the IC itself is a giant whisk that can help aerate the wort.
After the temp is below about 90 degrees, start "whisking" with the chiller. You will generate a lot of foam, aerate the wort, and help it chill faster.
 
Back
Top