Wort Chilling on a (WATER) Budget

[billrigsby]

Being on a well I am limited as to how much water I can just "pump" to chill wort. This had not been an issue doing extract and partial mash brews.

Now going to whole grain I am posed with the problem, and I need advice on my solution, I have a 55G rain barrel (ambient temp is 73, temp at outlet of water is 64), a transfer pump (1500 GPH / 25GPM), and a 1/2" dual coil wort chiller, all connected with a 20' 1/2: thick walled garden hose.

Not being a scientist nor scientific, I have no idea how well this will work, but I do know there are a lot of the above out there and if anyone has advice or input it would be appreciated. I do know it will help the process, just how much and how fast I have no clue.


Bill

 

[aspiffymofo]

(212°F*10gal + 64°F*55gal ) / 65gal = 87°F equilibrium temp. for a 10gal boil
(212°F*5gal + 64°F*55gal ) / 60gal = 76°F for a 5g boil.

So (assuming a closed system) with only the 55gal reservoir, you might not be able to reach pitching temps depending on the size of your boil.

You might be able to use a 'pre-chiller' immersed in ice water ahead of your immersion chiller.
Or circulate with rain water for a bit, and then switch the cooling source.

I usually add make up water at the end of my boil to account for some of the boil off, you can add it in the form of cooled water(refrigerator) or ice.

 

[billrigsby]

Should have mentioned, this is for 5G batches, so I might be close.
Adding ice to the reservoir is an option also.

Those temeratures were taken today, so earlier and later in the year I am better off, but probably screwed in the dead of summer!

 

[ChefRex]

Do you have a fermentation chamber? You have some decent equipment so if not you should.
Summer time I cool till ground water takes it down to 90F or so and into the chamber it goes and wait a few hours then pitch.

 

[billrigsby]

No I do not have a fermentatio nchamber, an option I suppose?

 

[ChelisHubby]

looks like a job for some ice either in the beer or better in the tank of cooling water. my dumb guess is 15 lbs to start and try to throttle the pump for a slower pump rate.

 

[Dixon9717]

I start cooling with faucet water and collect the warm outlet water into a cooler to save for clean up. Then I switch to ice bath and immersion pump. Maybe 20 gallons used at the most

 

[Bobby_M]

The trick is to capture the first 15 gallons of spent coolant in a temporary tank so as to not contaminate the rest with the hottest of water. Ideally you have two full size tanks so the never mix. Just pump one to the other through the chiller. If you get near the end and you still need more cooling, drop 10 lbs of ice into the donor barrel when you have like 10 gallons left.

 

[NathPowe]

Do you have a fermentation chamber? You have some decent equipment so if not you should.
Summer time I cool till ground water takes it down to 90F or so and into the chamber it goes and wait a few hours then pitch.

I do this as well. You said you don't have a chamber at the moment, but it's something you might keep in mind for the future. They're nice to have for dialing in fermentation temps - plus you get the added bonus of being able to "finish off" your chilling process in the chamber.

Good luck and enjoy the brew.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

looks like a job for some ice either in the beer or better in the tank of cooling water. my dumb guess is 15 lbs to start and try to throttle the pump for a slower pump rate.

Yeah, I buy 1 gallon zip lock bags, fill them with water, and freeze them. For the low cost of plastic bags and tap water, you can get the water in that 55 gallon barrel a LOT colder.

I can chill to lager temps easily by doing this.

 

[billrigsby]

Been a while since I have been using this method, so a report is needed.

1st batch was brewed on 09/27/15 and using this cooling method I went from
189 deg to 72.3 deg in 12 min

2nd batch was brewed on 10/21/15 and using this cooling method I went from
188 deg to 69.7 deg in 8 min

3rd batch was brewed on 11/01/15 and using this cooling method I went from
186 deg to 66 deg in 8 min

Last batch was brewed on 11/21/15 and using this cooling method I went from 187 deg to 70 deg in 7 min

So, I can say that this small contained cooling system does work, 1st batch was not in the mid of summer, but still ptetty warm. Unfortunately I did not record ambient temperatures


Even more unfortunately, I missed my window to purchase a barrel heater, and now I not only have 3 full cases, 6 full cornys, 1 in the fermenter and two in the fridge, but also a 55 gal ice cube!

But I am good for the winter, with a large selection of lights, ambers, and darks............. Cheers!



Bill, Florissant, CO