wort chilling questions

[BlackJaqueJanaviac]

I've upgraded to 10 gallon batches but I'm realizing that my 25-foot wort chiller may be inadequate. I'll give it another try with cold water running full blast though.

What are the advantages of a fast wort chill?

If I get a 50-footer, will it help much to use the 25-footer in an ice-bath as a pre-chiller. In central Wisconsin my water seldom gets above 60* - so I'm not sure there's much value in this.

 

[aiptasia]

A good cold break, meaning more proteins can settle out of the wort and less hazy beer as a result. Also reduced chance of infection because if you cool the wort faster, the quicker you can "infect" it by pitching the yeast you want to use. With good sanitation though, this might not be an issue for you.

I don't think you'll need to use the ice bath as a pre-chiller if your ground water temperature is cool. In Wisconsin at this time of year, it should be cool enough to chill your wort down within 15 minutes if it's below 60f. If it were the heat of summer, you could use a chill plate in a jockey box and ice it all down as a pre-chiller but I've never really found it necessary. I also live in Florida and even way down here, the ground water is cool enough to chill down the wort to pitching temperatures in just a short time.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

When I upgraded to a 50', 1/2" diameter chiller, my 3/8" 25' chiller became my prechiller. When I'm doing lagers, I chill to 44F, pitch, and let it warm up to 50F. By going really slow on the water flow, prechilling in a bucket of salted ice, I can get close to 44F then put it in the ferm chamber to get all the way to pitching temp.

 

[RM-MN]

Research a bit on no-chill. Chilling fast gets you through the period where bacteria can thrive on your way to pitching temperatures. That's the main reason to chill fast.

 

[boydster]

This is a no-chill beer I made recently... took the pic with a crappy cell phone camera. You decide if it's clear

 

[JaDeDBrewing]

I've upgraded to 10 gallon batches but I'm realizing that my 25-foot wort chiller may be inadequate. I'll give it another try with cold water running full blast though.

Try using your chiller following our "immersion wort chiller optimization" guidelines, you should see a sizable decrease in your chilling times.

What are the advantages of a fast wort chill?

We have a rather thorough rundown of the benefits of chilling here.

If I get a 50-footer, will it help much to use the 25-footer in an ice-bath as a pre-chiller. In central Wisconsin my water seldom gets above 60* - so I'm not sure there's much value in this.

With tap water that cold, you have no need for a pre-chiller and it might actually slow your chilling speeds due to the added length of copper slowing down the flow rate of chilling water. Also, if you want a 50' chiller to be faster, it needs to be a 1/2" chiller. A 50" 3/8" chiller is slower than both a 25' 3/8" chiller and a 25' 1/2" chiller.

We also have our Hydra (or King Cobra for 1 to 1 ratio kettles) wort chiller, which is capable of chilling 5 gallons of wort in 3 minutes(to get to 10 degrees above tap water temp). The Hydra is 50% faster than a 50' 1/2" and uses 20% less water.