Wort Chilling - Recirc vs. Counter vs. Plate

[llamatabrew]

I've searched high and low on the forum and could only find piecemeal information on this subject, so apologies in advance if I'm rehashing covered material. That said:

I'm curious what is the most water efficient cooling method between:

1) Immersion/stirring
2) Immersion/recirculation
3) Using a plate method, such as the therminator or shirron
4) Counterflow chiller

I brew 5 gallon batches at this point, in the future I might go for 10 gallons but no immediate plans. For the purposes of this conversation I'm less concerned about DMS production and the minor loss of hop aroma, just curious about straight water efficiency and cooling rates.

Also a follow up question: if using immersion methods, does 1/2" tubing make a huge difference over using 3/8" tubing or is the difference negligible?

 

[Cromwell]

Since you started this, I have a question to add.
If you're using a plate or counterflow chiller, do you go straight to the fermenter afterward, or do you recirculate the cooled wort with the hot to bring the whole batch down faster?

Also, which is faster, circulating cold water in an immersion chiller in the wort, or circulating hot wort in an immersion chiller put in ice water? The second option is repurposing a HERMS, of course.

 

[BrewerDon]

I don't know the answer to your question but I suspect that it comes down to the total surface area of your chiller. I think they all work well and I would think, all things being equal, that the efficiency of each is similar.

What is most important to you: Ease of cleaning? Storage size? Cost? Difficulty level for making your own? etc...

 

[Golddiggie]

I have a 40 plate chiller from Rebel Brewer. During the first few times I used it, I simply ran the boiling wort through it (slowly to get it to pitching temp) with the RebelSmart add-on. For the past several batches, though, I've been recirculating back into the kettle (you'll need a pump for that) so that the entire batch gets chilled before a final run through the chiller into the fermenter. I have been doing the recirculation for 5-8 minutes, with the pump, then letting gravity feed the final pass into primary. On my last brew day I was able to get to 60F using this method. This batch was 7 gallons going into primary.

IME, a plate chiller (and probably a CFC too) is far less hassle to use to chill your wort. You don't need to worry about something falling into the chilling wort since you can cover the kettle (I leave my hop spider in the kettle, so the lid is a few inches off of it) to prevent something dropping in, uninvited. You can also do other things while the chiller is doing it's job for you. If you try that with an IC, your chill times will be extended.

I do enjoy watching the needle on the thermometer in my BoilerMaker kettle drop as I recirculate the wort. It typically goes from boiling to under 100F in just a couple of minutes. A few minutes more and it's about 80F. I could stop there and then run through one more time into primary, but last time I waited until it was about 70F before switching the hose over.

IMO, if you're in the warmer part of the country/world, a CFC or plate chiller will do a better, faster, job of chilling your wort. You'll be able to get it to ground water temp pretty damned fast.

When I go to 10 gallon batches, I expect to recirculate for a bit longer, before doing the final chill, into primary. How much longer will depend on the season/ground water temp. Of course, I could get a larger plate chiller and do it even faster. If I'm lucky enough to have a well for my water source, then the time of year probably won't impact my chill time.

 

[acefaser]

Since you started this, I have a question to add.
If you're using a plate or counterflow chiller, do you go straight to the fermenter afterward, or do you recirculate the cooled wort with the hot to bring the whole batch down faster?

I asked a similar question to this in this thread. Yooper was the only response but I would guess it depends on how cool your chiller gets your wort on a single pass. If it cant get it to pitching temps or your circulating flamout hops like Yooper stated then it is best to recirculate back into the kettle. I recirculate until the wort temp drops to about 140 and then my counterflow can chill the wort to 70 on a single pass at a higher flow rate.

 

[pstrohs]

I have a 50ft CFC and it takes me a little more than five minutes to cool 5+ gal of wort, which is pretty efficient. When the ground water is as cold as it is right now I only need to put the hose on half pressure.

 

[Zorin]

^^

I have the same thing he has and get the exact same results. I love my CFC with the added bonus of DIY.

Goood Luck,
Z

 

[Northcalais40]

I use a repurposed IC as a counterflow. I carefully sanitize the chiller, then put it in a bucket of ice water and run the wort through. I drain water as it gets warm and add more ice. I use 3 gallons of tap water and 3 bags of gas station ice ( or snow and ice from the ground in winter).

The time it takes to get to 70F is 5 min (or as fast as I can drain 5 gallons).

I think that according to Newton ( and physics was 20 years ago) the time it takes for to things in thermal contact to equalize in temperature is proportional to their temperature and their mass (That seems mistated). In other words if you have 5 gallons of 200F wort, and your chiller holds 1 qt of 50F water, it is going to take longer to cool the wort than my method. In my case I have 5 gal of 32F water with the 1 qt of 200F wort passing through. The actual physics involved is more complicated than my half remembered elementary physics, but the gist is:

the object of greater mass is going to change temp slower.

 

[seanybubbles]

I use a diy 50ft IC. I used 1/2" tubing and in the winter I can chill a 5gl batch in about 10-15 minutes. In summer it can take an additional 5-10 minutes. I usually do a load of laundry so none of the water is wasted. I find a IC works great for a 5gl batch. If I were to go to 10gl I would get a plate chiller though.

 

[Goblism]

Check out a plate chiller from keg cowboy, if you can hold out on buying one then maybe you could pick up a 40 plate for $90 like they have occassionally.

My 40 plate cooled 10.5 gallons in about 5 minutes...
saving on time and water=win win for me!

Ps this was going straight from boiling to into the fermenter, you need to do a little adjusting on the ball valve on the boil kettle, had about 2 quarts of stuff coming in at 80 degrees until I slowed it down to about 1/4 open.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

For water efficiency, I would say recirculated ice water and any chiller type is the best. In my system, I use 28# ice, water to fill to the ice level, and circulate through my immersion chiller to cool 4.5 gallons to pitching temps.

This ends up using about 7 gallons of water total. I don't do it for water efficiency but that is a side effect.

If you are not circulating the coolant (water) then a plate chiller will be most efficient because it offers the most efficient heat transfer between coolant and medium.

 

[WillWyn]

I have a 50ft. 1/2 inch IC that I put in my HLT. During the mash, I use it to help raise the temperature for mashing out. I run the wort through the IC which is submerged in 175 degree sparge water. After transferring the wort to the BK I pull the MLT for cleaning and slide the HLT next to the BK. 10-15 minutes before the end of the boil I start recirculating the hot wort through the IC to sanitize it. At flame out I then fill the HLT (with the IC in it) with ice, then continue to recirculate the wort through it. It still takes about 20 minutes to get to ale pitching temperature, but if I'm brewing a lager I can get it down to 45 degrees in about 45 minutes. Takes about 30-40 lbs. of ice, but it works great to get down to lager temp.

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

I've got a plate chiller with a 10 gallon system. I go straight from the boil kettle to the fermenter with good results, mostly thanks to extremely cold tap water. That is not running the hot wort at full blast though, more like a 1/4 open or even a little less.

edit: and that's with a pump. i usually keep the valve where the exiting wort is 62 degrees

 

[Stauffbier]

I've searched high and low on the forum and could only find piecemeal information on this subject, so apologies in advance if I'm rehashing covered material. That said:

I'm curious what is the most water efficient cooling method between:

1) Immersion/stirring
2) Immersion/recirculation
3) Using a plate method, such as the therminator or shirron
4) Counterflow chiller

I brew 5 gallon batches at this point, in the future I might go for 10 gallons but no immediate plans. For the purposes of this conversation I'm less concerned about DMS production and the minor loss of hop aroma, just curious about straight water efficiency and cooling rates.

Also a follow up question: if using immersion methods, does 1/2" tubing make a huge difference over using 3/8" tubing or is the difference negligible?

I also made my own DIY IC out of 1/2" X 50' copper coil. I did a test boil yesterday and cooled it down from 200F to 73F in 8 mins with 73F hose water...

 

[Parkinson1963]

Again No chill, no wasted water.

 

[Stauffbier]

I just put a nice long water hose on the output of my wort chiller and water the flower beds with the warm water that comes out. I water my landscaping quite often, so it's no more water than I would normally use in a week.. 2 birds with one stone!