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Author Topic: First Batch  (Read 16658 times)

Offline alcaponejunior

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Re: First Batch
« Reply #30 on: November 03, 2012, 03:43:52 pm »
thanks guys! 

Offline neemox

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Re: First Batch
« Reply #31 on: December 03, 2012, 11:04:29 am »

You'll pay more at HD than necessary, though I'd price there. Here's a better example: http://www.harborfreight.com/16-horsepower-submersible-utility-pump-68422.html


Sorry to bump a dead post, but do you really need this much pump for this? I'll be setting this up soon as chilling my wort is one of the longest and most wasteful parts of brew day for me, but I was hoping to get away with a tiny aquarium pump (closer to 10 dollars) We do this with the rotovap in my lab, and a relatively low flow of water is all that is necessary. In fact, I thought I read somewhere that the slower your IC flow, the greater your cooling efficiency. Thoughts?

Offline morticaixavier

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Re: First Batch
« Reply #32 on: December 03, 2012, 11:17:07 am »

You'll pay more at HD than necessary, though I'd price there. Here's a better example: http://www.harborfreight.com/16-horsepower-submersible-utility-pump-68422.html


Sorry to bump a dead post, but do you really need this much pump for this? I'll be setting this up soon as chilling my wort is one of the longest and most wasteful parts of brew day for me, but I was hoping to get away with a tiny aquarium pump (closer to 10 dollars) We do this with the rotovap in my lab, and a relatively low flow of water is all that is necessary. In fact, I thought I read somewhere that the slower your IC flow, the greater your cooling efficiency. Thoughts?

are you after more water efficiency or more time efficiency? it's a trade off. The way I look at it though I am not sure how much trade off it really is. When I have my water going full blast, as long as I keep stirring the wort the whole time the outlet water is more or less the same temp as the wort which means that I could not be chilling any more efficiently by going slower. I am putting as much energy as possible into that water on it's way through the coil and giving each unit of water more time with the wort will not change that.

For what it's worth, with tap water I use ~15-21 gallons of water to chill 6 gallons of wort from a boil to ~80*f and do it in about 15 minutes. Then I let the fridge take it the rest of the way. I am thinking about getting a little sump pump and trying the ice water recirc once I get to 80* to see if I can get to lager pitching temps. although it is also temping to try Euge's method of frozen water bottles first. seems far more efficient.
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Offline euge

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Re: First Batch
« Reply #33 on: December 03, 2012, 05:37:15 pm »
I'll further add that after much chilling and experimentation the best option is to sanitize the frozen PET bottles (the smaller the better) and place them directly in the wort.

I'm f'ing done with complicated cumbersome processes. After using an IC this Sunday I placed 12 sanitized 16oz frozen water bottles in 10 gallons of 85F wort. No stirring. It dropped to 62F in about 30 minutes and the bottles were still half ice.

No pump. No ice to buy or make. No bucket or cooler to place it in. No switching anything over. No mess. And less waste of water.

How efficient is that? Been doing it for all of 2012 with nary an infection. If one trusts Starsan for the fermenter and other equipment it certainly works well on the frozen bottles.
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. -Richard P. Feynman

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Offline tschmidlin

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Re: First Batch
« Reply #34 on: December 03, 2012, 09:53:21 pm »
No pump. No ice to buy or make. No bucket or cooler to place it in. No switching anything over. No mess. And less waste of water.
Fixed that ;)

I think it's great you do it this way euge.
Tom Schmidlin

Offline neemox

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Re: First Batch
« Reply #35 on: December 04, 2012, 12:12:04 am »
Perfect, this seems to be simple and efficient.

Euge brings up a point I've often thought about but never done anything about. When trying to chill my wort, I usually stir, but in the process, it feels like I am subjecting myself to HSA and increasing the haze of my beer down the road. Does everyone stir their wort post-boil? Does no-one stir their wort post-boil? Does the cold break just fall out of solution once I get it in the fermenter?

Offline euge

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Re: First Batch
« Reply #36 on: December 04, 2012, 05:16:41 am »
No pump. No ice to buy or make. No bucket or cooler to place it in. No switching anything over. No mess. And less waste of water.
Fixed that ;)

I think it's great you do it this way euge.

Thanks Tom.

I was serious about saying "no ice to make" because freezing up the bottles is a different beast altogether than making 20+ pounds of free ice. It can be quite the pain in the rear whereas after I'm done washing and drying the bottles I just pop them in the deep freeze and forget about them until the next brew session.
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. -Richard P. Feynman

Laws are spider-webs, which catch the little flies, but cannot hold the big ones. -Anacharsis

Offline morticaixavier

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Re: First Batch
« Reply #37 on: December 04, 2012, 08:40:56 am »
Perfect, this seems to be simple and efficient.

Euge brings up a point I've often thought about but never done anything about. When trying to chill my wort, I usually stir, but in the process, it feels like I am subjecting myself to HSA and increasing the haze of my beer down the road. Does everyone stir their wort post-boil? Does no-one stir their wort post-boil? Does the cold break just fall out of solution once I get it in the fermenter?

I have not had a problem with HSA. I stir every time. It's no different than using an IC with whirlpool return. don't spash too much but I really don't think it's an issue. I get brilliantly clear beers using only irish moss and time.

After I get it down as low as I am going to with the IC I pull the chiller and gt the wort moving as a mass then let it settle and much of the cold break drops to the bottom of the kettle where I can leave it behind by slowly opening the valve into the fermenter.
"Creativity is the residue of wasted time"
-A Einstein

"errors are [...] the portals of discovery"
- J Joyce

Offline tschmidlin

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Re: First Batch
« Reply #38 on: December 04, 2012, 10:29:43 am »
No pump. No ice to buy or make. No bucket or cooler to place it in. No switching anything over. No mess. And less waste of water.
Fixed that ;)

I think it's great you do it this way euge.

Thanks Tom.

I was serious about saying "no ice to make" because freezing up the bottles is a different beast altogether than making 20+ pounds of free ice. It can be quite the pain in the rear whereas after I'm done washing and drying the bottles I just pop them in the deep freeze and forget about them until the next brew session.
Ah, I see what you mean.  It's still making ice, but I get your point. :)
Tom Schmidlin