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Author Topic: Gravity-fed Therminator duration-to-pitch  (Read 1772 times)

Offline BP79

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Gravity-fed Therminator duration-to-pitch
« on: December 11, 2013, 09:18:42 am »
I plan on breaking in an early Christmas gift this weekend.  I don't have a pump yet, so it'll be gravity fed for now.  My groundwater is pretty cold, esp with the recent snow.  Are there any gravity fed users here who can give me an estimate for how long it should take?  It's a for a stout that only calls for 1.95 oz hops, which I'm going to put in bags, so it shouldn't clog.   

Offline HydraulicSammich

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  • Logan, UT
Re: Gravity-fed Therminator duration-to-pitch
« Reply #1 on: December 11, 2013, 10:04:05 am »
In cold northern Utah, a 5.5 gallon batch from post whirlpool temp to pitching temp of 64 degrees is 15 to 20 minutes.
AHA Member 900001775

Offline BP79

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Re: Gravity-fed Therminator duration-to-pitch
« Reply #2 on: December 11, 2013, 10:16:25 am »
Gotcha.  A bit longer than I thought, but I'll take it.  I suppose I can start cleaning up during the downtime. 

Offline theoman

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Re: Gravity-fed Therminator duration-to-pitch
« Reply #3 on: December 16, 2013, 05:40:50 am »
Good question and the answer surprises me, too. Shouldn't the wort cool as fast as you can drain it? Does the Therminator slow down the gravity flow rate?

Offline Jeff M

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Re: Gravity-fed Therminator duration-to-pitch
« Reply #4 on: December 16, 2013, 05:44:47 am »
I think its the fact that there is no pump there to move the wort faster then a 2-4 foot drop.  Sounds pretty restrictive to me:)

Jeff
Granite Coast Brewing Company.
Building a clone of The Electric Brewery to use as a pilot system for new recipes!

Offline BP79

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Re: Gravity-fed Therminator duration-to-pitch
« Reply #5 on: December 23, 2013, 07:54:39 am »
Update:  Wow.  A single pass to empty the BK took about 5 minutes and the temp went dropped to 55!  I put the chiller on a small ladder a few inches below the valve on the kettle (on a stove), then it was probably the same drop from chiller to carboy.  This thing is awesome.