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Author Topic: advice on faster wort chilling beyond the copper wort chiller  (Read 4857 times)

Offline Wort-H.O.G.

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advice on faster wort chilling beyond the copper wort chiller
« on: December 04, 2014, 06:53:32 am »
always used a copper wort chiller to cool my wort. effective, just takes a bit more time to get down to 50-60F and uses a ton of well water. i have run my input line into ice to chill the well water further- that helps but not as fast as I'd like it be.

for those who have gone beyond the wort chiller, what are some preferred options and additions to cooling wort quickly- to me that's about 10-15 minutes vs. 30+ minutes.
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Offline Iliff Ave

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Re: advice on faster wort chilling beyond the copper wort chiller
« Reply #1 on: December 04, 2014, 07:11:58 am »
I need to improve my cooling process as well. Cooling in the summer takes too long. I have considered buying a cheaper immersion cooler to keep submerged in ice water that would feed the cooler in the kettle. That adds a step that I would prefer to avoid.

I think I just need to get a bigger, more efficient cooler.
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Offline Stevie

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Re: advice on faster wort chilling beyond the copper wort chiller
« Reply #2 on: December 04, 2014, 07:24:06 am »
I use a pre-chiller here in Texas as the ground water is 80 degrees in the summer. A pump with a whirlpool can cut chilling time in half or more. Small investment and easy to clean.

Offline majorvices

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Re: advice on faster wort chilling beyond the copper wort chiller
« Reply #3 on: December 04, 2014, 07:28:40 am »
This may not be the advice you are looking for but I rarely cool my wort past 80 degrees before running off to a fermentor and letting it brought down to pitching temps overnight. There is no harm in doing that, if your sanitation techniques are sound you can feel safe within 12 hours of hitting fermentor.

Offline Multifaceted

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Re: advice on faster wort chilling beyond the copper wort chiller
« Reply #4 on: December 04, 2014, 07:40:45 am »
I need to figure out or procure a better wort chilling method as well. Even in the winter with sub 50°F ground water, with my puny 25' x 3/8" stainless IC it takes me about 25 minutes to get my wort down to 85-90°F, and I usually go through close to 20 gallons of water. It's not wasted though, since I collect most of it in buckets then schlep it down to the basement to pour into the washing machine.

I often chill it as close to 80°F within 20 minutes or 4 buckets worth of water is collected then transfer to carboy, seal with sanitized foil and rubber band, then set inside fermentation chamber and cool to pitching temp. It usually only takes a few more hours to do, which isn't at all bad. I typically pitch my yeast later in the evening once the wort temp has equalized and is at the desired degree.

Offline kmccaf

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Re: advice on faster wort chilling beyond the copper wort chiller
« Reply #5 on: December 04, 2014, 07:58:07 am »
This may not be the advice you are looking for but I rarely cool my wort past 80 degrees before running off to a fermentor and letting it brought down to pitching temps overnight. There is no harm in doing that, if your sanitation techniques are sound you can feel safe within 12 hours of hitting fermentor.

+1 I do this more and more. Since most of my brewing occurs in the Winter, when I am done brewing, I will cool it to 80ish, run it off into the fermenters with sanitized bottles of ice. That usually gets it to around 70 by the time the transfer is done. I then let them sit in the carhold until before I go to sleep. Take them inside and pitch the yeast. Lagers sit in the sun room overnight, and get the yeast in the morning.
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Offline Jimmy K

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Re: advice on faster wort chilling beyond the copper wort chiller
« Reply #6 on: December 04, 2014, 08:02:38 am »
Instead of pre-chilling water, chill with your normal water to 80-100F or whenever it stops cooling quickly. Then switch to running ice water through the chiller using a pump. It'll be much more efficient and keep a high temperature difference when you get to lower temps.
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Offline Wort-H.O.G.

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Re: advice on faster wort chilling beyond the copper wort chiller
« Reply #7 on: December 04, 2014, 08:08:40 am »
so as mentioned, I also will chill with wort chiller and then put in freezer for lagers where i'm looking for pitching temp of 45-48F.

for ales, generally just looking to get to 60F. and just deciding if there's a better way to just get  this done more quickly so I can be done with it. sounds like a pump recirculating ice water may be a relatively easy and cost effective way to go.  any links for pumps you guys use and have a had good experience with?
Ken- Chagrin Falls, OH
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Offline Stevie

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Re: advice on faster wort chilling beyond the copper wort chiller
« Reply #8 on: December 04, 2014, 08:14:23 am »
High flow pond pumps will work fine for ice water. Amazon is a good source.

Offline Wort-H.O.G.

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Ken- Chagrin Falls, OH
CPT, U.S.Army
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Harveys-Brewhaus/405092862905115

http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=The_Science_of_Mashing

Serving:        In Process:
Vienna IPA          O'Fest
Dort
Mead                 
Cider                         
Ger'merican Blonde
Amber Ale
Next:
Ger Pils
O'Fest

Offline blatz

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Re: advice on faster wort chilling beyond the copper wort chiller
« Reply #10 on: December 04, 2014, 08:23:58 am »
Instead of pre-chilling water, chill with your normal water to 80-100F or whenever it stops cooling quickly. Then switch to running ice water through the chiller using a pump. It'll be much more efficient and keep a high temperature difference when you get to lower temps.

+1

harborfreight has one for <$40.

and if you can either agitate the wort of the chiller in the wort, it will work even faster.
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Offline Stevie

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Re: advice on faster wort chilling beyond the copper wort chiller
« Reply #11 on: December 04, 2014, 08:41:27 am »
High flow pond pumps will work fine for ice water. Amazon is a good source.

steve- is this what you're talking about?

http://www.amazon.com/PP80006-Waterfalls-Vertical-Hydroponics-Aquaponics/dp/B006M6MSHE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1417706280&sr=8-2&keywords=high+flow+pond+pump


Should work fine. Might be able to find something a bit cheaper.

Offline Stevie

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Re: advice on faster wort chilling beyond the copper wort chiller
« Reply #12 on: December 04, 2014, 08:43:33 am »
Instead of pre-chilling water, chill with your normal water to 80-100F or whenever it stops cooling quickly. Then switch to running ice water through the chiller using a pump. It'll be much more efficient and keep a high temperature difference when you get to lower temps.

+1

harborfreight has one for <$40.

and if you can either agitate the wort of the chiller in the wort, it will work even faster.


I use this for my keg cleaner. It includes a garden hose fitting, so maybe it is a better choice compare to a pond pump. Harbor freight also has pond pumps for pretty cheap.


http://www.harborfreight.com/16-horsepower-submersible-utility-pump-68422-8394.html

Offline Wort-H.O.G.

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Re: advice on faster wort chilling beyond the copper wort chiller
« Reply #13 on: December 04, 2014, 08:59:29 am »
great-thanks for the info. picked up 1/4HP with garden hose fitting-30 gals per minute so should be good to go. $47.55 delivered tomorrow on amazon prime.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000X05G1A/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Ken- Chagrin Falls, OH
CPT, U.S.Army
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Harveys-Brewhaus/405092862905115

http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=The_Science_of_Mashing

Serving:        In Process:
Vienna IPA          O'Fest
Dort
Mead                 
Cider                         
Ger'merican Blonde
Amber Ale
Next:
Ger Pils
O'Fest

Offline denny

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Re: advice on faster wort chilling beyond the copper wort chiller
« Reply #14 on: December 04, 2014, 10:06:22 am »
always used a copper wort chiller to cool my wort. effective, just takes a bit more time to get down to 50-60F and uses a ton of well water. i have run my input line into ice to chill the well water further- that helps but not as fast as I'd like it be.

for those who have gone beyond the wort chiller, what are some preferred options and additions to cooling wort quickly- to me that's about 10-15 minutes vs. 30+ minutes.

I still use an immersion chiller, but I use it in conjunction with a March pump to do recirculated chilling.  I can get 6 gal. from boiling to 60F in 10-15 min with my well water.  Although I bought the pump specifically for this, once I had it I found I could use it for other stuff, too.
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