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Author Topic: Plate chiller with 81 F water in?  (Read 1016 times)

Offline Lazy Ant Brewing

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Plate chiller with 81 F water in?
« on: September 09, 2015, 11:57:51 am »
When I brewed my last 5-gal batch on 7-31-15, I used a 25-ft copper immersion chiller and it took about an hour to cool the boiled wort down to 80 F--even when I added sanitized ice jugs to the wort.  The water out of the tap from the water tower was 76 F. 

I checked the water temp yesterday and it was 81.3 F.

Would a gravity-fed plate chiller be significantly faster with 81 F water for input or should I resign myself to doing 3-gal partial boils inside and adding it to chilled water in the fermenter? Or at least until January when the water temps should be significantly lower.

Thanks in advance for your advice.
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Offline ynotbrusum

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Re: Plate chiller with 81 F water in?
« Reply #1 on: September 09, 2015, 12:07:50 pm »
Well with 81F water to chill with, I would suggest considering a pre-chiller to get colder chilling water, rather than spending on a plate chiller (you can look into doing something akin to a jockey box for the chilling water supply).  In the winter I set a bucket with water outside overnight and use a pre-chiller and cheap pump for re-circulation to minimize the amount of water used (avoiding an ice slick), but I am blessed with 56F well water pretty much year round.

Of course you can stir the wort with the chiller to get into the 80's faster, just that you are limited in the lowest the wort will go without putting it into a freezer chest or fridge....to get to pitching temps.
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Offline Lazy Ant Brewing

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Re: Plate chiller with 81 F water in?
« Reply #2 on: September 09, 2015, 12:20:28 pm »
What is a jockey box?  Yesterday, as a test I ran the 81 F tap water through my chiller which was immersed in an ice bath composed of the ice from two-gal jugs an another two gal of tap water. It only lowered the 81 F water by two degrees!  Not much help.
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Offline ynotbrusum

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Re: Plate chiller with 81 F water in?
« Reply #3 on: September 09, 2015, 12:26:33 pm »
A jockey box is for serving beer and it follows the process you tried.  The water must be slowed enough to allow the cold on the outside of the coil to get inside to the water running through it (opposite of the immersion chiller chilling wort).  Inner coil turbulence and swishing the chiller around in the ice water will help, as will adding some table salt to the chilling solution.

With a little practice, I bet you will chill to pitching temp in 20-30 minutes combining the approaches.
Hodge Garage Brewing: "Brew with a glad heart!"

Offline Stevie

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Re: Plate chiller with 81 F water in?
« Reply #4 on: September 09, 2015, 12:46:48 pm »
I face similar issues here with warm ground water. I can normally get my wort to about 100° using about 40 gallons of water. From there I pump ice water through the chiller using a submersible pump, same pump I use for cleaning kegs. My next big purchase is a pump so I can recirculate the wort while chilling. This should help cut my chilling time and volume by half at least. I give up at 80° and let the freezer take the wort to pitching temp.

Offline Lazy Ant Brewing

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Re: Plate chiller with 81 F water in?
« Reply #5 on: September 09, 2015, 12:55:02 pm »
Thanks to all.
It's easier to read brewing books and get information from the forum than to sacrifice virgins to appease the brewing gods when bad beer happens!