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Author Topic: Wort chiller greater than 1/2 inch copper tubing  (Read 4034 times)

Offline trapae

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Wort chiller greater than 1/2 inch copper tubing
« on: May 21, 2017, 11:56:33 am »
 Why does no one make immersion wort chiller's greater than 1/2 inch diameter? It would seem that greater flowrate with increased diameter would be a big plus. Am I not thinking about the physics correctly, or is it just expense?
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Offline Stevie

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Re: Wort chiller greater than 1/2 inch copper tubing
« Reply #1 on: May 21, 2017, 12:09:08 pm »
Less surface area.

Offline Philbrew

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Re: Wort chiller greater than 1/2 inch copper tubing
« Reply #2 on: May 21, 2017, 12:13:29 pm »
Surface area to volume goes down with increased diameter.  50 ft. of 1/2" tube would chill better (use less water) than 25 ft. of 1" tube even though they both have the same amount of metal.  Higher flow rate is not a good thing.
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Offline denny

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Re: Wort chiller greater than 1/2 inch copper tubing
« Reply #3 on: May 21, 2017, 12:16:23 pm »
Why does no one make immersion wort chiller's greater than 1/2 inch diameter? It would seem that greater flowrate with increased diameter would be a big plus. Am I not thinking about the physics correctly, or is it just expense?

Check out the Jaded Hydra for a better solution.  The use multiple coils coupled to single in and out connections to get greater flow rate.  I can chill 5.5 gal. in 6-8 min.
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Offline trapae

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Re: Wort chiller greater than 1/2 inch copper tubing
« Reply #4 on: May 21, 2017, 01:45:21 pm »
Cool, thanks.   I listened to Denny's podcast recently and you/he talked about the hydra, I've been looking into it. Looks very cool.   In Southern California my groundwater is between 75 and 80. So I was thinking about getting the hydra, quickly chilling to around ground water temperature ( with garden hose ), and then using a pre-chiller to quickly get it down to 65.   My current set up is a three eights pre-chiller in a bucket of ice and then a three eights immersion chiller. It works well but still takes me about 20 minutes to get down to pitching temperature. The pain in the ass is I have to buy about 60 pounds of ice and continually drain the icewater in the pre-chiller and keep adding ice . So I am trying to find a quicker better solution to where I don't have to use so much ice.
I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.

Offline Stevie

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Re: Wort chiller greater than 1/2 inch copper tubing
« Reply #5 on: May 21, 2017, 01:59:12 pm »
20 minutes is pretty good.

I just chilled 12 gallons from boil to 75 with 35 gallons of water and 12lb of ice. This is all with a sump pump and buckets of water. I don't use the ice water until I get down to <100

Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Wort chiller greater than 1/2 inch copper tubing
« Reply #6 on: May 21, 2017, 02:26:27 pm »
This is all with a sump pump and buckets of water. I don't use the ice water until I get down to <100


Same thing I do. Pretty helpful this time of year, especially with lagers.
Jon H.

Offline Stevie

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Re: Wort chiller greater than 1/2 inch copper tubing
« Reply #7 on: May 21, 2017, 02:28:24 pm »
This is all with a sump pump and buckets of water. I don't use the ice water until I get down to <100


Same thing I do. Pretty helpful this time of year, especially with lagers.
I also throw in the towel sub 80° and let the freezer take it the rest of the way. Works pretty well with my morning of starter hitting its peak right around the time the wort is in range.

Offline denny

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Re: Wort chiller greater than 1/2 inch copper tubing
« Reply #8 on: May 21, 2017, 02:41:47 pm »
Cool, thanks.   I listened to Denny's podcast recently and you/he talked about the hydra, I've been looking into it. Looks very cool.   In Southern California my groundwater is between 75 and 80. So I was thinking about getting the hydra, quickly chilling to around ground water temperature ( with garden hose ), and then using a pre-chiller to quickly get it down to 65.   My current set up is a three eights pre-chiller in a bucket of ice and then a three eights immersion chiller. It works well but still takes me about 20 minutes to get down to pitching temperature. The pain in the ass is I have to buy about 60 pounds of ice and continually drain the icewater in the pre-chiller and keep adding ice . So I am trying to find a quicker better solution to where I don't have to use so much ice.

That's exactly what Drew does.  He lives in Pasadena.  And yeah, that was me.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

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Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Wort chiller greater than 1/2 inch copper tubing
« Reply #9 on: May 21, 2017, 02:49:08 pm »
This is all with a sump pump and buckets of water. I don't use the ice water until I get down to <100


Same thing I do. Pretty helpful this time of year, especially with lagers.
I also throw in the towel sub 80° and let the freezer take it the rest of the way. Works pretty well with my morning of starter hitting its peak right around the time the wort is in range.

Ahh, gotcha. I cool it on down to be done with it. I've let the fridge do the work too, and it obviously works fine.
Jon H.

Offline brewinhard

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Re: Wort chiller greater than 1/2 inch copper tubing
« Reply #10 on: May 21, 2017, 05:35:08 pm »
This is all with a sump pump and buckets of water. I don't use the ice water until I get down to <100


Same thing I do. Pretty helpful this time of year, especially with lagers.
I also throw in the towel sub 80° and let the freezer take it the rest of the way. Works pretty well with my morning of starter hitting its peak right around the time the wort is in range.

Ahh, gotcha. I cool it on down to be done with it.

Yep.  Me too.  Just want the brew day fully done.

Offline ynotbrusum

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Re: Wort chiller greater than 1/2 inch copper tubing
« Reply #11 on: May 21, 2017, 05:59:09 pm »
Consider recirculating the wort against the coils - it cools even faster, but you need a pump to do that.
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Offline trapae

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Re: Wort chiller greater than 1/2 inch copper tubing
« Reply #12 on: May 21, 2017, 08:08:41 pm »
All good advice, thanks.  I do have a pump and whirlpool while chilling.
I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.

Offline chinaski

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Re: Wort chiller greater than 1/2 inch copper tubing
« Reply #13 on: May 22, 2017, 10:35:28 am »
Consider recirculating the wort against the coils - it cools even faster, but you need a pump to do that.
I do it by stirring rather than a pump.

jrdatta

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Re: Wort chiller greater than 1/2 inch copper tubing
« Reply #14 on: May 22, 2017, 12:05:50 pm »
Consider recirculating the wort against the coils - it cools even faster, but you need a pump to do that.
I do it by stirring rather than a pump.

ditto, spoon is cheaper than a pump and easier to sanitize.