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How Do You Chill?


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#1 Area Man

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Posted 22 August 2016 - 07:24 PM

 Right now I use a solid copper CFC and pump to chill. Even with a pre-chiller, I'm having a hard time getting anywhere near pitching temps with our 86 degree ground water. This typically isn't a big concern as I can cool it down pretty quick in my fermentation fridge, but I'd like to do it quicker to preserve aroma in my late-hopped beers.

 

 I've read that whirpooling/recirculating around an immersion chiller may be a quicker method, but would have to significantly modify my setup to try it. Plus, with my groundwater temps, I'd need a pre-chiller for that....

 

 Any silver bullets here that I've overlooked? Besides glycol, of course.

 



#2 MyaCullen

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Posted 22 August 2016 - 07:28 PM

I just use a 25 foot IC and ground water, 18 minutes from 209 to 61F :D

Edited by miccullen, 22 August 2016 - 07:28 PM.


#3 Area Man

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Posted 22 August 2016 - 07:33 PM

I just use a 25 foot IC and ground water, 18 minutes from 209 to 61F :D

 

Well la-tee-friggin-da. Compared to here, you may as well be in the frozen tundra. :D



#4 MyaCullen

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Posted 22 August 2016 - 08:23 PM

Well la-tee-friggin-da. Compared to here, you may as well be in the frozen tundra. :D

well there are like 40k acres of wildfires within 20 miles of me, so you got me there :D

#5 Big Nake

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Posted 22 August 2016 - 08:29 PM

I use a 25' stainless chiller with no pre-chill.  The ground water here is COLD in the winter so I can get close to 50° for a lager with just the chiller.  But typically once my chill is done I'll place the kettle into a deep sink with water and ice, let everything settle and cool more and then transfer to primary.  More ice for a lager, less ice for an ale.  As a result, I can market my beer as "ICE BREWED".  :lol:



#6 HVB

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Posted 23 August 2016 - 03:16 AM

I use a solid cfc also. I have cold ground water so I chill pretty good. You may want to look into a post chiller. Take an im chiller and put it in a bucket with ice and have the cfc output run inside the im in ice. I have done this with a SS IM chiller with great results.

#7 positiveContact

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Posted 23 August 2016 - 03:50 AM

I just use a 50 foot IC and ground water.

 

FTFM.



#8 SchwanzBrewer

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Posted 23 August 2016 - 05:38 AM

60 plate with ground water daisy chained to a therminator with ice water recirculation. 60-80 lb of ice for ales. 100-120# for lagers. The chilling circuit looks crazy by the time it's set up. Takes me about 20 minutes just to get it all ready for a sanitizer prerun.



#9 HVB

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Posted 23 August 2016 - 05:44 AM

60 plate with ground water daisy chained to a therminator with ice water recirculation. 60-80 lb of ice for ales. 100-120# for lagers. The chilling circuit looks crazy by the time it's set up. Takes me about 20 minutes just to get it all ready for a sanitizer prerun.

For 1BBL though correct.



#10 Big Nake

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Posted 23 August 2016 - 06:29 AM

Is there such a thing as a prechiller that can be used with an IC? I envision this: Water source -> IC #1 which is sitting in a bucket with ice and some water -> connected to IC #2 which is sitting in the wort. Does anyone do that?

#11 djinkc

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Posted 23 August 2016 - 06:34 AM

Plate chiller to post chiller this time of year.  About 4 gallons of water goes in the kegerator the day before and about a gallon of water goes in the freezer. The water and ice go in a bucket and a SS IC sits in it.  Harbor Freight cheapo pump moves the water around the coils.  Gets 10+ gallons down to 60df.



#12 HVB

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Posted 23 August 2016 - 06:34 AM

Is there such a thing as a prechiller that can be used with an IC? I envision this: Water source -> IC #1 which is sitting in a bucket with ice and some water -> connected to IC #2 which is sitting in the wort. Does anyone do that?

Yes, you can use an IM chiller as a prechiller.  The water goes through the first IM to drop the temp then to the second in the wort.  For some reason I just like a post chiller better.  I think you get a better use of the ice that way.



#13 positiveContact

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Posted 23 August 2016 - 06:44 AM

Yes, you can use an IM chiller as a prechiller.  The water goes through the first IM to drop the temp then to the second in the wort.  For some reason I just like a post chiller better.  I think you get a better use of the ice that way.

 

after the initial big drop from tap water I just recirc ice water if needed.



#14 HVB

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Posted 23 August 2016 - 06:52 AM

after the initial big drop from tap water I just recirc ice water if needed.

For me I like the post chiller if I am doing a big batch of lager.  If not I have to put it in the fridge to get to pitching temps.  Not a big deal just one other step.



#15 positiveContact

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Posted 23 August 2016 - 07:07 AM

For me I like the post chiller if I am doing a big batch of lager.  If not I have to put it in the fridge to get to pitching temps.  Not a big deal just one other step.

 

I was more directing that at Ken who uses an IC like I do.  since I don't use a CFC I don't know much about that.



#16 denny

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Posted 23 August 2016 - 12:32 PM

I just started using a Hydra IM from JaDeD.  https://jadedbrewing...ducts/the-hydra AMAZING!  I do recirculated chilling using a pump.  With my 62F water, I go from boiling to 64F in less than 5 minutes.  I picked up their Corny Pillar to use with my Zymatic and it's equally effective.  Their idea was to make somehting that chilled as fast as a plate chiller but required far less maintenance.  The guys who run the company are serious engineers and have done LOTS of testing.  They have different designs and will recommend which to use based on your system.  HIGHLY recommended!  Drop 'em an email!


Edited by denny, 23 August 2016 - 12:33 PM.


#17 djinkc

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Posted 23 August 2016 - 04:34 PM

Is there such a thing as a prechiller that can be used with an IC? I envision this: Water source -> IC #1 which is sitting in a bucket with ice and some water -> connected to IC #2 which is sitting in the wort. Does anyone do that?

 

Sure it can be done but would waste a lot of ice.  Let your tap water do it's thing first and then switch to prechilling.  When I used an IC I would knock it down first with tap water.  When tap water was too warm to chill to the temp I wanted I would then feed tap water into a cooler full of ice with a sump pump in it. Pump through the IC and return to the cooler.  Add ice as needed.  Drain the cooler as needed.  It worked and you didn't have to run wort through hoses and tubing.

 

I've tried them all.  Post chilling works the best at my place.  But everyone's setup is different.



#18 macbrak

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Posted 23 August 2016 - 04:56 PM

~50' IC here. I pump out of and back into my pool in the summer to save water.

 

I set up for a recirc whirlpool but it was too much of a pain in the but to deal with. I have no permanent brew stand so gave up on pumps because its too much hassle. It helped but futzing with the pump and collapsing hoses was not worth the saved time. I just used it cleaning more stuff and trying to get it primed.



#19 gnef

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Posted 23 August 2016 - 05:02 PM

I built my own two stage counterflow chiller. It is 50' total, so each stage is 25'. The first stage is with groundwater, and the second stage is with recirculating ice water. It works well enough for me, and I am able to chill to about 64F in one pass, about 7-8 minutes for every 5 gallons.

 

I wrapped the entire chiller around a home depot bucket, with one stage on the outside, and the other stage on the inside. It makes for a very compact package.

 

For you though, since you already have a nice counterflow, I would recommend getting a cheap garden hose counterflow (or building one), and recirculate ice water through it as a second stage to your chilling. This way you can still chill in one pass which will save you time. It is very similar to a post chiller in this configuration.



#20 porter

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Posted 23 August 2016 - 07:10 PM

Same old 25', 3/8" copper immersion chiller I started with. Our water is always cold here. Chilling to ~65F (with walking by and stirring every few minutes) takes 25 minutes in the winter, 30 minutes in the summer, for 10 gallon batches. 

 

I must admit, that chiller Denny linked to sounds awesome!


Edited by porter, 23 August 2016 - 07:12 PM.



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