I've found a solution to two of my pending hombrewing problems. The first problem was how to deal with my old wort chiller that was too small for my brewpot. And secondly, what to do about the leaking issue with my wort chiller. Clearly a new wort chiller was in order and I've temporarily put my smaller one away.
Say hello to my new 50 foot long 1/2" diameter copper tube wort chiller. This monster of metal was designed to take on 10 to 20 gallon batches. The bigger diameter pipe will allow more better throughput of cold water and help cool the wort quicker. It's also several inches taller than the old model and will completely fit inside the brewpot.
Here is a side by side comparison of my old wort chiller and my new one. The older one used 25' worth of copper and used much smaller diameter tubing and wasn't nearly as high as my new one. Now I believe I am ready for my next batch with the exception of cleaning and sanitizing my equipment.
I found the new wort chiller online on eBay from a seller named nybrewsupply. I was able to use the "Buy it Now" button and paid by PayPal. Quick and easy ordering. The shipping fee wasn't too bad and I received the unit in about a week from the East Coast.
I was very happy with the transaction. There are several wort chillers out there in the market. Don't make the initial mistake I did and get a chiller that is too small for your brewpot.
Update August 2011: I used the new 50' wort chiller in the heat of summer. I found that in the heat of summer outdoors even this bigger wort chiller had difficulty chilling wort down to 80 degrees despite having 65 degree water flowing through it. Once the beer got down to 80 it seemed to stay there (outside air temp was around 95 degrees however). So I had to go a step further and submerge the kettle in an ice bath to get it down to pitching temperature. Bottom line, if you want wort chilled quick on a hot summer day - bring your kettle indoors and pack it with ice. It'll work even better.
Related articles:
- Planning for my next homebrew batch.
- Putting together the homebrewery.
- Creating a yeast starter for homebrewing,
- First batch of homebrew for the year.
- Choosing a fermenter for your homebrew.
This article came from FermentedlyChallenged.com
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Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Getting the right size wort chiller
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Rock on!
ReplyDeleteWhoa. That is a HUGE wort chiller! How fast will that chill a batch?
ReplyDeletePJ - haven't tried it out yet but judging by the surface area and flow that it can handle, I bet it will cool off 10 gallons down to pitching temperature in 20 minute or less. I'll post my results after my next batch.
ReplyDeleteI wonder about these things. The water coming in the chiller is a certain temperature and cannot be heated any higher than the temperature of the wort. A longer chiller keeps the same water in your wort for a longer period of time. I also have an immersion chiller, and I know that the water discharge is initially very warm but as the temperatures of the tap water and the wort converge the temperature of the discharge drops, so the marginal impact of a drop of tap water that takes a set period of time to go through the tubing/wort drops.
ReplyDeleteSo could you essentially replicate the impact of the larger chiller simply by turning down your water pressure (so the water stays in the chiller longer) and stirring the wort or, for an even faster effect (with more water use) simply stirring the wort? It would be interesting to try since you have two immersion chillers now.
I hate physics, by the way, but somehow it's interesting when applied to beer.
I couldn't live without my wort chiller! I actually made a beast...found 30 ft. of copper tubing on sale for 15 bucks, and wraped it around a large round toy of my kids. I acutally look forawrd to chilling my wort now.
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