Straining before cooling

[baird]

I'm about to start extract brewing after making kits of a few years. I want to get my head round the whole cooling thing.

I'd like to avoid using a wort cooler if poss. as I don't like the idea of pouring all that water away. Also, the kitchen is a long way from a water butt so I can't use rain water. I've read about putting the wort in a container of cold water and I wonder if that would require less wasted water than a wort cooler. If so, obviously I can't put the electric boiler in a tub of cold water, so is it OK to strain the wort into a fermenter and cool that, or does the cold break have to occur before straining?

Sorry for the long winded question!

I'm sincerely hoping that I'm getting a boiler and a hop-strainer for my birthday, so I can start from there.

[andyp]

When you say "I don't like the idea of pouring all that water away." Even tho the water's very cold at the moment, I only get 2 or 3 buckets of warm water which I use to wash everything out after anyway. In the summer it goes on the garden.

[Andy]

Ditto andyp.

This time of year the water supply is very cold and therefore more efficient as a cooling medium. If you collect all the warm(hot!) output then you can use it to clean up your brew gear, do the washing up, wash the car, use to flush the loo, etc etc etc.

[incapete]

I only get 2 or 3 buckets of warm water

That's good to know - I'm in the process of building my boiler and chiller and had been wondering how much water it took. It's all going into a barrel at the end and then onto my allotment!

I've got the brass/pipe bits already, some hoses and fittings on order and a stainless steel pot coming from ebay - I thought I had an element but I've discovered that the seller somehow dispatched a hoover bag in error so that's been delayed. (How does that happen?!?!)
Ill post some pics of the build when it happens.

[baird]

When you say "I don't like the idea of pouring all that water away." Even tho the water's very cold at the moment, I only get 2 or 3 buckets of warm water which I use to wash everything out after anyway. In the summer it goes on the garden.

That's interesting to hear. I assumed that because I'd read that it takes 20-40 mins for a wort cooler to cool 5 gallons, I'd have to pour masses of water through the wort cooler and away. 2-3 buckets full would be fine for use elsewhere. Perhaps a wort cooler would be worth adding to the birthday list!

[CyberPaddy66]

Probably depends on how fast your flow rate is as to how hot the water is when it exits the cooler and converslt how fast the cooler works.

[andyp]

And even if that doubles in the summer it's still water you can use.

I got 15Mtrs ( i think) of bendy copper tubing from Wickes, bent and coiled it round a paint tin with the two ends bent and hooked over the side of the boiler. Hose pipe in one end and the other lined up above a bucket.

[brewzone]

When I lived in a flat that was all electrically heated and cost a fortune to heat water in an unlagged tank (landlord made scrooge look generous) I saved the water from the wort cooler to either have a bath or at least soak My feet after 6-8 hrs of standing.

Couldn't bring Myself to tip it away after watching the leccy meter wizzing around. Not such a problem since I've taken to using LPG burners though.

[baird]

I got 15Mtrs ( i think) of bendy copper tubing from Wickes, bent and coiled it round a paint tin with the two ends bent and hooked over the side of the boiler. Hose pipe in one end and the other lined up above a bucket.[/quote]

I've seen 10 metres for £14.99 in Focus. Does that sound like a good deal? Did yours just push onto the hose or have you used a sealant?

[baird]

Good thinking. Thanks for the useful photo.

[andyp]

Yeah it was prob 10 mtrs rather than 15 for pretty much the same price. My connections aren't as impressive as Daab's Ijust jammed bits of hose and tubing together, works perfectly fine.