Flash Coolers

[HantsGaz]

Has anyone thought of using one of these to chill hot wort - rather than an immersion chiller - or even better still tried it? I suppose it might mean extra sanitising of a Cornie and beer tubing etc (to push the wort through), but wondered if this might just work... I don’t have either but am considering buying a flash cooler and it would be great if it could chill wort down too (so to save on the immersion chiller ) ....

[christhebrewer]

I'm planning on eventually using mine to pre-chill the water going into my immersion chiller. I don't think it would work well running the hot wort through the product coils of the flash cooler though - I imagine the coolant would heat up faster than the chiller can cool it.

Chris

[Andy]

chris speaks the truth - the chiller couldn't cope with the hot output water being dumped back into it but would be good for pre-chilling the immersion coolant water.

[HantsGaz]

OK -- thanks guys. I'll forget that idea one then. Was hoping to find a solution to cut down on the water required to cool - I'll keep scratching my head

[confused]

using the flash cooler to pre chill your immesion will make a big difference to your water useage. I cut the time down from about 40 minutes to 25 for a 10 gallon brew. I then collect the warm outflow from the cooler and use it for clean up.

I would only bother if your FC is already running, It's not worth it if you have to power it up and chill it just for the job.