Immersion chiller, think ill go back to no chill
- Wonkydonkey
- Drunk as a Skunk
- Posts: 847
- Joined: Sat Mar 01, 2014 9:37 am
- Location: In the Stables
Re: Immersion chiller, think ill go back to no chill
I do slow flow at first, it gets me hot water into a cooler for later cleaning duties. Then faster into the fv, for warmer water to wash the fv with oxi/washing soda. Then just turn it up and allow wort to cool, with the added agitation of wort with the IC (stoping stratification) it works ok for me, not as fast as I would like, but it works. Another thing to look at is what the ground water is comming in at. At the mo for me it's 10c but in the summer it's 16 or more some times..that's when I switch to a plate chiller .
To Busy To Add,
-
- Even further under the Table
- Posts: 2999
- Joined: Wed May 09, 2012 6:42 pm
- Location: Warrington England usually drunk or being mithered by my 2yr old or wife
Re: Immersion chiller, think ill go back to no chill
I think as others have suggested it nedds more copper which is a tad annoying but hey yoh live and learn buy cheap buy twice
- Meatymc
- Drunk as a Skunk
- Posts: 836
- Joined: Mon Sep 01, 2014 8:36 pm
- Location: Northallerton, North Yorkshire
Re: Immersion chiller, think ill go back to no chill
If there's only 13cm depth of wort for the coil to run down through couldn't that be part of the problem - lack of contact between the cold coil and the wort?
- Kev888
- So far gone I'm on the way back again!
- Posts: 7701
- Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2010 6:22 pm
- Location: Derbyshire, UK
Re: Immersion chiller, think ill go back to no chill
I can't see any pictures on this thread but yes, only the parts of the coil in the wort have any useful affect on it; other parts in the air above are wasted. If using a wide shallow kettle then a big diameter but short coil may allow more contact area for heat exchange.
As has already been mentioned, agitation of the wort also helps greatly, as static wort isn't a very good conductor. This is especially so if the coil is small diameter in relation to the diameter of the pot - lots of the wort will be quite some way from the coils unless things are stirred/agitated to mix it up.
The most difficult time for the chiller is as the wort gets cooler, there isn't much difference between the wort temperature and the water temperature, so this doesn't encourage much heat to flow. So stirring becomes more important as the wort cools. If your cold water speed is low it won't help either; there is a trade-off between water used and cooling rate.
ICs aren't the fastest but they should be more than adequate for that much wort if implemented well. They also have some other benefits like little/no cleaning time, which can offset slightly longer cooling time.
As has already been mentioned, agitation of the wort also helps greatly, as static wort isn't a very good conductor. This is especially so if the coil is small diameter in relation to the diameter of the pot - lots of the wort will be quite some way from the coils unless things are stirred/agitated to mix it up.
The most difficult time for the chiller is as the wort gets cooler, there isn't much difference between the wort temperature and the water temperature, so this doesn't encourage much heat to flow. So stirring becomes more important as the wort cools. If your cold water speed is low it won't help either; there is a trade-off between water used and cooling rate.
ICs aren't the fastest but they should be more than adequate for that much wort if implemented well. They also have some other benefits like little/no cleaning time, which can offset slightly longer cooling time.
Kev
- Pinto
- Falling off the Barstool
- Posts: 3443
- Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2012 4:09 pm
- Location: Rye, East Sussex
Re: Immersion chiller, think ill go back to no chill
You may have already considered this - but did you try to connect the inlet/outlet in the other direction ? My cooling coil is more effective if I run it the same was as my CFC (cold into the coil base) - I could understand why this is the case with a CFC, but a cooling coil ? there you go I suppose - I wont argue with practical observation.
As a matter of choice, I much prefer my CFC cooler - sanitation and prep is a little more faff, but more than compensated in cooling efficiency.
Primary 1: Nonthing
Primary 2 : Nothing
Primary 3 : None
Secondary 1 : Empty
Secondary 1 : None
DJ(1) : Nowt
DJ(2) : N'otin....
In the Keg : Nada
Conditioning : Nowt
In the bottle : Cinnamonator TC, Apple Boost Cider, Apple & Strawberry Cider
Planning : AG #5 - Galaxy Pale (re-brew) / #6 - Alco-Brau (Special Brew Clone) / #7 Something belgian...
Projects : Mini-brew (12l brew length kit) nearly ready
Join the BrewChat - open minds and adults only - Click here
Primary 2 : Nothing
Primary 3 : None
Secondary 1 : Empty
Secondary 1 : None
DJ(1) : Nowt
DJ(2) : N'otin....
In the Keg : Nada
Conditioning : Nowt
In the bottle : Cinnamonator TC, Apple Boost Cider, Apple & Strawberry Cider
Planning : AG #5 - Galaxy Pale (re-brew) / #6 - Alco-Brau (Special Brew Clone) / #7 Something belgian...
Projects : Mini-brew (12l brew length kit) nearly ready
Join the BrewChat - open minds and adults only - Click here
-
- Even further under the Table
- Posts: 2999
- Joined: Wed May 09, 2012 6:42 pm
- Location: Warrington England usually drunk or being mithered by my 2yr old or wife
Re: Immersion chiller, think ill go back to no chill
Aye i know this now looks like im gonna have to go get more copper and get something wide and short.McMullan wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2018 11:02 pmhttps://www.beerhawk.co.uk/cold-crank-s ... on-chiller
You'd be lucky to cool a pint with that
Re: Immersion chiller, think ill go back to no chill
What Pinto typed is relevant too. To be honest, I don't think I have ever seen a wort IC with horizontal coils. Make them vertical and, as Pinto recommends, fill from the bottom coils.
- orlando
- So far gone I'm on the way back again!
- Posts: 7197
- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2011 3:22 pm
- Location: North Norfolk: Nearest breweries All Day Brewery, Salle. Panther, Reepham. Yetman's, Holt
Re: Immersion chiller, think ill go back to no chill
Is that a typo? I think the SS Brewtech fermentors have vertical coils for their cooling/heating system but all the IC's I've seen have the coils describing horizontal descending/ascending coils.
I am "The Little Red Brooster"
Fermenting:
Conditioning:
Drinking: Southwold Again,
Up Next: John Barleycorn (Barley Wine)
Planning: Winter drinking Beer
Fermenting:
Conditioning:
Drinking: Southwold Again,
Up Next: John Barleycorn (Barley Wine)
Planning: Winter drinking Beer
-
- Piss Artist
- Posts: 246
- Joined: Thu Sep 07, 2017 1:00 am
Re: Immersion chiller, think ill go back to no chill
Pretty sure that particular chiller is aimed at stove top, small batch, brewing of about 5 litres a time.
I managed to get a "small" IC off an eBay seller, that does a pretty good job on batches from an ACE mash tun boiler (so about 24 litres):-
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/16-coil-wort ... SwfglZyN52
It's still smaller than what a lot of people use, but it does a proper job of chilling and was a decent price. I did have to spend a little more on some cheap hose fittings to extend the hoses (inlet goes to an outside tap through kitchen window, outlet goes into the kitchen sink). I turn the water flow up until it runs warm from the outlet, rather than running hot, which speeds it up nicely as it increases the waters capacity to remove heat from the wort.
I managed to get a "small" IC off an eBay seller, that does a pretty good job on batches from an ACE mash tun boiler (so about 24 litres):-
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/16-coil-wort ... SwfglZyN52
It's still smaller than what a lot of people use, but it does a proper job of chilling and was a decent price. I did have to spend a little more on some cheap hose fittings to extend the hoses (inlet goes to an outside tap through kitchen window, outlet goes into the kitchen sink). I turn the water flow up until it runs warm from the outlet, rather than running hot, which speeds it up nicely as it increases the waters capacity to remove heat from the wort.
-
- Even further under the Table
- Posts: 2999
- Joined: Wed May 09, 2012 6:42 pm
- Location: Warrington England usually drunk or being mithered by my 2yr old or wife
Re: Immersion chiller, think ill go back to no chill
If it was aimed at stovetop brewers i cant understand why youd have 50cm tails.
Further thinking on this i could drop the boiling liquid into a suitable thick fv then chill in situ that way all the coil is in the liquid
Further thinking on this i could drop the boiling liquid into a suitable thick fv then chill in situ that way all the coil is in the liquid
-
- Drunk as a Skunk
- Posts: 996
- Joined: Sat Jul 21, 2012 11:12 pm
- Location: Garden of England
Re: Immersion chiller, think ill go back to no chill
yeah the geometry looks all out on that cooler. certainly not suprised you're struggling to chill with it though, even if you could get more of it submerged. i'd probably cut the tails and solder in a coupla elbows to let the coil sit horizontal in the kettle, but even then it only looks big enough for stovetop batches.
dropping into an intermediary FV would for sure help a bit as you wouldn't have to cool the stored heat in the boiler, but an extra transfer/sanitation sounds like far too much extra effort/cleaning for maybe marginal gains.
dropping into an intermediary FV would for sure help a bit as you wouldn't have to cool the stored heat in the boiler, but an extra transfer/sanitation sounds like far too much extra effort/cleaning for maybe marginal gains.
dazzled, doused in gin..
-
- Piss Artist
- Posts: 246
- Joined: Thu Sep 07, 2017 1:00 am
Re: Immersion chiller, think ill go back to no chill
Somebody in marketing probably thought it looked better with the long hose tails perhaps? Like a big SS stirrer thing. It's definitely only big enough for a few litres though. Heck I'd like a bigger one than I have, to reduce cooling time even further, and mine has a way bigger surface area than that aborted attempt at coolness.. lol
If you go on the northern brewer website though (who make it and sell it in the US), they talk a lot about stirring your wort with it, hence the weird design allegedly. Check the reviews especially https://www.northernbrewer.com/cold-cra ... on-chiller.
For the price, you can get bigger, better, ICs off eBay though.
If you go on the northern brewer website though (who make it and sell it in the US), they talk a lot about stirring your wort with it, hence the weird design allegedly. Check the reviews especially https://www.northernbrewer.com/cold-cra ... on-chiller.
For the price, you can get bigger, better, ICs off eBay though.
-
- Even further under the Table
- Posts: 2999
- Joined: Wed May 09, 2012 6:42 pm
- Location: Warrington England usually drunk or being mithered by my 2yr old or wife
Re: Immersion chiller, think ill go back to no chill
Yep i think its back to the drawing board and buy sum more copper pipe. Im considerinng a 8cm high coil running 40cm around with 50cm tails does anyone think this will work