# Wort Chiller Coil



## BOG (25/11/08)

I've been no chilling for a while but as summer arrives it's becoming harder to get the wort down to pitching temp in a resonable time.
I've been putting the hot wort in a cube and placing it on the first step of the pool. While the pool was very cold it didn't take much time to get the temp down. Now that summer is on it's way it's takes considerably longer.

So I've been thinking I'll make a Wort Chiller Coil.

My question is how long should it be (meters) and how much water does it use to chill your wort to pitching temps?
I know it depends on the temp of the house water but roughly. SWMBO will not be happy if I flood the backyard each time I brew.

(p.s. I tried the search function but came up cold)



BOG


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## bouncingcastle (25/11/08)

let me do you a favour right now... 

Buy a plate chiller. check out beerbelly, 30 plate chiller for $110 odd dollars, uses sweet FA water and knocks it down to pitching temps.

No leaks, no having to bend copper, no fittings, no hoses, so much smaller...

Please trust me on this 

Chris.


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## razz (25/11/08)

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...&hl=chiller
Have a read of this BOG. Keep your options open on what type of chiller you want/need. If you can pump your pool water through the chiller it won't matter what type it is. You've already overcome the big issue for a lot of brewers, recycling your water. My first chiller was made of 8 mtrs of 1/2" copper, these days I use a plate chiller using water from the rainwater tank.


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## LethalCorpse (25/11/08)

As long as you can reasonably get it and still fit it in the kettle. Can I suggest, though, that you don't use the mains water? It's a flat out waste of water, even if you recapture the water for cleaning. Use the pool water - get a decent size of pump (pond pump, whatever) and enough garden hose to run from your pool to the brewery and back. If you've already got a long hose and can borrow a mate's for brew day, that'll be fine. If your current garden hose could do it twice, just cut it in half, buy a joiner, and stick female garden hose disconnects on the cut ends, so you can use it on brew day, then put it back together for normal use. Stick male disconnects on the ends of the chiller, and you're away.


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## Fents (25/11/08)

LethalCorpse said:


> Can I suggest, though, that you don't use the mains water? It's a flat out waste of water, even if you recapture the water for cleaning. Use the pool water



good call.


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## BOG (25/11/08)

Yep the old lady will kill me if I use mains water. 
I'm guessing it would take quite a bit of water to cool it down and she's into recycle in a big way.

During winter the cube on the pool step was fine as the pool was at 13deg , but now it's 26+ (Solar Heating) so it may not get down far enough.
I'd still be happy to drop it to that and then place the slightly ward fermenter in the brew fridge to drop it the rest of the way.

Re: the plate chiller. What happens with hop trub, break material etc. Does the plate chiller block up? Are they easy to clean?



BOG


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## newguy (25/11/08)

If your kettle has a tap, just whirlpool at flameout. Give it a good stir - enough to get everything moving. I usually stir for around 90 seconds (don't splash), then let it settle while I hook up my chiller and get everything in order. By the time I open the tap, everything has settled into a cone in the middle of the kettle and clear wort comes out. If you do get some trub, don't worry as it won't clog your chiller. Leaf hops and orange peels (wits) are a different story. If you can find a small copper or SS pot scrubber, it will work quite well as a crude filter.


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## datman510 (25/11/08)

i use a immersion chiller and i run the outlet to a 50lt tub i have then i chuck it into the washing machine, it can sit there until your next load of washing without a hassle....... easy done.


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## Tony M (25/11/08)

Back in the days when water just came out of the tap forever, I would use about 400L with an immersion chiller and be thankful if I got the wort down to 30C. I now use about 150 litres of water and 4 litre of ice with a CFC feeding an icebox with a coil and I get my wort down to 14-18C depending if its an ale or lager.


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## Darren (25/11/08)

Tony M said:


> Back in the days when water just came out of the tap forever, I would use about 400L with an immersion chiller and be thankful if I got the wort down to 30C. I now use about 150 litres of water and 4 litre of ice with a CFC feeding an icebox with a coil and I get my wort down to 14-18C depending if its an ale or lager.




Hey Tony M,

But how much water was used in the turbine to generate the steam that produced the power that you used to freeze the water?

:icon_cheers: 

darren


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## Kleiny (25/11/08)

I use an immersion chiller i made from 7m of 1/2 inch copper coiled around a cornie keg (to get it shaped)
It runs from a water tank through a pump, through the coil back to the water tank (no water loss)
Gets 35L wort down to 28C in around 30min

hope this helps


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## clean brewer (25/11/08)

I dont have a pool :angry: or a water tank..............

No chill for me I guess...


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## justsomeguy (26/11/08)

clean brewer said:


> I dont have a pool :angry: or a water tank..............
> 
> No chill for me I guess...



Or just grab the water from the washing machine an dump that in a plastic rubbish bin to use for chilling. Recirculate it through your chiller into the same bin or a second bin if you don't want the water in to the chiller to get too hot to quick. Then just save it for the next time or wash teh car with it, or water the garden with it, or...

I grabed plastic rubbish bins from the big green box shop for $10 each so you may be able to afford to get a couple.

I've managed to use the same batch of water for 4 different things. Washing clothes, chilling 2 batches of beer and one purifying water run.

Not too bad I reckon.

gary


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## rich_lamb (26/11/08)

My 2c;
- my immersion chiller was about 4m of 3/8 copper wrapped around anything handy; in my case a paint can. 3/8 was a crap size to use because of availability of fittings. I brazed 1/2 inch tails on the ends...

- I recycled my water into a plastic garbage bin, used I guess about 120L? I reused this nice hot water as my cleaning water but it was still wasteful

- I could get 20L of wort down to about 24 in about 20 minutes with the above water; BUT ONLY IF PERIODICALLY AGITATING THE CHILLER. If you just let it sit it's horribly inefficient and slow

- would have to spend as much water again to get down to about 20 deg so I never bothered. The pre-chiller is the way to go here. But I didn't bother with that as it's much more equipment and mess.

- recently ditched all this hassle to go to no-chill. Hey, if it takes 2 days to cool so what. :icon_cheers:


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## Sunshine_Brewer (26/11/08)

BOG said:


> I've been no chilling for a while but as summer arrives it's becoming harder to get the wort down to pitching temp in a resonable time.
> I've been putting the hot wort in a cube and placing it on the first step of the pool. While the pool was very cold it didn't take much time to get the temp down. Now that summer is on it's way it's takes considerably longer.
> 
> So I've been thinking I'll make a Wort Chiller Coil.
> ...



http://www.wortomatic.com/php/articles.php?ID=11

if your still keen on building one. 
Used mine yesterday, without the whirlpool part (coming soon) chilled down to 21C in about 20min. I used cold bore water though. 
Used this water for the veggie garden and cleaning.


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## joecast (26/11/08)

Bitter & Twisted said:


> - recently ditched all this hassle to go to no-chill. Hey, if it takes 2 days to cool so what. :icon_cheers:


same here. no chilled for the first time last weekend and love it. 
its surprising how big a difference there is for me using an immersion chiller (basic copper coil) during winter and summer. this time of year it takes twice as long to chill to the same temp which means twice as much waste. had considered using my current coil as a pre chiller and buying a longer coil as my main chiller. that would still mean waiting for the wort to chill, using tap water to chill and buying more copper. now, no wasted water, time or money. 
joe


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## raven19 (26/11/08)

Sunshine_Brewer said:


> http://www.wortomatic.com/php/articles.php?ID=11



That is a beast!

Copper prices going up leans me more towards no chill, once I start AG. :icon_offtopic: Waiting on kettle fabrication now...


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## bugwan (26/11/08)

Darren said:


> Hey Tony M,
> 
> But how much water was used in the turbine to generate the steam that produced the power that you used to freeze the water?
> 
> ...



Good question Darren, I know you're having a dig, but thought it was interesting to investigate anyway...

According to a study in the Australian Parliamentary Library: "Water requirements of nuclear power stations", a Natural Gas/oil combined-cycle power station with cooling towers uses 681 litres per MWh of power produced.

That's 681 millilitres per kWh. A fridge uses about 400kWh per year, so about 1.096 per day (which I guess is how long it took to freeze the ice).

That's 746ML of water to factor in to your chilling*
 

*My maths might be wrong!


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## Tony M (26/11/08)

bugwan said:


> That's 746ML of water to factor in to your chilling*



Good sums Bugwan and dont forget that 746 ml water keeps a lot of other things cold too. 
But seriously, to put this whole water thing into perspective, a kilolitre of water here costs 59cents so a 400L cool is going to cost you 24cents and its running back onto the vegies garden anyway and more than pays for itself in beans. How much did the hops for your last brew cost? probably anything up to ten bux!


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## Fents (26/11/08)

Its not about the cost of water its about the fact that we are running out of it.


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## Ross (26/11/08)

raven19 said:


> That is a beast!
> 
> Copper prices going up leans me more towards no chill, once I start AG. :icon_offtopic: Waiting on kettle fabrication now...




copper prices have plummeted as have pretty well all metals.....

cheers Ross


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## bigholty (26/11/08)

Fents said:


> Its not about the cost of water its about the fact that we are running out of it.


And certain parts of Queensland are up to their eyeballs in water!
I know, I know, that's not the case for most of the country. But in those flood-affected areas I imagine you could just pump the water out of your lounge room through your chiller.........
(Sorry to anyone who has been affected by floods by the way, not meaning to take the piss).


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## Joe Palooka (26/11/08)

Hi.
I have decided not to bother with a chiller. After whirlpool, I rack the wort into two 15 litre pots with lids. They go into my laundry and kitchen sinks. I get sanitary, fill the sink, stir the pot and swish back and forth. When the heat exchange is done, I have a hand pump to get the water out the window into a wheelie bin that travels around the yard. I chilled 21 litres in 20 minutes on Sunday like this. This time is usually when the dried yeast is rehydrating. The sinks are little, so with Archimedes and all that it only takes a few litres to fill them. I'm very careful about infection. In summer, I don't know, I will either buy ice or just no chill, or maybe even no brew ... no scratch that last ... I've tried to stop and I can't :icon_cheers: 

Not the current, but the previous issue of Brew Your Own has a one page howto for making an immersion chiller.

Cheers.


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## schooey (26/11/08)

I have a 1/2" copper x 9m long coil hard plumbed into my kettle. The remaining 3m off the roll I bought, I coiled also. The smaller coil I put in a 40L esky and chuck in 4 frozen 2 litre botlles of water, a bag of ice and a hand full of coarse salt. This chills the tap water to about 7-10 degrees before it gets to the big coil in my kettle.

This system cools 50L of wort to 18C in about 30-40 minutes and uses 180- 200L of water that I collect in a 200L blue plastic drum and water the garden with later. I've only ever overflowed my collecting drum once. I found the trick was to slow the flow through the coil down, not to a trickle, but not full mains pressure either.


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## Acasta (26/7/10)

Im just thinking, as an easy do it myself setup, could i go from my Tun, down some vinyl tubing, coiling in a bucket full of ice, around 2 meters worth, then into a fermentor?
I was thinking after going into fermenter 1, doing the same process with the tap half open and get it to go slow and hopefully chill more, keep going untill its coo. 
I have a pretty small budget, but its not bad for a $3 bag of ice right?

My only question would be in the tubing would let through enough heat.


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## felten (27/7/10)

Vinyl tubing isn't rated to hold boiling hot wort, there might be some problems with leeching off flavours there.


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## plaidpaint (8/9/10)

felten said:


> Vinyl tubing isn't rated to hold boiling hot wort, there might be some problems with leeching off flavours there.



I was thinking along the same lines as Acasta but was unsure about the tubing. What kind of tubing would be safe for hot wort?

I'm new to Australia, and I haven't really sussed out where I would be likely find these kinds of things. I checked Bunnings, but they didn't have any high temp rated tubing. Maybe my LHBS?


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