Chilling Hot Wort

[matt white]

I had a brain wave the other day!

I used my 50 litre ss pot to chill my blue 20 litre cube. I used a bung in the cube rather than a tap and it fit snugly in the pot. I am lucky enough to have "unlimited" spring water at my house and ran it through the pot at a low level and voila! chilled wort in 2 hours.

Give it a go if you can - it works.

Gil

 

[mika]

Yay...sounds like that time machine that takes only 60mins to transport you an hour into the future !

Why would chill a cube this way ?

 

[sponge]

I thought i remembered reading on here somewhere that it's not advisable to quickly cool this way. I think it was to do with putting the NC cube in a pool or something. I dont remember why it was bad and am happy to be corrected because I've always wanted to know if this is a bad idea as I plan on NC'ing and have a pool always wanting to be a little bit warmer...

 

[matt white]

Yay...sounds like that time machine that takes only 60mins to transport you an hour into the future !

Why would chill a cube this way ?

wtf?

 

[mika]

wtf?

Exactly my thoughts when I read your post. I just don't understand your rationale for this being such a great way to cool wort. My mind is open...

 

[quantocks]

I just finished watching a video where the guys had bent copper and ran cold tap water through that whilst the copper tubing was sitting in the wort and it cooled it almost straight away,

 

[mika]

Truly amazing ! Where do you think I could get one of these bent bits of copper tube ?

 

[Pumpy]

I had a brain wave the other day!

I used my 50 litre ss pot to chill my blue 20 litre cube. I used a bung in the cube rather than a tap and it fit snugly in the pot. I am lucky enough to have "unlimited" spring water at my house and ran it through the pot at a low level and voila! chilled wort in 2 hours.

Give it a go if you can - it works.

Gil

Great idea gilbrew but I cant find the "unlimited" spring water at my house

Pumpy

 

[monkale]

Exactly my thoughts when I read your post. I just don't understand your rationale for this being such a great way to cool wort. My mind is open...

As I dont have one of these copper coil cooling thingys (witchery) yet! but Im working on it, I do have a 10,000gal tank that sits at a nice 16c I just throw it in the tank and let it bob around like a refugee in the straight. 2hrs done might not be the done thing but better than waiting 24hrs I think :blink: beer tastes fine so I think thats all that matters
Cheers

 

[Cortez The Killer]

Rapid chilling of a cube is fine if you are gonna pitch yeast when you reach pitching temperatures

Issues arise when there is an attempt to rapidly cool the cube and store it for a length of time

Cheers

 

[Zwickel]

Its recommended to cool down the wort as fast as possible.
This has many advantages.

That for Im using a plate heat exchanger like this one: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/30-Flat-Plate-Heat-...%3A1|240%3A1318

70 litres of wort from boiling to 8C in 15min.
Of course you cannot cool down lower than your cooling medium is, but the effluent wort is just 1.5C higher than the inflowing water is at.

Cheers :icon_cheers:

 

[///]

having filled a few more cubes than most, never ever quick chill. The only issues I have had was throwing mine in the pool. Heat + time = easy brewing...

 

[head]

A question regarding the cooling of Wort. Is it possible/advisable to run your wort through a heat exchanger and then back into the kettle to do a whirlpool, effectively whirlpooling cool wort.

With running your wort through a heat exchanger how hard are those plate chillers to block? Will trub and plugs ruin your day?

Cheers,
Head

 

[dr K]

having filled a few more cubes than most, never ever quick chill. The only issues I have had was throwing mine in the pool. Heat + time = easy brewing...

Sounds like a little over indulgence in cake to me.
Those who find NC a bit Cardogan Hotel-Like often (after the DMS card) spring back with the "cold-beak and fast chill" rummy and frankly whilst I sit in the fast chill corner NC will NOT screw your beer.
Really /// though, to suggest that quick chill will (screw your beer) is at the very least ..odd.

Just my two chill-outs wort.

K

 

[Adamt]

They may not block completely, but they will catch chunks. Solids in your plate chiller is bad for the following reasons:

- Reduced flow through some plates => lower heat transfer => higher exit temperature.

- Makes it much harder to clean... and if you don't properly remove these solids you're likely to create a huge source of infection for subsequent brews.

Hence you should whirlpool while hot (in the kettle) before chilling.

 

[Zwickel]

A question regarding the cooling of Wort. Is it possible/advisable to run your wort through a heat exchanger and then back into the kettle to do a whirlpool, effectively whirlpooling cool wort.

why you wanna do that? better to get rid of the hot trub before the wort gets through the chiller.

With running your wort through a heat exchanger how hard are those plate chillers to block? Will trub and plugs ruin your day?

Cheers,
Head

the resistance of the plate heat exchanger is very low and the hot/cold trub is far too fine to block the chiller, no worries, that cant happen.

Cheers :icon_cheers:

 

[Adamt]

The only problem with quick chilling in a cube is if you are storing for a period of time after chilling. Leaving at elevated temperatures for a while effectively pasteurises the internals of the cube... rendering the cube effective for long term storage (effectively...).

I think this was mentioned earlier in the thread but not explained.

 

[head]

The reason I was wondering about chilling and whirlpooling at the same time was to possibly contain hot and cold break in the kettle at the same time to get as little crud into the fermenter as possible.

Just something I have been mulling over really.

 

[Zwickel]

The reason I was wondering about chilling and whirlpooling at the same time was to possibly contain hot and cold break in the kettle at the same time to get as little crud into the fermenter as possible.

Just something I have been mulling over really.

basically, yes you can do that, but from my sight, that would be too much effort for a little effect.

 

[razz]

The reason I was wondering about chilling and whirlpooling at the same time was to possibly contain hot and cold break in the kettle at the same time to get as little crud into the fermenter as possible.

Just something I have been mulling over really.

I've done just that for the last 7-8 brews Head. I don't do it to keep break out of the fermenter, I do it to chill all of the wort as fast as I can. Whirlpooling has not done much for my brews, I draw from the centre of the keg and use a hop bag so most of the break ends up in the fermenter.