Immersion Chiller Wanted!

[Hop Me]

G'day Brewers,

I tried my first full boil (extract) tonight, and everything went great right up until I needed to chill the brew. I tried frozen/sanitized coke bottles, and though they work SLOWLY, i worry about infection.

If any of you have an immersion chiller free for sale at a good price, please reply or drop me a PM. Thank you kindly... Dave

 

[Josh]

No chill is your friend. Check out the No chill article.

I have an immersion chiller I'd be happy for you to borrow if you were in Sydney. But I rarely use it. Especially in Winter when I don't need all the cold water splashing about in the cold. I have just finished brewing a Pale Ale. If I were chilling it down, I'd still be out in the cold trying to get my wort to pitching temperature. Instead, I brew 20L for the cube and another 2-3L for a starter so that I can get my yeast started in the same wort it will ferment, then pitch a day later once it has chilled down.

 

[Hop Me]

No chill is your friend. Check out the No chill article.

I have an immersion chiller I'd be happy for you to borrow if you were in Sydney. But I rarely use it. Especially in Winter when I don't need all the cold water splashing about in the cold. I have just finished brewing a Pale Ale. If I were chilling it down, I'd still be out in the cold trying to get my wort to pitching temperature. Instead, I brew 20L for the cube and another 2-3L for a starter so that I can get my yeast started in the same wort it will ferment, then pitch a day later once it has chilled down.

I keep reading a bunch of bad stuff about pitching after so long: not good cold break, risk of infection. I friggin new at this, so everything I am doing is out of the book at this stage. I haven't brewed any winners, but I haven't brewed any Mortein either. Thanks for the tips. Your beer turns out nice, right? I am learning this is far more than a science. Cheers, Dave.

 

[Josh]

Yeah my beer turns out nice.

 

[Maxt]

Well I am in the 'anti' no chill brigade, so in the interests of balance I'll put my vote in, that for many styles (delicate lagers, highly late hopped beers), no chill is less than satisfatory.

If you are brewing, say a stout, with one hop addition, then no chill is fine.
Chilling gives you far greater control over the process.

Remember, that no chill was not driven by a desire to make better beer, it was driven by the drought, and people trying to save water. If that's no problem for you (or me as I am on tanks), then factor that in.

 

[QldKev]

I'm a no chill fan. Since I run 2 fermentors at a time, the idea of being able to brew and ferment at separate stages is excellent. As an added bonus no chill also saves time on brew day.

There is a lot of talk about hops staying hotter longer therefore loosing aroma; I personally add my final hop addition (if I have a <5min addition) into the cube and pour the wort onto them. You could also add hops into the fermentor if it was a huge concern.

There have also been a lot of successful brewers with no chill entries that have won awards with no alteration to the original recipe; I know AndrewQld is one of them.

QldKev

 

[thunderchild]

Hello,

If you are looking for a cheap option - go to bunnings and buy a 6M coil of copper and a 3M coil - All up will cost you around $35. Rig the 6M coil to immerse in your kettle, hook up the 3M coil to it and plonk that in a bucket full of iced water. (I used frozen drink bottles) What you get is almost 0deg water running through your kettle and I can drop to sub 27deg in less than 30 Min.

Slightly cheaper option if you can't afford full coils of copper

TC

 

[Maxt]

I offer a challenge.
After the results are given out in this years AABC, let's see how many Gold medal beers are:

*No chill v chill
*BIAB v normal mash

 

[TidalPete]

I keep reading a bunch of bad stuff about pitching after so long: not good cold break, risk of infection. I friggin new at this, so everything I am doing is out of the book at this stage. I haven't brewed any winners, but I haven't brewed any Mortein either. Thanks for the tips. Your beer turns out nice, right? I am learning this is far more than a science. Cheers, Dave.

Dave,

Don't worry about losing your life to "No Chill". Just think of it as a donation to helping our already overpopulated planet. h34r:
I am a selfish ******* & I don't "No chill".

TP

 

[QldKev]

I offer a challenge.
After the results are given out in this years AABC, let's see how many Gold medal beers are:

*No chill v chill
*BIAB v normal mash

Good idea. I have to admit I have been a BIAB and no chill from day one. So I can't actually say my beers are better / worse that what I would make with the alternative setups. I think I make decent beer, but it would not be best in Aus by any means. Never know I may end up changing depending on the outcomes.

I have tried slow chill, ie drop the beer into the no chill cube and drop that into a large bucket full of tap water, changing the bucket water as it warms up. Haven't noticed any difference with the outcome.

But to be fair you would need to factor in that a smaller percentage of brewers are no chill. I can feel another poll coming on...

QldKev

 

[Bribie G]

No chill didn't just get invented to address water consumption (actually I no chilled in the Uk in the 70s), rather it became popular amongst the poor or tightarsed who couldn't or wouldn't fork out for a counter flow or plate chiller. It's also great for 'decoupling' the brewday from pitching. For example I'm currently mashing in a mild which will be cubed by around 6 pm. I'll leave it on the patio and with our forecast night of 9 degrees it would under normal circumstances be ripe for pitching tomorrow. However the problem is that I'm going to pitch some yeast cake from a from a bitter ale in primary that is going to be racked shortly. But I'm working tomorrow and Saturday. No problems the wort will sit there nicely till Sunday and I can carry on in relaxed fashion without getting up at the crack of, to rack the bitter.

Dave as you live at Vic Point why not drop into a meeting of BABBs (Brisbane Amateur Beer Brewers) - fourth Thursday of the month and bring a couple of bottles as well, of course :icon_cheers:

 

[Supra-Jim]

I offer a challenge.
After the results are given out in this years AABC, let's see how many Gold medal beers are:

*No chill v chill
*BIAB v normal mash

A good beer is a good beer regardless of how it is brewed. A good brewer who brews by any of the above mentioned method/variations on methods, would be able to adjust their recipe/process/etc to produce good beers.

Cheers SJ

 

[TidalPete]

Dave as you live at Vic Point why not drop into a meeting of BABBs (Brisbane Amateur Beer Brewers) - fourth Thursday of the month and bring a couple of bottles as well, of course

We have yet to meet Bribie but I strongly suspect that BABBs is paying you a bounty fee as I've heard all this before in your posts. I would love to join BABBs to increase my brewing knowledge but the tyranny of distance is too much.
Perhaps we could meet at the Caboolture RSL where you could put my money in the pokies for me? :super:

No problems the wort will sit there nicely till Sunday.

This applies to any wort Bribie, chill or No chill.

TP

 

[Hop Me]

No chill didn't just get invented to address water consumption (actually I no chilled in the Uk in the 70s), rather it became popular amongst the poor or tightarsed who couldn't or wouldn't fork out for a counter flow or plate chiller. It's also great for 'decoupling' the brewday from pitching. For example I'm currently mashing in a mild which will be cubed by around 6 pm. I'll leave it on the patio and with our forecast night of 9 degrees it would under normal circumstances be ripe for pitching tomorrow. However the problem is that I'm going to pitch some yeast cake from a from a bitter ale in primary that is going to be racked shortly. But I'm working tomorrow and Saturday. No problems the wort will sit there nicely till Sunday and I can carry on in relaxed fashion without getting up at the crack of, to rack the bitter.

Dave as you live at Vic Point why not drop into a meeting of BABBs (Brisbane Amateur Beer Brewers) - fourth Thursday of the month and bring a couple of bottles as well, of course :icon_cheers:

Bribie,

I was at the last meeting. Dropped off my app at CraftBrewer last Saturday. I'm looking forward to more! Thanks everyone for your back and forth, I'm picking a bit up, but still no leads on a cheap chiller! Cheers, Dave

 

[TidalPete]

Bribie,

I was at the last meeting. Dropped off my app at CraftBrewer last Saturday. I'm looking forward to more! Thanks everyone for your back and forth, I'm picking a bit up, but still no leads on a cheap chiller! Cheers, Dave

Dave,

Glad to know that you are keen on supplementing Bribie's income. :icon_cheers:
I was on the very verge of going from an IC to a plate chiller but decided that the savings on my HERMES system of about 30 minutes or so did not warrant the expense.
"No Chill" has it's moments (I have survived once so far ) if you are short of time but I would hesitate to make it a permanent practise for chilling my worts.
Oh shit! Here we go.

TP

 

[TidalPete]

Dave,

Glad to know that you are keen on supplementing Bribie's income.
I was on the very verge of going from an IC to a plate chiller but decided that the savings on my HERMES system of about 30 minutes or so did not warrant the expense.
"No Chill" has it's moments (I have survived once so far ) if you are short of time but I would hesitate to make it a permanent practise for chilling my worts.
Oh shit! Here we go.

TP

Two hours later & no adverse responses.

That says it all I reckon?

TP

 

[Wolfy]

If you are looking for a cheap option - go to bunnings and buy a 6M coil of copper and a 3M coil - All up will cost you around $35

IMHO contact an air-conditioning installer (type place) and you'll find that a full 18m coil of 3/8inch copper is about not too much more than a small length from Bunnings.
Add a couple of 't pieces' and you have a quick/easy/simple/cheap immersion chiller.

 

[paulwolf350]

IMHO contact an air-conditioning installer (type place) and you'll find that a full 18m coil of 3/8inch copper is about not too much more than a small length from Bunnings.
Add a couple of 't pieces' and you have a quick/easy/simple/cheap immersion chiller.

The 18m roll of 10mm i bought for my chiller was $100, I would buy a plate chiller or no chill if i had to do over again

Paul

 

[MCT]

The 18m roll of 10mm i bought for my chiller was $100, I would buy a plate chiller or no chill if i had to do over again

Paul

It seams the price of copper has come down a bit, you can get a 15m roll of 3/8" (9.6mm) for about $40.
See here.