Immersion Chillers & Whirlpool

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Dan Pratt

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After reading these articles I think I have a found a way to make my beers with more aroma, flavour and to round out the bitterness. I had previously done AG no-chill and found these to be quite sharp on the bitterness. So with late hop additions and upgrading my gear to include an immersion chiller I think I can achieve what I'm after with my brews.

http://www.mrmalty.com/late_hopping.php

http://www.mrmalty.com/chiller.php

Im now looking for a immersion chiller that is 1/2inch pipe and 50' that i can use to cool my wort after boil>> I can use silicone hose from a pump to get the whirlpool effect.

I checked the morebeer site and for 130 aus I can get 50' of 1/2 inch pipe and the whirlpool on it but postage from the USA for that is another 100 bucks>>

Where can i find the right immersion chiller?
 
After reading these articles I think I have a found a way to make my beers with more aroma, flavour and to round out the bitterness. I had previously done AG no-chill and found these to be quite sharp on the bitterness. So with late hop additions and upgrading my gear to include an immersion chiller I think I can achieve what I'm after with my brews.

http://www.mrmalty.com/late_hopping.php

http://www.mrmalty.com/chiller.php

Im now looking for a immersion chiller that is 1/2inch pipe and 50' that i can use to cool my wort after boil>> I can use silicone hose from a pump to get the whirlpool effect.

I checked the morebeer site and for 130 aus I can get 50' of 1/2 inch pipe and the whirlpool on it but postage from the USA for that is another 100 bucks>>

Where can i find the right immersion chiller?

Most people make their own. They may not look as pretty but they work just as well. You need 50ft of SOFT copper pipe from a plumbing store. As you gradually uncoil the copper coil, recoil it around a corny keg. In other words, rotate the copper coil around the keg. You can also use copper wire between the coils to keep them from springing apart, twisting them around each coil as you go.

Hope this helps.

Steve
 
After reading these articles I think I have a found a way to make my beers with more aroma, flavour and to round out the bitterness. I had previously done AG no-chill and found these to be quite sharp on the bitterness. So with late hop additions and upgrading my gear to include an immersion chiller I think I can achieve what I'm after with my brews.

http://www.mrmalty.com/late_hopping.php

http://www.mrmalty.com/chiller.php

Im now looking for a immersion chiller that is 1/2inch pipe and 50' that i can use to cool my wort after boil>> I can use silicone hose from a pump to get the whirlpool effect.

I checked the morebeer site and for 130 aus I can get 50' of 1/2 inch pipe and the whirlpool on it but postage from the USA for that is another 100 bucks>>

Where can i find the right immersion chiller?

I think there might be cheaper options out there. Eg. in the US you can get a 50 feet x 3/8 inch stainless immersion chiller for US$71 from New York Brew Supply.

( http://www.nybrewsupply.com/wort-chillers/...gs-38-x-50.html )

Magical_Snap___2012.10.24_21.10___001.jpg

Don't know if they ship to Australia, but either way you could check out a third party shipping agent (eg. PriceUSA) to see if you can get a cheaper quote.
 
as labels said, most make their own

the whirlpool inlet and outlet dont have to form part of the chiller, they are usually fed through the kettle wall

you can weld yourself some sockets in the kettle, one down low and one further up, then screw in compression fittings and attach to them a pickup tube on the lower one, and an angular one for the whirlpool return further up

the chiller can be made with some annealed tubing, either copper or stainless steel, copper being more efficient as a conductor, but stainless steel will still work well if you prefer to keep copper out of your wort
 
as labels said, most make their own

the whirlpool inlet and outlet dont have to form part of the chiller, they are usually fed through the kettle wall

you can weld yourself some sockets in the kettle, one down low and one further up, then screw in compression fittings and attach to them a pickup tube on the lower one, and an angular one for the whirlpool return further up

the chiller can be made with some annealed tubing, either copper or stainless steel, copper being more efficient as a conductor, but stainless steel will still work well if you prefer to keep copper out of your wort

Just from personal experience, stainless steel is a prick to bend and I would not recommend anyone trying it without the proper gear. Doing it by hand is near impossible.


Soft copper is easy to bend and will form an oxide layer fairly quickly and you will only get minute trace of copper in the wort which is good for the yeast anyway
 
Just from personal experience, stainless steel is a prick to bend and I would not recommend anyone trying it without the proper gear. Doing it by hand is near impossible.


Soft copper is easy to bend and will form an oxide layer fairly quickly and you will only get minute trace of copper in the wort which is good for the yeast anyway

SS might be harder to work with but its more durable to acidic condition like wort or caustic cleaners but the biggest benefit is that it looks sexy :)
 
Most people make their own. They may not look as pretty but they work just as well. You need 50ft of SOFT copper pipe from a plumbing store. As you gradually uncoil the copper coil, recoil it around a corny keg. In other words, rotate the copper coil around the keg. You can also use copper wire between the coils to keep them from springing apart, twisting them around each coil as you go.

Hope this helps.

Steve

This is an option I have been considering after seeing rolls at Bunnings for about 100 bucks of annealed copper pipe. Sounds like it bends ok around a keg.
 
I think there might be cheaper options out there. Eg. in the US you can get a 50 feet x 3/8 inch stainless immersion chiller for US$71 from New York Brew Supply.

( http://www.nybrewsupply.com/wort-chillers/...gs-38-x-50.html )

View attachment 58013

Don't know if they ship to Australia, but either way you could check out a third party shipping agent (eg. PriceUSA) to see if you can get a cheaper quote.

Pratty1,
FYI - I just received a reply from NY Brew Supply re shipping to Aust...

"Yes, we do ship a lot of packages to Australia. From our website, you
can add the product to your shopping cart, and on the checkout
page...you can enter your shipping address to receive an actual shipping
quote. Thanks again, and please let me know if you have any questions
or problems."


(Mind you, storm system Sandy might be impacting shipping out of the east coat US for a while)
 
Polyaire (look them up) sell copper tubing cheaply - as you are just using it for brewing the refrigeration classed stuff is enough - thin wall is actually better as there is less material and thus more transfer of heat. The stuff in bunnings is plumbing grade, designed for permanent mains water or gas pressure usually with thicker walls. The polyaire stuff is a bit cheaper, about $40-60 for a roll depending on if you go 3/8 or 1/2. Once you have that it's a simple matter of plumbing fittings - I use a pair of 1/2" comp fittings to DN20 male thread fittings with a plastic 20mm garden tap to hose adaptor on each end and then plug in normal garden hose.

Just wrap it around a keg or a handy pail size bucket, you won't need a pipe bender unless you plan to bend the copper really nicely, with the thin wall stuff it's easy to bend but also slightly easier to kink or split so go easy

For the whirlpool return I use a piece of annealed 1/2 copper pipe about 40cm long bent slightly put into a piece of silicon tubing with a 1/2 hose clamp on it, then use a small piece of tie wire to hold in the arm over the side of the kettle, the tie wire goes between the kettle handle and the copper arm, pretty easy to adjust the position of the return in the wort and get the whirlpool going.

The whirlpool return definitely makes a difference, without the whirlpool it takes me about 20 mins to drop the temp to pitching temp (just a big stir and then mild jiggling of the chiller every so often), with the whirlpool about 15 mins, probably slightly less. But it takes a little longer to set up, so really I don't save much time at all
 
thanks for the feedback on the options. Went with a $100 gift card to bunnings bought 18 meters of 1/2 annealed copper pipe and this is what I made. Used a corny keg to roll her up>>>

immersion_chiller_002.jpg

immersion_chiller_003.jpg

i still have about half a meter left over from my wort return system and can use that for the whirlpool setup, probably just as easy to get the mash paddle and crank the whirlpool myself...lol now just waiting for the BM from MHB newcastle and its on like donkey kong.
 
nice work! you won't regret your choice, i've been using one since 2008, it has not missed a beat and such a breeze to clean.
 
nice work! you won't regret your choice, i've been using one since 2008, it has not missed a beat and such a breeze to clean.

hey sunshine,

thats good to hear. what's been your normal time frame to cool from boil? and what do you clean it with?
 
hey sunshine,

thats good to hear. what's been your normal time frame to cool from boil? and what do you clean it with?

Time depends on the water temp coming from the bore, normally keep it on for around 20 min. though with a hand made whirlpool. I recycle all the water for cleaning and onto the veggie garden.

Cleaning is a breeze, I just use a hose and blast all the junk off then use a soft green scrubby to get any stubbornness off. Just make sure to get underneath the coils.
 
Question for immersion chillers and whirlpooling.

Do the coils hinder the whirlpool and trub cone formation - I don't have a pump or anything but was considering making the coils large enough to be able to whirlpool and create a trub cone in the centre.. thoughts?
 
Sprungmonkey said:
Question for immersion chillers and whirlpooling.

Do the coils hinder the whirlpool and trub cone formation - I don't have a pump or anything but was considering making the coils large enough to be able to whirlpool and create a trub cone in the centre.. thoughts?
Second that, and what about an screw in immersion element?
I will pump the wort to create the whirlpool.
 
Any obstacles in the kettle will have an effect on the whirlpool.
 
I get a better tighter trub cone when I have removed the chiller. I have a pump whirlpool setup.
 
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