Probably Another Chill Tap Water Topic

[Renzo]

I'm sure this topic has been done to death before somewhere on here ( please point me to the thread if it has) but does anyone know the best way to chill tap water before the counterflow chiller?? I was thinking of running the tap water through one of these http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/j...es-cid-671.html in a an esky full of ice but not sure if it will do the job. Maybe it will, not sure. Has anyone tried it or got a cheap better way that really does work?

 

[benno1973]

I have a small version of an immersion chiller, maybe 5-6 coils of copper, with hose connects either end that I sit in a small bucket. I then fill the bucket with ice as full as possible, and then fill with water to make an ice slurry. This chills pretty effectively.

 

[Renzo]

I have a small version of an immersion chiller, maybe 5-6 coils of copper, with hose connects either end that I sit in a small bucket. I then fill the bucket with ice as full as possible, and then fill with water to make an ice slurry. This chills pretty effectively.

How low can you get your current tap water down this way? I want to do lagers over summer and like to pitch around 10C ( S-189) and have to wait overnight for fermenter in fridge to come down after brew ( water comes out of tap around 26C). If I could get closer that'd be great.

 

[benno1973]

How low can you get your current tap water down this way? I want to do lagers over summer and like to pitch around 10C ( S-189) and have to wait overnight for fermenter in fridge to come down after brew ( water comes out of tap around 26C). If I could get closer that'd be great.

The temp of the tap water is largely dependant on the flow rate and therefore the time in contact with the ice bath. To be honest, I haven't measured it, just felt the copper as the water comes out of the ice bath and it's pretty cold.

I can't get down to 10C pitching temps, but as I'm an idiot and I tend to brew lagers in the middle of summer (where my tap water is somewhere like 30C!), it certainly gets me closer to the mark in a shorter space of time.

 

[hopie89]

Hi, didn't want to start a new thread but I'm going to make an immersion chiller and am curious as to what a good price per metre for the copper is? Don't want to buy the first bit I see thinking its a good price if there's a secret place people get their copper from.
Cheers,
Hopie

 

[Renzo]

The temp of the tap water is largely dependant on the flow rate and therefore the time in contact with the ice bath. To be honest, I haven't measured it, just felt the copper as the water comes out of the ice bath and it's pretty cold.

I can't get down to 10C pitching temps, but as I'm an idiot and I tend to brew lagers in the middle of summer (where my tap water is somewhere like 30C!), it certainly gets me closer to the mark in a shorter space of time.

I'm an idiot too and lagers are for summer anyway and I don't have enough kegs to brew a winter stockpile either. :icon_chickcheers: I'll give your method a go.