Wort Chill Method

[SpillsMostOfIt]

The last few posts have refreshed a question I've been unable to find a satisfactory answer to on the subject of chilling. Apologies if the topic detour fusses you.

Thinking about what happens to the 'stuff' we extract from hops when we boil that gives us flavour, aroma and bitterness, and considering that the longer this 'stuff' is in the boil, the more the 'slider' goes from aroma, through flavour to bitterness, at what temperature does this stop happening?

Ignoring the formation of DMS and bugs that might kill me, if one of the reasons we like to chill quickly is to preserve the 'hop character' as it comes off the boil, perhaps I only need to chill the wort *quickly* to X degrees, then the rest of the cooling can happen at a slower pace?

 

[lagers44]

Hey guys

I use an immersion chiller & always have. In summer temp drops below 30c in 1hr & winter around 45min.
Wort comes out crystal clear.
A Cheap one was built from soft copper coil from Bunnings $50 roll & makes up 2 chillers , you just need to braise on the tap adapter.
Best investment made...( you know what I mean )

 

[tangent]

i just did a german pils (with about 150gms of 2.2 saaz plugs - jebus that boil smelled good!)
immersion chiller for 50L (2x 25L cubes)
then the fermenter goes into a fridge set at about 10C.
The next morning the fridge is readjusted to the temp I want and truck loads of yeast is pitched.
Works well so far.

 

[LethalCorpse]

Question to all of you you use a prechiller (in either brine or ice): Why do use a prechiller ie on the input?

To my way of thinking it would be more efficient on the output where the wort temp has already dropped considerably. I know there is a greater temp difference if it is used on the input, but surely that would quickly diminish due to the ice melting as the heat is extracted from the hot wort. If used on the output wouldn't there be a greater "body" of cold to drop the warmish (20 - 30 deg) even lower?

Has any one tried both methods (ie pre or post) or wants to comment re why you to use a prechiller instead of a postchiller?

thanks,

crozdog

dT/dt = k(T2-T1)

Or, to put it another way, the rate of change of temperature is proportional to the difference between the two temperatures. Therefore, the greater the temp difference, the quicker the beer cools down.

Moreover, a huge amount of energy is absorbed in melting the ice - you want it to melt. The quicker the ice melts, the quicker your beer cools. You want the wrt to come into contact with as cold a temperature as possible, stepping it down will just make it take longer.

 

[crozdog]

dT/dt = k(T2-T1)

Or, to put it another way, the rate of change of temperature is proportional to the difference between the two temperatures. Therefore, the greater the temp difference, the quicker the beer cools down.

Moreover, a huge amount of energy is absorbed in melting the ice - you want it to melt. The quicker the ice melts, the quicker your beer cools. You want the wrt to come into contact with as cold a temperature as possible, stepping it down will just make it take longer.

Thanks LC

 

[Simon W]

No preference really, but using immersion.

I use tap water and re-adjust for the lowest flow that has a chiller output slightly cooler than the wort temp, just to conserve water.
When the wort temp is a few degree's above ambient, I have a bucket filled with bottles of ice and run the chiller outlet water over the bottles. When the bucket is full I then turn off the tap, connect the cooler inlet to a small pump immersed in the ice-bucket and recirculate the ice-water through the chiller to get the wort below ambient temps.

 

[RobW]

Counterflow chiller to drop the temp to about 28 then into the fridge.

 

[devo]

After using the no chill method for the last couple of years I finally got my water tank system set up and dragged out my immersion chiller so I can "yes" chill again.

 

[mje1980]

Used an immersion chiller for a few years, pain in the arse. Tried no chill, never looked back, no problems whatsoever. Hope i don't get in trouble.

 

[mikem108]

Going to force iced water through a plate chiller and recirculate it with a pond pump, put the counter flow chiller out to pasture.

 

[JasonY]

Have Immersion Chilled, No Chilled (couple of batches) and CFWC, now I just CFWC.

Water is so cold over here that I had it at lager pitching temps straight from the chiller last weekend

 

[Hutch]

I had another crack at chilling over the weekend.
I used both a CFC (6m coil of 3/8" copper) and an immersion coil (10m coil of 1/2" copper) in series - the CFC to get the wort down to about 30deg, then the coil as a post-chiller immersed in a 10kg ice bath.
I pushed 20Ltrs of wort through this with a march-pump in about 6 minutes, and it was 15degrees into the fermenter!!! :beerbang:
(Before I went no-chill, I used to gravity-feed through the CFC, which took forever and a day).

...oh, and this used about 40Ltrs of tap water, which I collected in a rubbish bin, cooled overnight to be pumped onto the garden on watering day.

So, in short, a pump has made a HUGE impact on the speed of wort chilling, to the point where I think I've only added about 15 minutes extra to brew-day, and I'm pitching straight away.

Very happy I didn't get rid of all that excess copper (sorry Braufrau!).
Hutch.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Used an immersion chiller for a few years, pain in the arse. Tried no chill, never looked back, no problems whatsoever. Hope i don't get in trouble.

Oh...you will get into trouble......the aliens will come down and steal your no-chill beer and rape your garbage bin. This is why No-Chill brewers never brew near grassy knolls.... :lol:

 

[BoilerBoy]

My poor mans chiller gets the wort down to 18C with ice, even lower if I slow the flow right down from the kettle.

Just a coil of copper in a storage tub and stir the ice,takes about 15-20 min all water collected and then drained off for the garden.

Cheers
BB

 

[drsmurto]

Used an immersion chiller for a few years, pain in the arse. Tried no chill, never looked back, no problems whatsoever. Hope i don't get in trouble.

Um. Perhaps you should be using it to chill wort down?

Low 20s on the weekend so my plate chiller got the wort down to 25C, single pass on full speed!

 

[The Mick]

My name is Mick,I am a nochill-aholic,more out of laziness though ,have had problems with late hop additions being more bitter than aromatic.I also had my garbage bin raped and beaten

 

[Pumpy]

No Chill for me as I mash in 40 litre batches and it allows me to split into two 20 litre batches and 'ferment at will' with different types of yeast .

Too simple more flexibility and the clearest wort you will ever see ( although I just dump it all in the fermenter )

How many copper miners in South America we may save in the process,?? that just makes me feel good !!

Pumpy

 

[warrenlw63]

How many copper miners in South America we may save in the process,?? that just makes me feel good !!

:lol: Group Hug.

Warren -

 

[vicelore]

Can you guys no chill in cubes. then just pitch straight into the same cube. so boil, chill over night , open the lid pitch and put the cube back into the fementer ??? i know you would need to change the lid to one with a airlock in it ???

just curious as i was about to buy a immersion but if i can do this it would be allot easier/cheaper..

Cheers

 

[NRB]

There wouldn't be enough headspace vicelore, cubes are filled right to the top and have no air in them when done properly. If you're simply letting it cool down to be pitched the following day, then it should be fine, provided you're filling into your fermenter. If you're talking about wort you intend on keeping for a while (like FWK's), then the answer is no.