Wort Chillers - Whats Best?

[hoohaaman]

Plate chiller, gravity fed here. I have a block & tackle which my boiler is hooked up to so at the end of the boil I hoist it up to around 1m off the ground and it's fine.

Plate chiller also,gravity fed but measured precisely for end result.Only lift fermenter 6" to it's home.

 

[drsmurto]

Plate chiller, gravity fed here. I have a block & tackle which my boiler is hooked up to so at the end of the boil I hoist it up to around 1m off the ground and it's fine.

See now thats why i am a scientist and not a handyman. Wouldnt have even thought of setting up some sort of hoist if i hadnt read it here. Funny thing is when i am standing in the shed and look up there is a heap of chains already hanging from the rafters with nice big hooks attached.......

Now which end of this hammer am i supposed to hit the nail with...... :huh:

 

[Julez]

Got my new chiller (Chillout Mk III) going a treat now - couldn't get decent pressure for water, so have now employed an aquarium pump - $30 from Bunnings for 1000L/hr. From a trial with 20 degree water last night, got my hot liquor down to 30 degrees in one pass. I reckon when I use iced water, should get to the low-mid twenties pretty easily

NOW I like my chiller!!

 

[Northside Novice]

hi all
i am keen to make an emersion chiller out of copper pipe and was wondering which is better 3/8th or 1/2 inch size pipe?
cheers

 

[katzke]

hi all
i am keen to make an emersion chiller out of copper pipe and was wondering which is better 3/8th or 1/2 inch size pipe?
cheers

There has got to be a theoretical balance to a coil chiller. I have cold water and use a 3/8 chiller that I guess is 25 feet long. It takes quite a bit to get it chilled down to the final pitching temp. We do not have water problems and I have a big tree that I dump the water on when I chill. It helps the lawn out that way. Coil chillers work better if you stir the wort while chilling. Who want to stand and stir for half an hour if water is not a problem.

If I had to worry about water or had it to do over again I would get less copper and make a counter flow chiller. You should be able to find good instructions on the net and even with the difference in fittings you should be able to show the plans to a good hardware store or plumbing supplier and get the parts you need.

A counter flow chiller is a poor mans plate chiller. The big advantage is you have to work real hard to plug one up. You get the benefit that theoretically you can get wort that is the same temp as the chilling water in one pass. It would not hurt to add a few coils to any design you find that does not say it is for warm water. You can always slow down the cooling water if it works too well. Any chiller will only cool to the temp of the input water if you let it run long enough.

A plate chiller is best. I have seen the chilezilla and it is a counter flow on steroids and it works as well as a plate (at least here). The advantage of a plate chiller is it will cool as fast as you can flow the wort if your water is reasonable cool. I have seen the chilezilla and plate chillers that cooled the wort too well. Like I said we have cool water. It is the end of winter and not quite spring. Our tap water is at 46 F. Sorry for not converting but the neat add on converter will do it for you. Least that is what I use to convert your liters of kittens in Firefox.

 

[Cortez The Killer]

I have purchased 18m of 1/2" copper to eventually make a whirlpool chiller per Jamil - http://www.mrmalty.com/chiller.php

1/2" will give you more surface area than 3/8" thereby allowing better heat exchange and bits and pieces are a little easier to source for 1/2"

Cheers

 

[katzke]

I have purchased 18m of 1/2" copper to eventually make a whirlpool chiller per Jamil - http://www.mrmalty.com/chiller.php

1/2" will give you more surface area than 3/8" thereby allowing better heat exchange and bits and pieces are a little easier to source for 1/2"

Cheers

So are you going to make yours backwards to counter the southern hemisphere effect?

 

[Cortez The Killer]

I think I'd better

I don't wanna create some sort of Temporal Vortex and find that all the beer in my keg fridge has disappeared...