Wort Cooling

[Matplat]

Otherwise it actually has an insulating effect and won't bring hot wort down as quick as cool water would

I'm keen to hear the physics behind this.... I can't quite work it out?

I understand the principal behind trying to maintain a temperature gradient between cooling water and wort to maintian cooling rate. But surely if you have a really large gradient at the start, it would just balance out with your smaller gradient at the end. Ultimately you are just transferring the thermal mass of the iced water to the wort, does it make any difference when that occurs?

I'm really looking forward to chilling my next batch of a hoppy amber.... will be the first hop forward beer since making my immersion chiller...

I found that while recirculating, as well as pre-chilling cooling water, I got the wort down below 80 in a matter of minutes. Definitely going to try adding flame out hops sub 80 as well.

My setup would resemble C1....

 

[sp0rk]

It's in the same way that an ice igloo will insulate heat
I'll admit it only really happens with a high concentration of ice, not much water

 

[Matplat]

I'm still confused... I read your post as saying that using chilled cooling water when the wort is still very hot will cool the wort slower than if using tap temp cooling water, is that correct?

 

[sp0rk]

Nope, I said ice chilling will cool slower than cool water would

 

[yankinoz]

Chill quickly down to at least 90 to slow DMS formation, preferably to 80, which stops it. I use cold water but suspect filling cubes accomplishes the same. After that, if you keep contamination out, stop worrying if it take 30 minutes or three hours to get down to pitching temperature. Fast-chill heat exchangers are the last equipment I'll ever buy. Good beer has been made in wort from coolships, for Gambrinus's sake.

 

[Dan Pratt]

I'm currently struggling to get my CFC and Pump system to get wort <20 which is being done with plate chiller systems. I even set up a pre chiller in freezing ice to increase the gradient. Transfer is a bit under 1lt per min and fv temp after transfer ia 30c. I've used the fridge for ages to get that down to pitching temps but with the equipment I have it should be lower.

Going to try my IC after the whirlpool hops and knock the temp below isomerization of 79c and then transfer to the cube, anyone doing that?

Side notes : No plate chiller used because late hops for my beers are generally upwards of 10g/L. And

 

[manticle]

Chill quickly down to at least 90 to slow DMS formation, preferably to 80, which stops it. I use cold water but suspect filling cubes accomplishes the same. After that, if you keep contamination out, stop worrying if it take 30 minutes or three hours to get down to pitching temperature. Fast-chill heat exchangers are the last equipment I'll ever buy. Good beer has been made in wort from coolships, for Gambrinus's sake.

There are a number of reasons why, if you decide to chill, you want to do it quicker.

One is less bitterness and more flavour, another is simply pitching the yeast and finishing the brewday.

 

[Fraser's BRB]

Pic is my neighbour working my home made CFC. It's 17 metres long so a fair bit longer than commercial examples, but it works really well.

With water straight from the tap it gets it down to 22 in summer and 17-18 in the cooler months in one pass, takes less than 10 minutes. Easy to make and relatively inexpensive. Waste water gets pumped straight onto the lawn/garden.