wort chiller

just started using one (wort chiller) myself, and wonder how i got along without it before.

bob p

Just picked up the hardware from Home Depot to put one together. They had either 20 foot or 60 foot rolls of 3/8" copper tube in rolls. I opted for the 20 footer.

How do you get the bottom end of the worm to come up through the middle of the coil? Make a hole in the paint can mandrel or use a short chunk of 8" PVC pipe to wrap the copper around?

I plan on clamping the input/output ends together (allowing for the fittings) to reduce stress on the coil.

John

I used a bucket to make the coils, then I rolled the bottom a bit on the counter, then manipulated by hand. It came out good, not kinked or anything.

Joe

Hello, You can also buy, at the hardware store, pipe-benders of various sorts for bending tubes of different thicknesses and materials. Or borrow one from a plumber friend for a bottle or two of homebrew :-)

-- Bill P.S. I used a cornelius keg as a mandrell for my wort chiller. Worked great!

Actually, it can make a big difference. My first beers (all extract-based) developed a distasteful creamed corn aroma, usually shortly after bottling. I'm convinced that this is because of the relatively long cooling time (I'd let the beer slowly cool from about 85-70 degrees on its own). After I started chilling my wort (first in a sink of cold water with some stirring, then with an immersion chiller) the aroma never showed its face again.

Viva la Chiller!

Brina

Hi

Quote from the course notes for the "Brewlab Advanced Home-Brewing Technology" Course I went on last year here in the UK:-

"Cooling should be carried out as rapidly as possible to accentuate the cold break of protein precipitation. This is best done using a heat exchanger or a length of copper coil immersed in the wort. Relevant points to consider are; Ensure all cooling vessels and apparatus are clean and sterile. Arrange cooling system to cool to 20 degrees C in less than 30 mins".

Also a quote from the book "Home Brewing" by Graham Wheeler:-

"Force cooling of the wort after boiling has several benefits. The most important of these is that the wort is exposed to airborne contamination for a shorter period of time and is cooled below the optimum temperature for bacterial growth fairly quickly. Another benefit is that rapid cooling forces more potential haze forming protein to be precipitated out of solution.........an important point to bear in mind is that fast cooling the wort by topping up with water will NOT cause the trub to precipitate; in fact the opposite is true, the increased volume will encourage the protein to remain in solution.

Regards

KGB

A short note on wort chillers. If you are using a copper coil wort chiller, moving it up and down very gently as it is cooling your wort will aid greatly in the amount of time it takes to cool the wort. The reason being is that if it just sits there the liquid immediately surrounding the copper coil will cool down but then begins to act as an insulator and slows the cooling process. If you move the coil up and down very gently you renew the liquid in contact the coil and allow for an accelerated cooling process.

Doug

I was just shown this last weekend at an all-grain brewing seminar at the local microbrewery. Another great idea that had never occured to me was to sanitize the chiller by simply letting it sit in the boiling wort for the last 20 minutes of the boil. I had always wondered how you got something with so much surface area sanitized enough.

Denny

Got a 2lb plastic pail from the local supermarket bakery. It is 8" diameter at the base. I plan on cutting a hole in the centre and bending the pipe to go up through the hole then winding the 3/8" pipe around the outside of the pail using it as a mandrel. I figure it will take 41' of pipe for the coil plus the in/out connections. This can be expanded to the depth of the boiling pot. I am thinking of weaving nylon cable ties in and out of the coil turns to hold the coil mechanically stable.

John

Those cable ties sound like a cleaning nightmare to me. Be careful with your sanitation.

Mike

might try copper wire instead. 10-12 gauge prob'ly would do it. also, someone else mentioned it, but i sanitize my chiller by putting it in the boiling wort about 20 minutes before knockout, so i don't have to hassle with all the nooks and crannys.

bp

I thought about sanitation this morning, way too many nooks and crannies to harbour wild life and off flavours.

Copper wire is mentioned in the following post, not a bad idea.

John