Wort Chiller

Northern Brewer General
1

Has anyone timed how long it takes to cool down your 5 gal. batch of wort useing a wort chiller??

I brewed a batch of Saison yesturday and timed the wort cool down.

Starting temp. was 208f, ending temp. was 92f. It took 18 min.

I am only useing a square tub, ice, and a gal of cold water.

Can a wort chiller cut that time down enough to justify the cost?

HAPPY NEW YEAR…MAGNUM

2

How much does your ice cost you? Normally people bring the temp down to around 100F with plain water, then resort to ice to keep the temperature gradient wide for that last 40F drop. Chilling a beer in 20min is adequate, I get something like that by just putting my pot in the sink and changing water about five times, but that is on 3gal batches.

3

I have a ice maker in my freezer…free

4

I can get down to 65* in 20 minutes with mine.
Takes another 10 and a lot of stirring to get mid 50’s

5

Getting my wort down to whatever the water temp is, takes right at, 16 to 17 mins. My water temps in the winter run about 58* and summer is around 66-68*, so it’s always at pitching range. Using a swamp cooler or my temp controlled fridge in the summer is what I do to knock the temp down those last few degrees.

Are you looking to buy one or make it yourself? Making one is easy enough.

6

I chill through two Chillus Convolutus CFC (counterflow wort chillers) with cold city water going to each. It takes me about 6 minutes to chill 22 gallons. When I had only one chiller, I would have to throttle the wort flow back in the summer time which made it take longer. Now I can brew all year round and not worry about chilling. I think the flameout hops leave more aroma too because it is not steeping in boiling wort as long.

If anybody needs a CFC, I have an extra for sale. It is stupid large; probably the mother of all chillers. 3/4 copper inside 25’ of 1-1/2" copper and it weight 38#.

7

I have a 25’ CFC and very cold water, so I can get 5 gallons to 55-60 degrees in the time that it takes to gravity feed. It’s more than five minutes but less than ten. Now that I have a pump, the next batch will be recycled and whirlpooled.

8

92 is far too warm. How long does it take you to get those last 25 degrees?

9

I did my first winter brew (I brew outdoors) at about 45F air temp. Chilled the wort using my homemade chiller to 100F then added about 2.5 gallons of 55F water… mixed and aerated, and was down to 60 in about 15 minutes. It takes a bit longer in the summer, but I’m not looking to break any speed records.

Cheers and good luck!

10

[quote=“Wahoo”]92 is far too warm. How long does it take you to get those last 25 degrees?[/quote]That’s the million$$$$ question. With my IC and whirlpooling I can get to 100° in about 5 minutes, then it’s around 12-15 minutes to get the last 40°.