wort chilling advice / reality check me

Not much of an alternative with tap water that warm. I think I would just use the two chillers in series the entire time, instead of going with a second chilling.

May be even better to go with a plate chiller, and pump ice water through it, however. You would have to do something about filtering the wort though.

 

there is no magic bullet when it comes to energy. wort chilling requires the removal of heat energy. the heat is transferred to a media that can absorb the energy. the greater the difference in temperatures, the more heat can be absorbed. and the closer the two temperatures get the less efficient the transfer becomes.

so... if your chiller can only chill to 78 you will have a pretty fast drop from 212, but after that it is going to be a slow process.

couple of things. get a good thermometer. the RT6000 is great or anything Thermoworks. you need an accurate and reliable thermometer. you really need to know temps accurately, always.

don't lose sleep over the last few degrees. if you can chill your wort to 90F that is a lot better than 190F. from 90F you can let it sit covered overnight, or put the carboy in a tub with some ice water. by morning you'll be at pitching temp. or move out of Texas.

two chillers in series is an option. freeze a pail and run the chill water through that first.

an immersion chiller is absolutely a classic homebrew DIY that you should build. easy, cheap and effective. no two DIY chillers are the same, but they all basically work the same, so get on it.
Cheers.

 

Yeah, I can't tell you if you'll cool the wort faster than your ice water warms up...but it should take it a while to do so...depending on the amount of ice you're using. You can always add more, of course, but it can be a pain to store enough ice to do so.

 

I use the 2 coil setup with the aquarium pump. I fill the pre-chiller bucket with water and let the pump push it through the kettle coil. I let the hot kettle coil output side drain and keep filling the pre-chiller bucket with fresh water. Once the wort temp drops to about 110 I will put ice and rock salt in the pre-chiller bucket and then recirculate the kettle coil output into the pre-chiller. This way I don't waste a bunch of ice trying to cool wort that's just below boiling temps. I can get my wort to under 70 degrees in 30 minutes or less this way.

 

Have you brewed 5 gallons on a porch in 100 degree weather with hose water that's about 80ish degrees? This ain't a 'first thing I tried' kind of solution. A friend of mine and I experimented with various methods. In cooler weather it's about 20 minutes.

 

As was said, don't worry about the last few degrees. the beer will be fine. I pitch at 80 degrees or a bit above during the summer.

 

I think most authorities would recommend pitching ales about 15 degrees lower.

 

I have done it both ways. Ice water recirculation is way more efficient/effective for me. Chill the wort with tap water through the chiller until it hits the point where the temperature drop slows down noticeably. Then fill your sink (or whatever) with ice water and recirculate that through the chiller. I always hit pitching temp well before the ice melts completely.

 

I would upgrade your kettle to do full volume boils first before getting the wort chiller. I have a wort chiller and haven't used it in years. There are other effective and easier ways to chill in my opinion.

 

Care to name a few that would work in a Texas summer?

 

If you're outside, a plastic storage bin large enough to hold your kettle and a few milk jugs with frozen water in them, then throw a garden hose in. I use this method in Ohio without the ice jugs and can cool 10 gallons of wort in less than 30 minutes in the summer. If you're inside the same principle can be used in a large sink or bathtub.

 

Couldn't agree more. Unless you have a have a ballcock valve on your kettle you're pretty much stuck with an immersion chiller, which for me was inferior to a plate chiller. Gravity feeding a PC works just fine, but you must have the connections.

Couldn't agree more. Recirculating is left for the final stages. Plan on IC/PC outlet water temp to be 160º+ initially, better to dump than add to the ice slurry. Rather, wait until your outlet temp is below your water supply inlet temp before going to a closed system (wasting water is cheaper than wasting ice).

I brewed last weekend and water supply was 91º so I have some experience with this. IMO a pre-chiller in an ice slurry doesn't cut it. Yes, it will drop the temp some . . . but at higher starting temps like you have it will take a long time to get your wort into the 60s. A plate chiller fed by tap water followed by ice-slurry water will do some serious cooling.

Here are a couple detailed threads about the subject:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/cooling-wort-to-pitching-temps.220651/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...a-new-chiller-cfc-or-30-plate-chiller.226119/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/best-way-to-cool-wort.194099/

Just like @billandsuz said, a DIY immersion chiller is simple and can be made to work. But a plate chiller kicks ass . . . my IC is not collecting dust (and patina).

 

Nice thing about an immersion chiller is that it sanitizes itself in the boiling wort. CFCs and plate chillers add a layer of complexity in that you are pulling the wort out of the kettle where more bad things can happen (leaks, temp drops, sanitation issues). If I was looking for a chiller, I'd start with something fairly bullet-proof and simple (an immersion chiller). The water temp will be a problem in a warm climate, but a solveable one, IMHO.

Immersion chillers usually work fine until you go to 10 gal batches.

 

I live in the same area as @PortLargo and he's way more experienced than I, but I'll throw in my 2 cents anyway since I'm still using an immersion chiller(s). My last brew day about six weeks ago was the first time I used two ICs in series. Had a 25' stainless one in a cooler of ice water and a 50' copper in my wort. It did not work as well as I hoped it would. The 25 lbs of ice I had was not nearly enough and ended shutting off the water about 20-30 minutes in and moving my kettle into a big bin and dumping the last ice out of my freezer into the bin. I realized that wasn't going to be good enough either and got my chamber down to 40 degrees, pitched at about 73 and put the carboy in it. I then set the chamber back to 64 and and hoped that the ambient temp would get it right quick enough. Beer's drinking good so I guess it did. But that whole step in the process took 45-60 min longer than I wanted and I still didn't get to where I wanted before I gave up and pitched.

My plan for next time is to have a lot more ice on hand and probably move the kettle to the bin with ice water a lot earlier. I need to look into a pump to recirculate too.