Best way to cool the wort??????

[Sandy Feet]

thats hot.

That is about where I would be without air conditioning.

 

[Bigbre04]

That is about where I would be without air conditioning.

Oh i completely understand, Im in Savannah it was 96 yesturday lol. Im about to carry 35 bags of grain up 2.5 flights of stairs in the sun with one other guy, its going to suck.

 

[Bigbre04]

View attachment 30234
This one doesn't.

Looks like a nice one! it was just a friendly headsup that it requires special attention!

 

[Craigerrr]

I use the counterflow chiller pictured below, and am very happy with it. When I use VOSS I reduce the flow rate of the tap water so that I get 40C wort going into the fermenter. If I am using a yeast like say US-05, or S-04, full flow on the tap water gives me 18-20C wort going into the fermenter. Obviously a pump is needed for this.

 

[Craigerrr]

There isn't really a "best" way, some people love, and swear by there immersion coil type chillers, and some use and love the plate style heat exchanger units.

 

[Mashmellow]

You can buy some nice cooling tools, but if I understand correctly, you're using a home build coil, so here are a couple of steps I use to get it down faster if this helps at all. 1. Stir it occasionally, wort cools quicker when stirred. 2 I fill my cooler with regular water with some ice and run about 10 gallons through the aquarium pump and out into the street before I start recirculating just to get the boil off, saves on ice melting. Then I take a few bags of block ice I've made over the past couple nights (from silicon molds I bought cheap) fill the cooler back up and start running it. I found that if I turn it off from time to time for a few minutes and stir the ice in the cooler to let it get really cold and then start it back up I get the biggest quick drops. I'll do this about 4 or 5 times in the cool down which takes about 30-45 minutes for my 5 gallon batch. Happy brewing.

 

[Mont Y. Märzen]

You can buy some nice cooling tools, but if I understand correctly, you're using a home build coil, so here are a couple of steps I use to get it down faster if this helps at all. 1. Stir it occasionally, wort cools quicker when stirred. 2 I fill my cooler with regular water with some ice and run about 10 gallons through the aquarium pump and out into the street before I start recirculating just to get the boil off, saves on ice melting. Then I take a few bags of block ice I've made over the past couple nights (from silicon molds I bought cheap) fill the cooler back up and start running it. I found that if I turn it off from time to time for a few minutes and stir the ice in the cooler to let it get really cold and then start it back up I get the biggest quick drops. I'll do this about 4 or 5 times in the cool down which takes about 30-45 minutes for my 5 gallon batch. Happy brewing.

All of this, plus, most homemade coil tutorials don't result in a product that is efficient as what you can buy. Long before I'd spend $$$ on glycol I'd opt for a quality immersion from Jaded or a counterflow from Exchilerator, or Therminator from Blichmann. Stick with copper, not stainless (less efficient) and be sure to keep your hose feed at 12-feet or less. That helps significantly with pressure drop-off. (which ideally should be about 30-40psi) Also, using a full-sized garden hose (⅝-¾˝ ID) right up to the chiller is better than a restricted flow tubing off the tap.

If you go the counterflow or plate chiller route, the other improvement I'd make is: get a pump and put in a recirculation port. I now always recirculate when chilling (using a Therminator) until I reach near target temp or stall out, then I transfer. This way, the entire batch is cooled the fastest, rather than having the initial wort being much warmer than the end, and the final fermenter temp being much higher than desired.

 

[Craigerrr]

All of this, plus, most homemade coil tutorials don't result in a product that is efficient as what you can buy. Long before I'd spend $$$ on glycol I'd opt for a quality immersion from Jaded or a counterflow from Exchilerator, or Therminator from Blichmann. Stick with copper, not stainless (less efficient) and be sure to keep your hose feed at 12-feet or less. That helps significantly with pressure drop-off. (which ideally should be about 30-40psi) Also, using a full-sized garden hose (⅝-¾˝ ID) right up to the chiller is better than a restricted flow tubing off the tap.

If you go the counterflow or plate chiller route, the other improvement I'd make is: get a pump and put in a recirculation port. I now always recirculate when chilling (using a Therminator) until I reach near target temp or stall out, then I transfer. This way, the entire batch is cooled the fastest, rather than having the initial wort being much warmer than the end, and the final fermenter temp being much higher than desired.

I made this one, gave it to a friend when I went to a CF chiller. Two 50' coils in separate flow paths. One coil flowed cold in the to, the other cold on the bottom. It cooled a 20 liter batch to 18C in about 5 minutes and filled four 6 gallon buckets in the process. So, you can build something very efficient, but yeah, the Jaded, and the other one (forget the name) are really nice products!

 

[Craigerrr]

I forget who, but someone here on the forum named it for me, they called it Frankenchiller...

 

[cosmo65]

Thanks mate, Please , I m happy to know your installation, model, fermentor capacity...

I don't have a glycol chiller, but I'm considering getting one and using it the exact same was as you described. I can get my temp. down to about 82. I usually transfer it to the fermenter and seal it off. This is in a much cooler environment, but it takes a long time to get it to pitching temperature and it seems to take for ever. I have even let it sit over night and it is still in the early to mid 70s then.
My concerns are:
1. I usually have a pretty good "splash" when transferring to the fermenter. This is adding good O2 to the wort. After it sits for so long, does it still have enough oxygen in it for the yeast.
2, The last 2 beers I've made have not been as good as they were in the past. Some not so good after tastes. Could this be coming from stressed yeast because of the pitch temperatures and or the lack of good oxygen for the yeast?
3. Summer brewing has been tough this year. When the wort is in the fermenter and it's hot outside the AC keeps the room in the basement cool around 68-69 degrees. Then two things cause temperatures to change. Drying many loads of launry and if the temperature outside cools down at night, and we have had some cool nights causing The AC to turn off, then basement rooms then begin a slow increase in temperatures. Anyway, could these temperature issues be causing the off flavors? Any tips are greatly appreciated.

 

[Donoroto]

I don't have a glycol chiller, but I'm considering getting one and using it the exact same was as you described. I can get my temp. down to about 82. I usually transfer it to the fermenter and seal it off. This is in a much cooler environment, but it takes a long time to get it to pitching temperature and it seems to take for ever. I have even let it sit over night and it is still in the early to mid 70s then.
My concerns are:
1. I usually have a pretty good "splash" when transferring to the fermenter. This is adding good O2 to the wort. After it sits for so long, does it still have enough oxygen in it for the yeast.
2, The last 2 beers I've made have not been as good as they were in the past. Some not so good after tastes. Could this be coming from stressed yeast because of the pitch temperatures and or the lack of good oxygen for the yeast?
3. Summer brewing has been tough this year. When the wort is in the fermenter and it's hot outside the AC keeps the room in the basement cool around 68-69 degrees. Then two things cause temperatures to change. Drying many loads of launry and if the temperature outside cools down at night, and we have had some cool nights causing The AC to turn off, then basement rooms then begin a slow increase in temperatures. Anyway, could these temperature issues be causing the off flavors? Any tips are greatly appreciated.

Only liquid yeast needs oxygen. Dry yeast from a packet does not.

What kind of off-taste? Try to describe it.

 

[cosmo65]

Only liquid yeast needs oxygen. Dry yeast from a packet does not.

What kind of off-taste? Try to describe it.

I made a honey porter, I've made this beer at least 4 times. This last batch has a good initial taste, kinda roasty, but the after taste is kinda sharp, brash. I had about a 1/2 glass tonight and I think it was better, but still not exactly right. I'm hoping that letting it sit it will age into a better brew.

I made an IPA earlier this summer and in the past it was excellent. There were many problems with this brewing so I can't blame it on all the above conditions. The grains I had let sit too long (all ready milled), and I had to substitute a hop for the dry hop addition. The one that I usually use was not in the order and I hadn't noticed before I brewed. anyway, that beer was awful. The first one I've ever dumped down the drain.

I have a kolsch that usually is very good and it seems to be lacking in flavor to me. Slight after taste, nothing too bad, but just not as good as usual.

The kolsch and the porter are drinkable, I've made better, but I can't really give these to friends. I'd like too have others try them and get some feedback. Some like what others don't that's for sure.

 

[cosmo65]

I made a honey porter, I've made this beer at least 4 times. This last batch has a good initial taste, kinda roasty, but the after taste is kinda sharp, brash. I had about a 1/2 glass tonight and I think it was better, but still not exactly right. I'm hoping that letting it sit it will age into a better brew.

I made an IPA earlier this summer and in the past it was excellent. There were many problems with this brewing so I can't blame it on all the above conditions. The grains I had let sit too long (all ready milled), and I had to substitute a hop for the dry hop addition. The one that I usually use was not in the order and I hadn't noticed before I brewed. anyway, that beer was awful. The first one I've ever dumped down the drain.

I have a kolsch that usually is very good and it seems to be lacking in flavor to me. Slight after taste, nothing too bad, but just not as good as usual.

The kolsch and the porter are drinkable, I've made better, but I can't really give these to friends. I'd like too have others try them and get some feedback. Some like what others don't that's for sure.

I never heard that dry yeast didn't need oxygen. I thought they needed it to get the fermentation going.

 

[Sandy Feet]

I don't have a glycol chiller, but I'm considering getting one and using it the exact same was as you described. I can get my temp. down to about 82. I usually transfer it to the fermenter and seal it off. This is in a much cooler environment, but it takes a long time to get it to pitching temperature and it seems to take for ever. I have even let it sit over night and it is still in the early to mid 70s then.
My concerns are:
1. I usually have a pretty good "splash" when transferring to the fermenter. This is adding good O2 to the wort. After it sits for so long, does it still have enough oxygen in it for the yeast.
2, The last 2 beers I've made have not been as good as they were in the past. Some not so good after tastes. Could this be coming from stressed yeast because of the pitch temperatures and or the lack of good oxygen for the yeast?
3. Summer brewing has been tough this year. When the wort is in the fermenter and it's hot outside the AC keeps the room in the basement cool around 68-69 degrees. Then two things cause temperatures to change. Drying many loads of launry and if the temperature outside cools down at night, and we have had some cool nights causing The AC to turn off, then basement rooms then begin a slow increase in temperatures. Anyway, could these temperature issues be causing the off flavors? Any tips are greatly appreciated.

A cheap, used refrigerator, and a controller on said refrigerator.