Brew Day Ruined by Wort Chiller

[Dlou84]

Oh man…has this happened to anyone? I was brewing a strawberry blonde today and when it was time to chill the beer I hooked the wort chiller up to the outside faucet and started chilling. After a minute a leak started in the chiller right where the tube meets the copper. This is only the 3rd time I have used it! I had no idea the tubing could tear and leak so easily. I did my best to aim the spray away from the wort and keep on chilling but water kept bouncing off the walls and misting back into the kettle…

I decided to try an ice bath instead. I ran to the kitchen sink and dumped ice in the wide side of the sink. Unfortunately, the only drain stopper I have goes on the small side. I tried it on the wide side, but it wouldn't stop all the water so I couldn't make an ice bath either! I ended up just sitting the kettle on the ice for a while, but the lowest the temp would go was 90 degrees.

I decided the only thing left to do was to siphon to the fermenter and crank the freezer until it finally cooled to yeast pitching temperature. I tried siphoning with a paint straining bag to keep all the gunk out, but that wasn't working as well…

So…I obviously didn't get a good cold break and lots of hose water sprinkled into the wort after boiling. I feel like I should call Midwest Supplies and complain about this wort chiller…but it may just be my own fault...Any chance this beer will still work out??

 

[chezhed]

Yes. I had this happen with an immersion chiller once....if it's the same water source you used for the boil, then definitely no real problem probably.

When I started I used small extract boils and poured them through a strainer into water that had not been boiled/treated....no real difference here.

 

[MrFeltimo]

i think it will be fine.
I have had all sorts of things end up in my wort, boogies from the kids, falling leaves, and my friend even had a mudwasp land in his, and plenty of hose water too. all have turned out fine.
ferment it and drink it, IF its not to your liking, drink it all yourself..
Good luck
Dan.

 

[eluterio]

Ouch sounds like a great disaster story but sucks all at the same time.

With regards to the wort chiller if theres a hose clamp attached to the tube and copper tubing trying tightening it up. If there isnt one there then put one there that should solve the problem unless the tubing is ripped. If its ripped then pull off cut away the bad piece and reinstall it.

There could be a possibility of the beer to become, infected only way to find out is by tasting it in a few weeks. I wouldnt be hard on yourself this does happen. I had my hose line not be tight enough and leaked but not in the wort.

To be technical if water was introduced to your wort via a leak for the first few if the wort is still 200 degrees chances are most bugs were killed. I say most because there could be a slim chance some other bugs could survive.

Chilling it down in the Ice bath was the next logical step and you did well. You got it down to 90 degrees which is great and chilled it in the freezer to pitch temp. This is what I would have done in your situation. Although I wouldnt have worried about straining the wort. I quit doing that years ago after researching and reading about trub and hop residue it all settles in the end. Keep your head up and keep on brewing.

 

[roastquake]

It's fine, if anything nasty got in your wort, it was probably killed by the near boiling temp. If not, then it will surely lose the battle against the billions of yeasts you're about to pitch. When mine started to leak, I just tilted it so the water ran down the tubing rather than into the wort. Now I just do no-chill

 

[Psych]

I had this occur recently on my immersion chiller, been in service for 3 years now but my compression fittings gave up the ghost so...switched to a plate chiller Much less risk of annoyance...so far

 

[kh54s10]

I can't tell from the pictures on their website what hose clamp fittings are on the chiller but it would seem to me that removing the tubing, cutting 1/2" off and re-installing would have been the best course of action.

If you did not get 1/2 gallon or more in the wort I would not worry much.

 

[Dlou84]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm relatively new to this forum (and to brewing), but it seems like whenever someone makes a post worrying that their beer will be ruined most people respond saying it will be fine. I'm starting to think this brewing thing isn't as hard as the books and the pros make it out to be

The chiller tubing did rip by the clamps. I will reinstall it and hope for better next time. I will try the beer before racking to secondary with the strawberries to see if it is worth it. Sounds like there is a good chance all will be okay, but it sure put an end to a relaxing day!

I will update after I try the brew.

 

[pvpeacock]

I had this happen to me about the second or third time I used by old wort chiller. I stopped the water flow, unscrewed the hose clamp, cut the leaking hose, reinstalled it as far onto the chiller as it would go and clamped it down really tight. No more leak. I worried about the batch being infected until it was finished fermenting. ended up tasting great with no infection. I have since done a lot worse that letting some tap water leak into my wort. Don't worry, it should turn out just fine. Remember: improvise, adapt, overcome!

 

[michigander033]

Immersion chiller tips:
1. Always test the chiller before you immerse it.
2.Run hot water over the connections to warm up the vinyl tubing. It will become soft. Tighten the clamps while the tubing is soft and you should get an excellent, leak free, seal.
3. Do not turn your water on full blast. You only need a little bit of water to run through the chiller.
4. If necessary, replace the tubing and the hose clamps, they will weaken over time.
5. Use a thin walled vinyl tubing. We use 1/16th walled tubing for all the chillers we manufacture.

Chris Musil
Coldbreak Brewing

Don't ever hesitate to email us if its one of our chillers.

 

[eluterio]

Theres a lady who owns a home brew store, its out of her house, and she once told me.

Brewing is as easy as you want to make it or as hard as you want to make you, you decide.

Good luck and KEEP on Brewing!

 

[MaxStout]

Since the water started leaking early on, your wort was probably still plenty hot and it sanitized whatever sprayed inside. Your beer should be fine.

 

[Dlou84]

Yes, but unfortunately I kept trying to use the chiller while aiming the water away until the wort was about 120! I kept turning off the water and trying to fix it and finally gave up around 120 degrees...

 

[roastquake]

A simple ice bath should get it down within a few hours, like I said before, a few wild yeast and bacteria are no match for billions of healthy saccharomyces cerevisiae

 

[pdietert]

Funny, mine was leaking for my last brew a couple of weeks ago. I did not discover it until it was already cooled. Probably a quart of hose tap water dripped into a 10 gallon batch. Probably fine though. My OG was a point off, but have not noticed any other problems yet and do not expect any. Fermenter was bubbling about 4 hours after pitching.

 

[NickTheGreat]

I had this happen last fall with a batch. Twas one of my better batches; I now do this every time!

Seriously though, I did have this happened, but just cut a few inches off the tube, and re-seated it. Copper was really hot, so be careful

 

[Scubadude918]

Happened to me this past Sunday. I wouldn't be worried. Several hundred billion vs a couple hundred, you'll be fine.


____________________________
Primary: Cider
Primary: Kölsch

 

[Psych]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm relatively new to this forum (and to brewing), but it seems like whenever someone makes a post worrying that their beer will be ruined most people respond saying it will be fine. I'm starting to think this brewing thing isn't as hard as the books and the pros make it out to be

Hah totally accurate. The panic that's there at the start is probably a good temperance for progression, but yeah beer will be made in all but the worst of cases

I recently - DURING A CHILLER LEAK MOMENT I might add - dipped the end of a towel right into my wort, while trying to contain the spray of garden hose water. That towel has been wiping up the inside of my fan and anything else short of the floor...still made a nice beer that wasn't infected and doesn't have any off flavours.

That was as bad as I've had though, and I was worried even 3 years in hehe

 

[j1n]

i had leak issues with my chiller when i first used it. it would leak if you tried to move it at all.

i replaced the tubing with vinyl tubing from home depot and got better hose clamps. tubing from home depot is thicker than the one that came with it and i tightened the clamps down when the tubing was hot and pliable.

 

[Dlou84]

Well, I racked this to secondary on top of the strawberries this Saturday. The beer was smelling pretty good and the taste was okay. I think everything is going to turn out okay. I am going to try and speed this one along...one week in secondary then force carb for another week and it could be ready for Memorial Day weekend.


Here then beer!

 

[surffisher2a]

Part of my brewday start checklist is to tighten down the clamps on my immersion cooler. I store a cheap nut driver right with the immersion cooler so I don't forget and have it handy if needed quickly.

 

[pablosbrewing]

I carefully bent my chiller ends down, and so that the connections are actually below the edge of the pot. Side benefit is the water/steam coming out when you put the coil in the boil is directed at the ground and not at you.

 

[brewmasterorr]

I have seen this a few times. The vinyl gets too hot and is prone to tear. I would pick up some high temp silicone tubing and never worry about it again. Or you can leave it in star San until you turn on the hose and it will keep the temps down.

Jeff

 

[Dlou84]

Kegged this today and tasted some. It tastes like a strawberry blonde. I didn't notice any off flavors.


Here then beer!