Suggestion on wort chillers

[MrSmug]

What are the pros/cons of the different styles? Do most of you the type that connects to a faucet or a hose?

Assuming I am currently brewing in my kitchen and my faucet is the detachable spray type can anyone offer up a any suggestions on a good chiller to buy (Not making my own)? I'm guessing I'll need to hook it up to a hose outside since my kitchen faucet probably won't be compatible.

Thanks

 

[Monster Mash]

They all hook up to a hose but an immersion chiller does not need a garden hose, you can adapt a vinyl hose to your sink.

For 5 gallon batches in the kitchen an immersion chiller is the easiest to use. I have only used counter flow chillers for the last 17 years but I have the equipment to make it easy to use.

 

[MrSmug]

I think I may need the garden hose because I hava kitchen faucet with a pull out spray like this: http://www.faucetdirect.com/grohe-3...cet-single-handle-dual-spray-pull-down/p68156

Are there any adapters out there for this?

 

[maffewl]

You can take the aerator off most faucets and replace them with a threaded one to attach a garden hose. Building your own chiller isn't that hard, and it's quite fun, but if you are against doing that and staying in your kitchen. Other than an ice bath, I would suggest an immersion chiller. Like said before, you don't have to hook it up to a hose if you don't want to. But, in the long run, I much more of a fan of a counterflow chiller, if I was basing my post on which I thought was better.

 

[Homercidal]

There are pros and cons to each.

IC means cheaper and easier to build by a small amount. They are easy to clean and easy to SEE if it's clean. And it chills the entire volume of wort at one time. Also, you can siphon off the cold break.

CFC is a more efficient chiller, but you can't see if it's dirty in there and you are only chilling the portion of the wort that has passed through. What's in the kettle hasn't been chilled yet. CFCs are prone to clogging and you only get one pass, so hitting an exact temperature is not as easy. Cold break passes through the chiller and ends up in the fermenter.

Adding a pump to a CFC allows the entire volume of wort to be chilled at one time as the cold wort is passed back into the kettle. A pump also allows you to siphon off the cold break material.

In practice these are minor differences and IMO should be valued for the convenience most first. If I didn't have a pump, I'd almost rather use an IC for it's properties, even if it took a couple of minutes longer to chill. I highly doubt that you could notice a difference between chilling in 10 minutes and chilling in 15 minutes. Especially when the critical thing is getting the wort temp to 140F.

And for the price of a homebuilt CFC you can come very close to the cost of a decent 30-plate Plate Chiller.

 

[Skelator]

If you brew in an apt, get an immersion chiller. Its the best thing ive bought.

 

[MrSmug]

Thanks all for the suggestions. Ill go home today and check my faucet and see if I can take the aerator off.

 

[day_trippr]

Thanks all for the suggestions. Ill go home today and check my faucet and see if I can take the aerator off.

According to the installation guide, the spray head can be unscrewed from the flexible hose. You may be able to find a threaded adapter by taking the spray head to a decent hardware store...

Cheers!

 

[MrSmug]

According to the installation guide, the spray head can be unscrewed from the flexible hose. You may be able to find a threaded adapter by taking the spray head to a decent hardware store...

Cheers!

Sweet!

 

[asten77]

Sweet!

Hi MrSmug - I also have one of these faucets.. were you able to find an adapter?

Thanks!!

 

[mikescooling]

We need more information, how much do you brew 1-5-10gal? Do you have an outlet on the bottom of te BK? Where are you going with your brewing; are you going big later or staying small? What holds greater value, time, money, ease of use? What is the water temp from the tap?