mpfeil8484
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2013
- Messages
- 65
- Reaction score
- 2
does a wort chiller realy make that much of a difference?
should you use a wort chiller
- Thread starter mpfeil8484
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
JonK331
Well-Known Member
For full boils yes it absolutely does. You will find people that will argue that using the "no chill method" works to make decent beer but you will not find a professional brewery that does this. If you are doing partial boils there are some other options. I used to freeze whole gallons of spring water a couple days before a brew then sanitize the whole thing, cut the plastic off with a sanitized razor blade, and put the gallon ice cube in the hot wort at the end of the boil. Works great and wastes no water. Just remember that pitching yeast into hot wort will kill it pretty much instantly so you have to get it cooled down somehow.
OP
OP
mpfeil8484
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2013
- Messages
- 65
- Reaction score
- 2
Word, this is a noob ? But what's the difference between full and half boils?
I think it does, mainly because I don't want to wait hours and hours for the wort to get down to pitching temperature. As far as from a quality standpoint I don't know, I have never done it without. If you aren't doing a full boil they aren't as big of a necessity, as you could just use ice to chill/top off.
Some people only boil 3 gallons or so and then add the rest of the water after the boil is finished.
johnsnownw
Well-Known Member
Full boil = boiling down to the full amount you plan to ferment.
TriageStat
Well-Known Member
Yes.
Gets your wort down to pitching temps as quickly as possible, reducing the risk of infection.
Results in a better cold break.
Gets your wort down to pitching temps as quickly as possible, reducing the risk of infection.
Results in a better cold break.
Desvio
Well-Known Member
Totally yes, since buying one I can't even wrap my head around why I would ever ice bath again. So quick, easy and fast.
ZombieBrew83
Well-Known Member
Should you? Absolutely
Is it entirely necessary? Not really
Are there other ways to chill wort? You bet.
Is it entirely necessary? Not really
Are there other ways to chill wort? You bet.
A full boil boils all of the ingredients. A half boil boils half of the wort.
Full means, well, full amount.
Half means half the amount.
MrNickVT
Well-Known Member
Bought a wort chiller after first batch and haven't looked back. Saves time and money on buying bags of ice.
Beernik
Well-Known Member
You know how long it takes to cool 5 gallons of wort down to 80F on a 100F day if you don't have a chiller?
A few batches ago I documented my wort chiller time. Here's my notes:
6:58pm - 212F - Start wort chiller direct from boil (left the pot on the gas grate on my kitchen stove)
7:01pm - 150+F
7:04pm - 125F
7:08pm - finished draining sink, refilled with cold, threw in full tub of ice from ice maker.
7:13pm - 60F - Too cold!!
To build my wort chiller I wrapped a 50' coil of 3/8" tubing around a couple of stacked paint cans (fit in my brewpot), ran it out a foot or so, bought ~12' of 1/2" ID nylon-reinforced clear tubing, connected to a 760 gph aquarium pump ($75 or so, don't buy a pond pump from home depot). I just fill a half of my sink with cold water, circulate it until the temp differential isn't so much, drain, shut off pump, refill, rinse/repeat. When the wort hits ~110-115 or whatever I refill & pour in the tub of ice from my ice maker.
25' of 3/8" copper pipe should be more than enough.
6:58pm - 212F - Start wort chiller direct from boil (left the pot on the gas grate on my kitchen stove)
7:01pm - 150+F
7:04pm - 125F
7:08pm - finished draining sink, refilled with cold, threw in full tub of ice from ice maker.
7:13pm - 60F - Too cold!!
To build my wort chiller I wrapped a 50' coil of 3/8" tubing around a couple of stacked paint cans (fit in my brewpot), ran it out a foot or so, bought ~12' of 1/2" ID nylon-reinforced clear tubing, connected to a 760 gph aquarium pump ($75 or so, don't buy a pond pump from home depot). I just fill a half of my sink with cold water, circulate it until the temp differential isn't so much, drain, shut off pump, refill, rinse/repeat. When the wort hits ~110-115 or whatever I refill & pour in the tub of ice from my ice maker.
25' of 3/8" copper pipe should be more than enough.
mike_in_ak
Well-Known Member
MrMonkey said:
Versus without wort chiller:
6:58 boiling hot
7:01 just under boiling hot
7:05 still pretty freaking hot
7:15 is this cooling at all?
7:30 maybe if I go watch some TV
7:42 commercial break: still hot!
8:02 maybe I should just go to bed
8:17 but maybe I could pitch the yeast just a little hot, how much difference could it really make?
8:22 consulting Internet about yeast temps
8:24 yeah this temperature will kill them
8:33 gonna pitch yeast anyway
6:00 next morning. Starts thread on HBT: "NO AIRLOCK ACTIVITY ... DID I KILL MY YEAST??!!"
Ha, good stuff. If you have a nice deep sink you can definitely chill your wort down in a somewhat reasonable time with ice and water. But it takes forever and is major pain in the butt and may lead to increased susceptibility to infection.
I didn't use one for my first 5 or so batches and it was an interesting learning experience. If I could go back, I'd have a wort chiller. It is several extra dollars, so by all means give other methods a try. If you get hooked, you'll want the chiller.
I didn't use one for my first 5 or so batches and it was an interesting learning experience. If I could go back, I'd have a wort chiller. It is several extra dollars, so by all means give other methods a try. If you get hooked, you'll want the chiller.
JuanMoore
Getting the banned back together
I have a HEX coil for my HERMS that works great as a chiller. I also live in the desert, where the "cold" tap water is often 97° in the summer. I got sick of buying/making 40+# of ice to chill a 12 gal batch, so I tried using the no chill method, and IMHO the beer quality isn't any different either way. There is more break material that gets in the fermentor when using the no chill method, but it doesn't seem to have any impact on the taste of the beer. I use my chiller in the winter when the tap water is cold enough, and just let my beer get to pitching temps overnight in the ferm chamber when it's not. As always YMMV.
There are some professional breweries that use their temperature controlled fermenters to bring the wort down to pitching temps, which is pretty much identical to my no chill method. Even the commercial breweries that chill on the way to the fermenter often have hot wort whirlpooling for an hour or more before it makes it's way through the chiller and into the fermenter. I think it's much more accurate to say that you won't find a single commercial brewery that chills their wort half as quickly as the average chiller-using homebrewer.
There are some professional breweries that use their temperature controlled fermenters to bring the wort down to pitching temps, which is pretty much identical to my no chill method. Even the commercial breweries that chill on the way to the fermenter often have hot wort whirlpooling for an hour or more before it makes it's way through the chiller and into the fermenter. I think it's much more accurate to say that you won't find a single commercial brewery that chills their wort half as quickly as the average chiller-using homebrewer.
MrNickVT
Well-Known Member
I picked up my chiller of eBay brand new for 40$ including the faucet adapter. I was going to attempt my own but would have been more expensive.
kombat
Well-Known Member
Yes, you should absolutely use a wort chiller. It makes the brew day go so much faster and less frustrating.
I initially used a 25' 3/8" copper coil immersion chiller, and it would take between 20-30 minutes to chill it down to 60° F from boiling. I've since upgraded to a DudaDiesel B3-23A 30 plate heat exchanging chiller, and it chills 5 gallons of boiling wort down to 55° F in about a minute and a half. It's amazing.
I initially used a 25' 3/8" copper coil immersion chiller, and it would take between 20-30 minutes to chill it down to 60° F from boiling. I've since upgraded to a DudaDiesel B3-23A 30 plate heat exchanging chiller, and it chills 5 gallons of boiling wort down to 55° F in about a minute and a half. It's amazing.
solbes
Well-Known Member
Yes from the standpoint that you get better beer by dropping wort prior to pitch to fermenting temps. Or better yet a degree or two below fermenting temps. Then it warms a degree or two and the yeast takes right off at the intended temps.
Thats hard to do in a full boil unless you have a lot of ice and time.
Where you live will also preclude which type you should get. In Minnesota here, 7-8 months of our year works awesome with a simple immersion chiller because our tap water is so cold (say late October-early June). But if you live in Phoenix or Miami, you would want a recirculating pump system where you could add ice to a bath that feeds the chiller.
I built mine out of 25' of 1/2" copper and added some fittings to hook up to kitchen sink. Cost me ~ $30 and was one of the most bang for the buck upgrades I've done.
Thats hard to do in a full boil unless you have a lot of ice and time.
Where you live will also preclude which type you should get. In Minnesota here, 7-8 months of our year works awesome with a simple immersion chiller because our tap water is so cold (say late October-early June). But if you live in Phoenix or Miami, you would want a recirculating pump system where you could add ice to a bath that feeds the chiller.
I built mine out of 25' of 1/2" copper and added some fittings to hook up to kitchen sink. Cost me ~ $30 and was one of the most bang for the buck upgrades I've done.
JuanMoore
Getting the banned back together
Absolutely. Whether using my chiller or using the no chill method, I always get the wort to ~2° colder than my fermentation temp before pitching the yeast. Should have mentioned that in my earlier post.
Beernik
Well-Known Member
Hey, you nailed my first beer, except I pitched the yeast at 3am when the temp finally dropped below 100F, which resulted in 5 gallons of green apple flavored Scottish ale.
My first brew I ended up closing up in the fermenter and installing the air lock after am hour or so. Barely making it to work on time. I pitched 8hours later when hot home.
I got 40 ft of 3/8 copper given to me and made an IC. Boiling to 60 in 15 minutes. In summer my tap water is about 70 so got a pump to recirculate ice water once i get to 80 or so.
The IC looked so good when I was done making it but it stuck out above my wort so I squished it down some. Oh well, might not be pretty but sure works good.
I got 40 ft of 3/8 copper given to me and made an IC. Boiling to 60 in 15 minutes. In summer my tap water is about 70 so got a pump to recirculate ice water once i get to 80 or so.
The IC looked so good when I was done making it but it stuck out above my wort so I squished it down some. Oh well, might not be pretty but sure works good.
Epimetheus
Well-Known Member
There is the assumption you want to chill the wort quickly. No-chill or slow chill to the next day can make fine beer.
If you want to chill quickly, then a chiller makes a great deal of sense and much easier and safer than hauling around hot wort to the sink or tub. A counter-flow chiller and pump works quicker at higher complexity and cost. Go with whatever your budget allows.
There is darn little you need to make good beer. Some stuff makes the process easier.
If you want to chill quickly, then a chiller makes a great deal of sense and much easier and safer than hauling around hot wort to the sink or tub. A counter-flow chiller and pump works quicker at higher complexity and cost. Go with whatever your budget allows.
There is darn little you need to make good beer. Some stuff makes the process easier.
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2013
- Messages
- 286
- Reaction score
- 11
I don't think there is a real difference (but I'm a newb, would love to learn more here 
).
The problem is that if you take a long time to cool it down, you are vulnerable all that time to get an infection. Your wort is an ideal breeding ground for all kinds of bacteria, and the sooner you can get the alcohol-producing beer yeast in there, the better.
It would be interesting to see if there are any real chemical changes caused by rapid cooling.
).The problem is that if you take a long time to cool it down, you are vulnerable all that time to get an infection. Your wort is an ideal breeding ground for all kinds of bacteria, and the sooner you can get the alcohol-producing beer yeast in there, the better.
It would be interesting to see if there are any real chemical changes caused by rapid cooling.
You can pry my chiller from my cold......dead..........fingers.
Same here. I got to brew after all and got to 62 in 13 minutes.
You can pry my chiller from my cold......dead..........fingers.
Of course, if you placed a nice plate chiller in my other hand, I'd let go of my IC easily.:rockin:
