Will a 20ft 3/8 OD immersion chiller work for me?

[mrorange38]

Hello everyone,

I was trying to get my 2nd batch of halloween beer going today. It's a partial mash / extract brew.

Realizing I had AGAIN forgot to buy water, freeze, etc. I made a quick decision to run over to home depot and pickup stuff to make an immersion chiller.

I've watched some videos and such, and it does seem like many have luck with 3/8, but I am confused on a few things...

One, I live in Florida, so the tap/hose water just is not that cold.

Two, I noticed there is both 3/8 ID and OD copper tubing available. With copper prices so high, once you go above 20 ft of 3/8 OD, the price goes to $40+ for the bigger ID, and really climbs from there.

Since I wasn't sure what was sufficient, I went with my original budget and bought the 3/8 OD 20 ft. , and a compression fitting for my hose end, and some vinyl tubing for the other end of the chiller. As you may know, the 3/8 OD is some fairly small diameter stuff.

So, my question is, will this work given my not so cold tap water temps? If not, I'm thinking about going back to my sort of haphazard freezing/cold water mixing techniques. AFAIK, my brews haven't had much ill effect from them, but I am starting to wonder about that as well. It's mainly a hassle. The cooper's batch I have in the primary , I wasn't able to quick chill much at all, and had to wait about 24 hours with the hot wort sealed in the bucket in my keg fridge.

Thanks for any ideas on all this!

 

[kh54s10]

That is pretty small diameter, short length and with the warm "cold" water temperature it will take quite a while. It will also never go lower in temperature than the temperature of the water. I made two 20' sections of 3/8 OD. In the summer it takes quite a while even when I put one coil in a bucket of ice water. In the winter it is quite quick. Of course the cold water is below 50 degrees then. Maybe even in the low 40s. I will have to check the temperature this winter.

 

[iijakii]

I never really have seen the point of super crazy immersion chillers. But then again I don't live in California where I need to really watch my water usage...

As you've said, the main inhibitor is your ground water temps. Going up in chiller size isn't going to help that. Run tap water to cool it down and then throw it in your ferm. chamber and cool it down the rest of the way before pitching. Alternatively look into no-chill and just forget chillers and pitch the next day -- it's not evil voodoo that'll hurt your beer.

 

[kh54s10]

I never really have seen the point of super crazy immersion chillers. But then again I don't live in California where I need to really watch my water usage...

As you've said, the main inhibitor is your ground water temps. Going up in chiller size isn't going to help that. Run tap water to cool it down and then throw it in your ferm. chamber and cool it down the rest of the way before pitching. Alternatively look into no-chill and just forget chillers and pitch the next day -- it's not evil voodoo that'll hurt your beer.

Going up in chiller size will help. There is more surface area for heat exchange with larger diameter tubing and longer length. I experienced this myself when I made my second 20' coil. It is quite a bit faster using both coils than using just one.

But Florida cold water is quite warm and the wort will have to be further chilled after an immersion chiller has cooled it as much as it can.

 

[mrorange38]

I never really have seen the point of super crazy immersion chillers. But then again I don't live in California where I need to really watch my water usage...

As you've said, the main inhibitor is your ground water temps. Going up in chiller size isn't going to help that. Run tap water to cool it down and then throw it in your ferm. chamber and cool it down the rest of the way before pitching. Alternatively look into no-chill and just forget chillers and pitch the next day -- it's not evil voodoo that'll hurt your beer.

Thanks. I didn't even know this was an option, until a few days ago, when I had no other option

I've since read a bunch of pros/cons to just letting it cool down at room temp, or in fridge. Short of an infection, is there anything else important to consider? Keeping in mind, I'm still not doing any all grain stuff...

 

[iijakii]

You might have increased bitterness from further hop isomerization due to it sitting at high temps for longer. On the Aussie boards they've developed a calculator to adjust it. No idea how accurate it is. I personally haven't had issues the times I've done no-chill, but they were mostly pales and not something I'd have noticed being too hoppy.

 

[FatDragon]

Get a cheap aquarium pump and a bucket full of ice water. Use tap water for your chiller until you get down to about 100F, then hook it up to the pump and recirculate the ice water until you reach your pitching temps. I have an even smaller ID chiller (6mm~1/4"), though it's 30 feet instead of 20, and I can get six gallons of wort down to 64F in about 30 minutes this way with one (11 lb) bag of ice. Just make sure the pump isn't too small or the low flow rate will really slow you down.

 

[mrorange38]

Going up in chiller size will help. There is more surface area for heat exchange with larger diameter tubing and longer length. I experienced this myself when I made my second 20' coil. It is quite a bit faster using both coils than using just one.

But Florida cold water is quite warm and the wort will have to be further chilled after an immersion chiller has cooled it as much as it can.

Yeah, the idea of having two coils, etc. just doesn't turn me on. I mean, if I've been doing it "wrong" all along just putting the gallon jugs in the fridge, dunking in santizer, and then cutting open to dump the icy chunks in ... then I guess I'll have to go with a full wort chill solution. One thing I'm trying to avoid is more buckets and stuff to have to clean/store/etc.

I'm wondering if I should try to go with some combo of the 20ft immersion chill and the last two gallons of water (refrigerated)? Would that even be worth it? I've read if you can't crash the temp down real fast, then the benefits of chilling start to diminish quickly. Certainly doing none of the above, and just putting the whole primary in the kegger, and waiting 24 hours is the easiest and cheapest, but is it OK?

 

[mrorange38]

You might have increased bitterness from further hop isomerization due to it sitting at high temps for longer. On the Aussie boards they've developed a calculator to adjust it. No idea how accurate it is. I personally haven't had issues the times I've done no-chill, but they were mostly pales and not something I'd have noticed being too hoppy.

This one was a year expired cooper's "real ale" that I made pretty much to the letter hope it turns out "no chill".

I had a spoiled batch last year, and unfortunately did not document very well. Forgot what it was. That was done using my usual chilled/ice chunk method, which often seems to bring temps down really fast, and cold ~50deg or colder. The beer had a lingering soapy/chemical taste to it. I can never be sure, but I think there was a possibility outside the beer, that I accidentally used some diluted drain cleaner (sodium hydroxide ac coil cleaner) for some cleaning. I realized this a week ago, when i took a small taste of what I thought was star san! oops i kinda hope it was the beer, and not the cleaner. that stuff is quite toxic.

 

[zonga308]

FWIW, I go the no chill method. I point a fan at my boil kettle. I brew late afternoon/evening and am usually finished with the boil around 11pm, 12am, 1am and pitch yeast the next morningat about 9-11am . Only did a couple of extract batches that I attempted to chill via ice bath before I was fed up with it and went to all grain no chill and love it. I do admit that I plan to buy the materials to build an immersion chiller and plan to use the runnings to clean (cheap and economical/smart).

 

[DurtyChemist]

Buy once cry once. My first was 3/8" 50' and it was about $50 for the chiller. Compare the savings of making a bigger/longer chiller to online prices and you'll rush out to build yourself a 1/2" 50' chiller.

 

[juskojj]

Yeah, the idea of having two coils, etc. just doesn't turn me on. I mean, if I've been doing it "wrong" all along just putting the gallon jugs in the fridge, dunking in santizer, and then cutting open to dump the icy chunks in ... then I guess I'll have to go with a full wort chill solution. One thing I'm trying to avoid is more buckets and stuff to have to clean/store/etc.

I'm wondering if I should try to go with some combo of the 20ft immersion chill and the last two gallons of water (refrigerated)? Would that even be worth it? I've read if you can't crash the temp down real fast, then the benefits of chilling start to diminish quickly. Certainly doing none of the above, and just putting the whole primary in the kegger, and waiting 24 hours is the easiest and cheapest, but is it OK?

it'll be more money and a little more difficult but you could make your self a counterflow chiller with bucket of ice water and pumps that'd cool it down super fast. like someone said yes going larger diameter tubing will help out b/c of the larger surface area contact but your limiting factor is the temperature differential between your wort and cooling liquid.

i would think you'd be just fine using 3/8 OD tubing, 20ft, fill a 5 gallon bucket full of ice and water with a small submersible pump and recirculate the water. the one thing i do that helps is take a santized spoon and stir the wort in the put with the immersion chiller to make a whirlpool affect. depending on how big your batch you may need more 5 gallon buckets or just a big tub. the great thing is your tub or buckets don't need to be cleaned just empty out water and your good to go and you can use them for other things around the house since your just putting water in them and the water never comes in contact with your beer.....

 

[KyBeer]

My 3/8 chiller works fine. I run tap water until it reaches 100 degrees and then switch to a cooler with a submersible pump, Less than $20 on Amizon) and frozen water bottles. Not sure how cold it could get but I stop at 70. By the time I finish sanitizing my fermenter the wort is cold. 10 gallon batches take about 20-25 minutes and 5 gallon just over 15 minutes. Water flow rate plays a part in how quickly it works and wort circulation play a part as well.