Wort Chiller Woes
Well I bought a new wort chiller a week ago just in time to brew a double IPA. I was excited about not having to wait all night to chill my wort to pitching temp. Right now it is 2:45 AM and I've been chillin' for over 30 mins. I'm at about 110*F right now. Am I doing something wrong? I admit I did not read the instructions.
Also, I didn't tighten the connections to the "in" hose and ended up with an extra half gallon or so water in the brew pot. Live and learn I guess.
I'm assuming this is an immersion chiller. If it is, gently whirlpool your wort in the opposite direction of the coil of the IC. Depending on your faucet temp, your efficiency should improve.
Good luck,
Wild
yeah that's the first thing I thought of you may not be aware of. you have to stir the wort to chill it. try and maximize exposure to the coil.
It is an immersion chiller. I did stir the wort while chilling also, though not constantly. My faucet temp was about 80*F I guess that was probably what slowed me down the most. I also think that the high gravity of the wort might be to blame it was about 1.093. I ended up pitching at 85*F at around 3:15 AM. Almost an hour after starting to chill.
Thanks for the help.
This might sound silly, i've never used a wort chiller before, but why was the temp of you faucet water 80? and not cooler?
I live in Houston, Tx. it stays pretty hot down here. It has been in the low to mid 90's for about 4 months now, and this has been a relatively cool summer!
Yeah, I hear ya Rooster. The best I can get my wort down to is 100°F here in AZ. That's why I do partial boils and keep my sanitized top-up water in the freezer.
Wild
I use a tub full of ice to chill my wort. It looks like one you would get when you rent a keg. Just fill it with water, (lots of) ice and fine table salt. Throw some beers in there, too, while you're at it! It takes about 20-30 minutes with minimal stirring to chill the wort from boiling temperature. The kettle floats in the ice bath, surprisingly. I cover the brew kettle with aluminum foil during the chill to keep out strays.
Hope that helps
Good luck with 80F tap water in your chiller. You are going to need a prechiller at somepoint.
My ground water is at about 70F and it takes me about 40 minutes to get to 85F. I gently swirl the IC in the wort occasionally after the wort gets to the 120F range.
Wild wrote:
Yeah, I hear ya Rooster. The best I can get my wort down to is 100°F here in AZ. That's why I do partial boils and keep my sanitized top-up water in the freezer.
Wild
Thats about the only choice I have I guess, in addition to the chiller this method should still speed up my chillin time except when doing full wort boils. Then its back to ice bath/chiller method.