7 replies to this topic

[xd_haze]

The thread about prechillers with IC's got me thinking. My ground water is currently 65 deg, and my CFC can chill to within a few degrees of that. Pitching at 67-70 is alright, but I'd like to get lower, especially for some styles. Also, I'm sure that my water temp will go up in the coming months.How much would a prechiller drop my water? Would 25 feet of 3/8" or 1/2" copper in a 5 gallon bucket full of ice, water, and, perhaps, salt get my water down to the 50s? I don't want to invest in a coil of copper, only to find out that it only buys me a few degrees!Any one with experience in this area?mike h

[BarefootBrews]

How much would a prechiller drop my water? Would 25 feet of 3/8" or 1/2" copper in a 5 gallon bucket full of ice, water, and, perhaps, salt get my water down to the 50s? I don't want to invest in a coil of copper, only to find out that it only buys me a few degrees!

A prechiller will make your CFC cooling system more efficient if anything. I've never really tested the lower limits of cooling capacity with my IC (brewing ales only require me to get my wort to 70ish dF), so maybe others here can answer that question of how low you will be able to chill your wort. Yours prechiller and CFC will be quite different than my prechiller and IC anyway.

[xd_haze]

Excellent. Thanks Blktre.How do you prevent the temps from going down too low with the post chiller? With the extra resistance (from the post-chiller), my pump set up is probably only going to move wort at about 2L per minute. Can I control the output temperature enough with just the amount of ground water going into the CFC?Mike h

I use a CFC and a post chiller. My ground water in the summer pushes 80*. I pump hot wort from the kettle thru a 20ft. 3/8th CFC which knocks me down close to ground water temp, then its directly pumped into the the post chiller which is another 3/8th 20ft coil submerged in a ice bath (no salt), then directly to the fermenter. If im not careful, this setup can crash down to 38* fairly easily. I normally go thru around 15#'s of ice in this process on 10+g batches. I also have a small pump that circulates the ice water around the coils to prevent stratification. And the submersible pump for the post chiller is the key for quick, low temp knock downs. I would strongly discourage you to run ice water thru the CFC as you will go thru al do ot more ice trying to knock down flame out temps using this method and you most likely wont reach the desired temps your looking for.The ice water method thru a chiller works much better when the initial temps are knocked down either by using the whirlpool/chilling method, or using in a second CFC inline chilling.Edit: Add dual plate chillers to this mix as well.

[tag]

I have valves on the water and the wort and a thermometer on the output. In the Winter I need to turn down the water. In the Summer I need to slow down the wort.

[xd_haze]

Peristaltic. The pump will move 2 gallons per minute without any restriction (i.e., no chiller, very little climb) But going through the CFC brin1 gallon per minute. No valves on the pumps output, to say the least. I'll give the post chiller idea a run. Now to buy more copper...mike h

Always have your cooling water run full open as you can get it. The best way to control temps while inline chilling is to use a valve on the pumps output. The wider open the valve is, the quicker wort flows which in turn gives you warmer temps. Slow down the speed of the wort, the cooler the temps. So setting the valve will give you your desired temps going into the fermenter. puWhat kind wort pump do you use? If the gpm/headpressure isn't great, then slowing down the cooling water in the CFC might work for you.