I can see the value of a wort chiller now

[ECH]

Considering how long it is taking for the brew pot to chill, even sitting in the snow bank, it is taking forever!

[Two Wheeler]

Ah that's too bad! I've heard that a snow bank will melt around the pot, then a layer of air will develop and insulate the pot, making the process slower.

[Chris Craig]

I brewed a 5 gallon blonde today.  With my whirlpool immersion chiller, it took about 8 minutes to go from 100ºC to 18ºC.  Can't beat it, and they're pretty easy to make.

[Two Wheeler]

What diameter and length? My 25' 1/4" IC takes a half hour

[Chris Craig]

I have a 50' 3/8" ID chiller.  I'm on a well, and my ground water is about 6ºC, so that helps.  Also, I recirculate the wort the whole time...again, that helps.

You could try gently moving the chiller around so you don't get temperature stratification.

[Roger]

You can also use a sanitised spoon to move the wort around the chiller. I use a pump to whirlpool the wort around the chiller. Works great!

[HappyHax0r]

I'm still a pretty big fan of the plate chiller I got ages ago. I like the pump too but I think I'm going to have to get a bigger one. Probably a chugger. I'll do that once I have my brewshed and brewing stand set up .

[Jake]

Question regarding the whirlpool chiller. Is there any benefit to using more than 50 feet of 3/8 ID coil, or do you think anything more is overkill? What about if your doing 20 or 30 gallons at a time?

Do you think a chugger could whirlpool 20 or 30 gallons of beer? I know you don't get a real strong whirlpool going with the coil in there, but would it still get the job done with this larger volume?

[Chris Craig]

The Law of Diminishing Returns is going to come in to play at some point.  My guess is that you'd want to keep the ID of the coil small.  3/8" vs 1/2 ". Maybe 1/4 is better because more of the cold water comes in contact with the surface of the tubing?  To chill as fast as possible, you need to move the coldest possible water through the chiller as fast as possible.  You'll get the best thermal transfer that way. 

To save on water, I'd suggest using 50' 3/8"ID while whirlpooling until you get down to around 120ºF and then using a CFC to finish the job.  You'll keep the aroma from your late hop addition, but it won't take you 100 gallons of water to chill.

I think the chugger should be able to whirlpool well enough for 30 gallons.  You just need the wort to be moving around in there to avoid temperature stratification.

[ECH]

Only took about 4hrs to cool down. Kept surrounding the pot with snow, still took awhile though.

All put away in the fermentor, now just a waiting game!

[fakr]

I'm a big fan of counter flow \ plate chillers.  They are compact and easy to use.  Counter flow chillers are easy to build yourself with parts from any hardware store, plate chillers are a little pricey, but not that bad.  Both work on the same principal.

I'm likely going to upgrade my home made CFC sometime this summer so I'll post it in the classifieds when it's up for sale.

by the way, it cools 20gal of boiling wort to pitching temp in about 30 minutes.

[ECH]

I watched a YT video the other day on a plate chiller. Took water from boiling to about 25C in about 10min. I would have to go back and look, but it was some company in the US that makes diesel parts. But they also make these plate chillers, 30 plate chiller for about $80.

[Chris Craig]

Dudadiesel.  Do some research before you buy.  The size of the plates is more important than the number of plates...

[Al-Loves-Wine]

Yeah I've looked at dudadiesel chillers, he has different grade chillers on his site, low, medium to high quality. I've really been thinking about getting one of the 40 plate chillers that hopdawgs is carrying and pretty sure they are duddielsels. Probably wait till I get my chugger though.

[jeffsmith]

I have one of the long, 40 plate DD chillers. It works fantastic. I can take 11 gallons of wort from 200°F to 60°F, into carboys in about 10-15 minutes (using a chugger).