AlanHarper
Foredown Brewing
This may be the wrong area for this thread but I'm sure the Mods will move it if necessary. I put it here for discussion as to the viability of the idea.
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My last brew was chilled using tap water plumbed through my home made chiller coil but, due to the temperature of the tap water source, the lowest temperature I could achieve was about 35 C - and that was with stirring to circulate the wort in the boiler.
If only I could get the tap water colder...
This predicament led to investigations into buying a Remote 8 beer chiller after discussions with a local Macro Brewer at a local beer festival meeting. Well many hours of internet searching later I could not find a suitable, cheap, second-hand chiller - I am not paying £250+ for that - my financial consultant (wife) would kill me.
So how can I achieve the same, or similar, effect for a lot less money?
I finally hit on the idea of passing the tap water feed through a block of ice to bring the temperature down.
So I scanned Gumtree and found a working freezer for £10 and set to work. My first idea was to tip it on it's back so that it's inner skin forms a two level "bath" with the freezing elements - the shelves - sitting vertically within. Fill it with water and bobs your uncle. BUT... Freezer compressors do not work on their side. Scrap that idea. Standing the freezer back on it's feet I would need another method of holding the water.
A scan of the internet again led to an idea of a plastic bin set in the biggest middle shelf but how to pass the tap water through the ice block? Copper pipework would have to be fashioned to sit within the bin but, after pricing up pipe and joints or malleable 10 mm pipework ( such as the chiller is made from) I would have a lot of work and another £40 bill.
I came across a cheap, plastic garden hose in B&Q (£4.50) and with a couple of connectors (another £4) I could do the same thing and produce a flexible, easily constructed alternative to copper pipework. But would it work?
The plan is to use the tap water source, as usual, to drop the wort temperature to as low as possible - about 30 C, then switch in the freezer / chill box to bring the wort temperature down even further and, hopefully, to well below 20 C. This will make the wort suitable for early pitching of yeast at the correct temperature.
I drilled holes through the freezer walls at appropriate positions, missing the wiring etc., to a size that just accommodates the diameter of the hose to help avoid heat ingress. I kept the coil of hose as I bought it - with the original banding keeping it together and teased out each end long enough to hang outside the freezer.
I fitted the coil in the plastic bin and passed the ends through the walls and fitted the connectors then squeezed the bin into the shelf space.
I tested that the water passed through the coil and that the connectors did not leak and positioned the freezer in it's working position in the garage - I mean brewery - and levelled the freezer up before filling the bin to a working level and closing the door and switching on the freezer to create that big block of ice I need.
ONE THING I HAVE TO MENTION HERE - THE HOSE MUST BE EMPTY OR THE WATER WILL FREEZE IN THAT TOO - NOT WHAT YOU WANT TO HAPPEN!
This has to be done after every use so there is no blockage. I used an air pump to blow through the hose and empty it.
The following pictures show the stages of construction but, as I said in the title - it is an experiment - and yet to be proven as successful. My next brew day is a couple of weeks away as I have a holiday to look forward to but I will do a trial boil and chill cycle at the weekend after my iceberg has grown.
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My last brew was chilled using tap water plumbed through my home made chiller coil but, due to the temperature of the tap water source, the lowest temperature I could achieve was about 35 C - and that was with stirring to circulate the wort in the boiler.
If only I could get the tap water colder...
This predicament led to investigations into buying a Remote 8 beer chiller after discussions with a local Macro Brewer at a local beer festival meeting. Well many hours of internet searching later I could not find a suitable, cheap, second-hand chiller - I am not paying £250+ for that - my financial consultant (wife) would kill me.
So how can I achieve the same, or similar, effect for a lot less money?
I finally hit on the idea of passing the tap water feed through a block of ice to bring the temperature down.
So I scanned Gumtree and found a working freezer for £10 and set to work. My first idea was to tip it on it's back so that it's inner skin forms a two level "bath" with the freezing elements - the shelves - sitting vertically within. Fill it with water and bobs your uncle. BUT... Freezer compressors do not work on their side. Scrap that idea. Standing the freezer back on it's feet I would need another method of holding the water.
A scan of the internet again led to an idea of a plastic bin set in the biggest middle shelf but how to pass the tap water through the ice block? Copper pipework would have to be fashioned to sit within the bin but, after pricing up pipe and joints or malleable 10 mm pipework ( such as the chiller is made from) I would have a lot of work and another £40 bill.
I came across a cheap, plastic garden hose in B&Q (£4.50) and with a couple of connectors (another £4) I could do the same thing and produce a flexible, easily constructed alternative to copper pipework. But would it work?
The plan is to use the tap water source, as usual, to drop the wort temperature to as low as possible - about 30 C, then switch in the freezer / chill box to bring the wort temperature down even further and, hopefully, to well below 20 C. This will make the wort suitable for early pitching of yeast at the correct temperature.
I drilled holes through the freezer walls at appropriate positions, missing the wiring etc., to a size that just accommodates the diameter of the hose to help avoid heat ingress. I kept the coil of hose as I bought it - with the original banding keeping it together and teased out each end long enough to hang outside the freezer.
I fitted the coil in the plastic bin and passed the ends through the walls and fitted the connectors then squeezed the bin into the shelf space.
I tested that the water passed through the coil and that the connectors did not leak and positioned the freezer in it's working position in the garage - I mean brewery - and levelled the freezer up before filling the bin to a working level and closing the door and switching on the freezer to create that big block of ice I need.
ONE THING I HAVE TO MENTION HERE - THE HOSE MUST BE EMPTY OR THE WATER WILL FREEZE IN THAT TOO - NOT WHAT YOU WANT TO HAPPEN!
This has to be done after every use so there is no blockage. I used an air pump to blow through the hose and empty it.
The following pictures show the stages of construction but, as I said in the title - it is an experiment - and yet to be proven as successful. My next brew day is a couple of weeks away as I have a holiday to look forward to but I will do a trial boil and chill cycle at the weekend after my iceberg has grown.
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