What water volumes to cool

danskitt · Post by **danskitt** » Sun Apr 08, 2012 3:27 pm

With the hose pipe ban on I am interested to know if anyone has measured how much water you use though an immersion cooler to cool a 23l brew length. I have a full water butt which I am planning on using with the aid of a pump but don't want to run out and still have a hot brew.

gnutz2 · Post by **gnutz2** » Sun Apr 08, 2012 4:07 pm

Well I would guess between 100-150l to cool a 23l brewlength depending on the temperature of course.

Scroogemonster · Post by **Scroogemonster** » Sun Apr 08, 2012 4:59 pm

50 litres max for me!
Out of tap, thru immersion chiller and into 2 x FV's for washing with.
Regards
Kevin

masterosouffle · Post by **masterosouffle** » Sun Apr 08, 2012 5:15 pm

Scroogemonster wrote:50 litres max for me!
Out of tap, thru immersion chiller and into 2 x FV's for washing with.
Regards
Kevin

Same here, it's all about getting you water rates to be the most efficient you can

gnutz2 · Post by **gnutz2** » Sun Apr 08, 2012 6:14 pm

masterosouffle wrote:
Scroogemonster wrote:50 litres max for me!
Out of tap, thru immersion chiller and into 2 x FV's for washing with.
Regards
Kevin
Same here, it's all about getting you water rates to be the most efficient you can

Wow, i'm sure i use a lot more than that, i just turn the tap on full bore and wait, could take 15-20 mins to get to 18c.

I used to stir the wort which pretty much halves the cooling time but i honestly cant be botherd any more.

masterosouffle · Post by **masterosouffle** » Sun Apr 08, 2012 10:23 pm

By running the tap relatively slowly and stirring I am able to get 50litres of pretty much hot water to use for cleaning, rather than 150l of cold going on the garden as I ave nowhere big enough to collect, really don't think it takes any longer either...

hotmog · Post by **hotmog** » Sun Apr 08, 2012 10:49 pm

gnutz2 wrote: Well I would guess between 100-150l to cool a 23l brewlength depending on the temperature of course.

That's obscene, no wonder there's a water shortage!

Get yourself another water butt, connect the two via 2" pipe. Now you can pump water from butt1 through your immersion coil with the return going into butt2. Since they are connected, the levels in each will remain constant. It's a completely closed system, so no water whatsoever is lost. Average cooling time for 38 litres from boiling to pitching temp is around 45 minutes, depending on time of year. Butt capacity 132 litres each.

I've been using it for years.

nigelsch · Post by **nigelsch** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 9:19 pm

Lol thats where all the water's going

Id say sim to the otehr guys around 75L.

I'm on a water meter, so I start at a reasonable flow and as the temp of the wort comes down, I turn down the pressure. No point
being on full bore, as its about temp differential I tink. If the temp going into the IM is the same (broadly) as that coming out
your flow is too strong.

But if ur not on a meter, who cares!

filet o fish · Post by **filet o fish** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 1:33 pm

make shed loads of ice few days before. put it in fv . use that for the ic . first bucket or two out is hot. after that recirculate. lass than 40 litres.

wetpoke · Post by **wetpoke** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 3:20 pm

I did this on Sunday collecting the water to use on the garden. Totalled 50l but only got down to 35c - once it had been transferred to the FV it was cool enough for pitching. That last little bit took forever so if you can stop just a little too warm it seems to reduce the amount of water needed.

Pinto · Post by **Pinto** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 3:23 pm

Like the tanked recirculating idea

no waste at all and you can add artificial force cooling into the mix - I should image 2-3 frozen 2l Coke bottles in the tank should help the chilling no end

Only issue I can see is that the water within a closed loop system will require careful and constant monitoring and sanitisation - Legionnaires disease is no joke

Pinto · Post by **Pinto** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 3:26 pm

repeat post

gnutz2 · Post by **gnutz2** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 3:48 pm

Doesnt a bath use 100+litres, we run one bath every day in our house, i think the water to cool my beer is a small ammount of what we use.

I'm not on a meter, water bill has just gone up from 40 to 50 quid a month.

jaybie · Post by **jaybie** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 9:15 pm

I have a home-made countercurrent chiller which uses about 25L to cool a 25L brew, obviously I use a bit more in summer when the tap water is warmer. It takes about 20 minutes.I appreciate it's not as simple as a immersion chiller, but it was cheap to make and very effective.

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