Why did I wait so long to buy an immersion chiller?

[teutonic terror]

Eleven minutes ago, I had boiling wort,
now I'm transferring it to the fermenter!

Amazing, as SWMBO said!
212 to 67 that quick! WOW!

[BlackDuck]

Yes sir. They are awesome that's for sure.

[FedoraDave]

Love my copper immersion chiller! Since it's hooked up to the cold water feed to the kitchen sink, the water flowing through it probably doesn't get much below 70 degrees or so, but I've taken to getting it down to the double digits with the immersion chiller and then putting it in an ice bath in conjunction with the immersion chiller until it gets into the 60s, or wherever I need it to be. 15-20 minutes, tops.

Yeah, good stuff.

[Kealia]

I think we all feel that way about our latest toy. I know I said the same thing when I got my new temp controller. Congrats and enjoy!

[D_Rabbit]

New toys are AWESOME!

[Foothiller]

That's an impressive speed

[teutonic terror]

That's an impressive speed

I was very surprised myself. I was using the outside faucet and it was about 68 degrees today.
Now, in July when it's 97 and the ground has warmed, I 'm sure it will take quite a bit longer!

Got another brew planned next weekend so I'll get to see if this was just "one of those things" or can be
done consistently!

[jimjohson]

in the summer use a #3 washtub with water and ice and a 'pond pump' to circulate the water

[Dawg LB Steve]

Nice to shorten the brewday somewhat. Summer time may be a bit longer, but like Jim said a pond pump in ice water once it gets to groundwater temp. I think I will be saying the same thing when I get my pump, why did I wait.

[FedoraDave]

That's an impressive speed

I was very surprised myself. I was using the outside faucet and it was about 68 degrees today.
Now, in July when it's 97 and the ground has warmed, I 'm sure it will take quite a bit longer!

Got another brew planned next weekend so I'll get to see if this was just "one of those things" or can be
done consistently!

That's why I go with the ice bath/immersion chiller once it gets down to 80 or 90 degrees. I also stir the wort while I chill it, stirring it in the opposite direction of the wort chiller's flow. I don't know if this helps, but it gives me something to do.

[jimjohson]

I don't know if this helps, but it gives me something to do.

me too, I figure it can't hurt

[gwcr]

I had stirred off and on during chilling in the past, but for some reason stopped doing it (I'm guessing sloth was the primary factor...). On my last brew I decided to stir and thought, "Why not just stir with the chiller? It's already in there anyway." Fastest chill down for me ever. Under 10 minutes from start to finish (usually takes 20-30 minutes), and it came in at 65*. Will be part of my process going forward.

[Dawg LB Steve]

Moving the wort around the chiller, puts the warm wort against the cool coils and lets the heat get carried away with the water, where if you let it sit the cool would need to radiate away from the coils. My problem was stirring always stirred up the break material then would still need to let sit to siphon as much clear wort into the fermenter.

[Kealia]

I'm a stir-er, too. Given temps out here I stir with the IC in until it gets to about 75 and then have to use an ice bath to drop down to my desired pitch temp (usually 62-68).
This works out well because I can pull the IC, add ice in the sink and then let it sit for a good 15-20 minutes to drop to pitching temp which allows all the break material to settle before I siphon.

[BlackDuck]

I stir also, and in the opposite direction of the flow too. Not sure why I do it in the opposite direction, I just do. I let it sit for maybe 10 minutes after to let the break material settle. And since I drain from the ball valve at the bottom of the kettle through tubing and not through a siphon, I rest one of these stainless steel strainers on top of the fermenting bucket. This was well worth the $15.00. It catches a lot of crap.