Wort chiller water recycling

[Waylander87]

Evening all,

I'm contemplating my first AG brew and one element is bothering me a bit - the chiller coil. Hooking it up to the tap and leaving to run for...20-30 minutes?! Seems a bit wasteful on the water front (I'm a Yorkshireman...)

Has anyone tried recycling the water?

Would there be any issues with filling some bottles with water and freezing them and then, come brew day, shoving these into a large bucket with a cheap pump (such as a water fountain pump ~£10 from eBay). Basically the water fountain pump will flush chilled water through the chiller coil which will then return (slightly warmer) to the bucket. Repeat.

Seems glaringly obvious, but I can't find anyone doing this or mentioning it, and that leads me to believe that this MUST be a stupid idea.... :wha:

 

[Dronfieldbrewer]

Looks reasonable to me..I would think that the large bucket of water needs to be quite a bit bigger than the amount in the copper to be really effective

 

[nobyipa]

I recon if your outlet hose is
SILICONE TUBE PLATINUM GRADE 60 SHORE FOOD SAFE ,You will be fine.
But my wort chiller i made has cheep garden hose attached and goes super flexible when near to boiling water is running through it ,
I reckon that the water coming out of my hose is no longer drinkable IT SMELLS OF HOT HOSE PLASTIC.
I have silicon tubing on me boiler and mash tun only as its near on 9 quid for 2 metres.


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/230688853539? ... 1497.l2649

its down in price now 10% off so near on 8 quid

Hope this helps
if you have a garden water yu plants wi it

 

[PD]

collect the hot/warm water from your chiller to wash out all your buckets and equipment used during the brew....any left over treat the car to a wash.

 

[AJ_Rowley]

I remember seeing a video on YouTube of a woman doing biab and when she was chilling with ic if she ran cold water from the tap for a few minutes then she connected up a pump to a bucket of ice water and recirced the water around the chiller.

The reason she did this was because she lived in oz and they have water restrictions.

 

[Vossy1]

Would there be any issues with filling some bottles with water and freezing them and then, come brew day, shoving these into a large bucket with a cheap pump (such as a water fountain pump ~£10 from eBay). Basically the water fountain pump will flush chilled water through the chiller coil which will then return (slightly warmer) to the bucket. Repeat.

IMO, you'd be best using a combination of the 2 methods. Heat exchange works best with the largest possible difference in temp between coolant and product, so use the tap water to get the wort sub 50 deg c then use the ice bath to get down to pitching temps. You might also need a more powerful fountain pump than you think, as most fountain pumps don't have a great 'static head', and the resistance from the coil will effectively give you some restriction.

 

[Waylander87]

Cheers guys.

I don't mind using SOME water, I guess it's part of the process.
Was thinking something along the lines of a 25ltr fermenter or similar. If the water gets too hot ill give it to the plants and replace.

The fountain pump has a 200ltr/hour flow rate...hadn't thought of restrictions through the coil though I guess taking an electronics mentality it's essentially a resistor!
Ill do a bit more research on pump size.

Anyway. Since you seem to think its feasible ill give it a try and post the results/pics.

 

[Vossy1]

The fountain pump has a 200ltr/hour flow rate...hadn't thought of restrictions through the coil though I guess taking an electronics mentality it's essentially a resistor!
Ill do a bit more research on pump size.

The reason for suggesting looking at the pump was based on my experience in my system...I had to take 2 pumps back as they weren't powerful enough, 1 failed to push the water altogether.
My set up is pump - chiller coil - 1m to fv - chiller coil - back to pump...now I know there's a extra coil in there but if I tell you the pump is a Blagdon pond pump rated at 3000ltr/hr you'll see what I mean :shock: :lol:

EDIT..will have to check that pump flow rate might be less :hmm:

 

[Waylander87]

Wow!
Suddenly 200 Ltrs/hr seems weak and feeble!

Sadly I've "leaped before I looked" so will have to see how 200ltr/hr goes. If it doesn't work...well. B*gger. Guess it'll give me an idea of how weak it is and allow an informed decision on a potential upgrade!

 

[Waylander87]

Well Vossey, you win!

The pump came, and its pittiful - rain falls faster than this thing pumps. I don't even see how it could be useful for a water fountain!
As I'm on with my first AG brew I guess I'll be paying the water company a few more squidillions this month.

 

[Fil]

another option is nochill, again its from OZ where water is short, hot near boiling wort is poured into a plastic jerrycan or cube as they call em and pasturises the cube on contact, the lid is sealed when full and its tipped so the top surface/lid is also pasturised. the cube can then be stored to ferment when cool or sometimes weeks later,

using this method u dont chill, and the beer may not be as clear as it would be otherwise?

ive tried it a few times and the beer while not the best ive produced wasnt bad :)