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Homebuilt Glycol Chiller for wort cooling?

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  • Homebuilt Glycol Chiller for wort cooling?

    I have a 55 gal brew system and 3 bbl fermenters.

    I'm doing the DIY homebuilt glycol AC/cooler route.

    I have a 5k BTU AC, a 70 QT cooler. Do you think I can knockout 50 gallons of wort to 65 F using this?

    Maybe do a dual stage cooling? I just hate wasting so much water in knockout.

    Thanks,

    JC
    JC McDowell
    Bandit Brewing Co.- 3bbl brewery and growing
    Darby, MT- population 700
    OPENED Black Friday 2014!

  • #2
    A BTU is just the energy required to cool 1 lb of water by 1°F:

    50 gal * 8.8 lb/gal * (210 - 65)°F = 63,800 BTU

    So if you wanted to knockout in 45 min, you'd need about 85k BTU/hr. Even assuming 100% efficiency, at 5k BTU/hr you could only cool the wort by ~8°F in those same 45 minutes. So you could use it as a secondary provided you cool to ~70°F using the primary first.
    Sent from my Microsoft Bob

    Beer is like porn. You can buy it, but it's more fun to make your own.
    seanterrill.com/category/brewing | twomilebrewing.com

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    • #3
      Good to know the math. Thanks for that.

      Guess we're sticking with municipal water for chilling for now.
      JC McDowell
      Bandit Brewing Co.- 3bbl brewery and growing
      Darby, MT- population 700
      OPENED Black Friday 2014!

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