Mead Lover’s Digest #191 Thu 12 August 1993

Forum for Discussion of Mead Brewing and Consuming
John Dilley, Digest Coordinator

Contents:

Chillers (wegeng.xkeys)


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Date:   Wed, 11 Aug 1993 07:03:41 PDT
From: wegeng.xkeys@xerox.com
Subject: Chillers

In Mead Lover’s Digest #190, Mike Lindner discussed some of the pro`s for using
a counterflow chiller to cool hot must. It seemed worth mentioning that there
are some con`s to using using this type of chiller. The main one is
sanitation. Since the must will pass through the chiller, it`s necessary to
clean and sanitize the inside of the chiller, which appears to be somewhat
difficult (one of the speakers at the AHA conference mentioned that he had
switched to an immersion chiller after tracing a persistant infection problem
to his counterflow chiller). An immersion chiller is easy to sanitize – just
put it in the hot must 10 minutes prior to the end of the heating cycle and let
the hot liquid kill the nasty bugs.

As for cooling time, this past Sunday my homemade immersion chiller (25 feet of
0.5 inch coiled copper pipe) cooled 5 gallons of boiling beer wort down to 75
degrees F in 20 minutes.

Counterflow chillers are probably more efficient than immersion chillers, but
be prepared for the potential sanitation risks. Also note that unlike beer,
most mead recipes do not call for heating all of the must, so a chiller
probably isn`t a necessary investment. It`s an interesting topic, though, and
I`m glad that Mike brought it up.

/Don
wegeng.xkeys@xerox.com



End of Mead Lover’s Digest