Lamppa
Beer all the time

It's on the low end. High teens, low twenties. It usually finishes pretty dry, 1.008 or so.

Oh cool, you're in Moorhead. I'm from Duluth. Good to see another Minnesotan on the board.

You know, I'm not sure which pub I was at. But it was the one across the street from the hard rock cafe.

Hey Lamppa,

The rapid chiller is working very well for me. I originally built this as a prototype, but it works so well I have not been motivated to try and improve it. I had been using the typical tubing-in-hose CFC, but the flow rate was way too slow pumping through the 3/8" copper tube. My goal was a high wort flow rate coupled with a high flow rate for the cooling water. I can get the wort below 140F in about 4 minutes and to under 75F in about 20 minutes with 52F tap water. The chill rate is highly dependent on the tap water temperature. I recirculate back to the BK with a pump using the whilrpool technique. I think I could run two more tubes down the center as there is sufficient room to do so. I built it for under $50. The pics don't show the fully completed unit. I tapped fittings into the side of the PVC for the cooling water inlet and outlet. Inlet at the bottom and outlet at the top. I mounted it vertically so that the chamber is always filled with the cooling water and to eliminate air pockets. It's 30" long x 4" schedule 40 PVC. I think it works as well or better than any of the commercial chillers including the expensive plate chillers. It also does not clog as some ot the others are prone to do. The key to making the short u-turns with the pipe is to use street elbows instead of regular elbows. This eliminates the short connecting pipe which would otherwise be necessary. I can take more pics if you need to see more detail.