Immersion coil

[Jwhelan939]

I read somewhere that an immersion coil, essentially the wine making terminology for a wort chiller, can be a great way to increase must temperature during those chilly winter months. I was thinking about this and it brought a couple of questions to mind.


1) Stainless Steel or Copper
A) Which has better heat transfer
B) Would the copper leave any off flavors in the wine


Soft copper would be cheaper to buy then Stainless; however, I am worried that it would leave a copper taste. I ferment in stainless, so I am pretty sure that would not have any ill effects on the must.


Let me know what you guys, and girls, think.

 

[Tom]

If you need to warm the must I would use a "brew belt". I would not use copper.

Why are you considering this? What is this product you are talking about? There are many ways to do this. My concern is sanitation and how it is submerged.

 

[Jwhelan939]

It is one of the UC Davis methods. I learned of it from Alison Crowes book composed for Winemaker's Magazine. She says she uses, and suggests, the stainless steal Immersian Coil. Its a product that is mainly used to cool the wort after boiling in beer making; however, it can apparently be used for warming or cooling wine must as well.


The brew belt is okay. I never had great results with it inthe 7.9 gallon plastic buckets, I wouldnt expect it to work any better on a 100L stainless tank.

 

[Wade E]

Just remember that an immersion chiller is boiled in the wort before used to sanitize it. I would use SS in wine as wine is more acidic and will be in there for quite some time.

 

[PeterZ]

Stainless would be the way to go. How will you be heating the water in the coil? Straight hot water from the tap is way too hot, and will cost a fortune in energy ahd water. You will need some kind of recirc system with a heater.

 

[Travisty]

It would probably be easier (maybe cheaper too) if you just used an extra fridge and used a temperature controller and a brewbelt or fermwrap. With the fridge being so well insulated, the brewbelt doesn't have to work as hard or as long to get the temp where you want it and keep it there. A stainless steel coil long enough to be efficient (in my understanding, copper is a no no in a fermentation) would be pricey and you would still need a way to control the temperature of the liquid in the coil. The fridge may be expensive but many times you can find them used for real cheap or even free.






Plus with a fridge and a temperature controller, you could also keep your white and/or fruit wine ferments cooler. And if you make beer ever, you have your temp control for that as well!

 

[smurfe]

Stainless is the way to go herebut copper transfers heat better. You see a few places that offer stainless wort chillers but there is a reason you see mostly copper chillers. They just plain work better. If you go this route though, stick with stainless.

 

[Jeff D]

If your having trouble keeping the temps up on the 100 L tank try this. Get a plastic tub the tank will sit in and a large fish tank heater. During fermentation the wine moves around enough you should have no trouble getting the temp up.


Jeff