I'm picking up a home brew kit this weekend from someone that assembled one but never used it.  It comes with two 5 gallon glass carboy's, a ton of 22 oz bottles and capper, plus all the other stuff.  I think I'll probably still need to work out a way to boil 5-6 gallons at one time (I was thinking a converted turkey fryer) and pick up the ingredients for my first brew.  Eventually I'd probably do a kegerator fridge with the mini 5 gallon kegs to store the brew instead of bottles in the fridge.

I'm a big fan of dark beer - ales, stouts, etc. so I hope to be able to make some good stuff once I get good at it.  

Show your setup!

You don't need a boil pot big enough for  gallons.  You can start off with only boiling 2 gallons of water.  That's what I use.  

I have made some good ales, cream ales, and right now, I am enjoying a blackberry wheat beer I made about a month ago.  You also need to try making a mead.  I made one and it turned out really good.  

I don't have any pics, because I am at work.  There really isn't much to see, just a couple of large glass bottles with brown stuff in them.  

Do you just boil 2 gallons at a time multiple times then to fill up the 5 gal carboy?

Quoted: I have made some good ales, cream ales, and right now, I am enjoying a blackberry wheat beer

That sounds excellent.

Good luck with the getting setup, evo. Wish I was set up to do it. At least I know people who are who I help out.

Assuming that you are using extracts, you will only boil 2 or 3 gallons with all ingredients to kind of make a concentrated brew, then you will chill it and put it in the carboy and top it off with cold water.

What I used to do when I brewed this way is to buy gallon bottles of drinking water (not distilled water) and would put them in the freezer while I brewed and when I added them the cold water will cool your wart (unfermented beer) to yeast pitching temps.

If you are going to ferment in a 5 gallon carboy you will need to use a blow off tube since you will not have much headspace in your fermenter. Otherwise you will possibly have a big mess. I would recommend a 6.5 gallon carboy, but they can overflow as well. They only explode if you use an air lock. The carboy itself won't explode, but the airlocks will come flying out when they clog up.

If you have any other questions feel free to message.

Good luck, and relax, don't worry, have a homebrew!!!

You know, they may be 6.5 gallons, they're the standard sized used to brew 5 gallons at a time.  I plan to just use the plastic tubing comingout of the top to vent the CO2, with the other end in a bucket of water to prevent contamination.

Is there a kind that is easier for your first couple batches?

Quoted: Good luck, and relax, don't worry, have a homebrew!!!

Yeah, I've read that book

Another homebrewer checking in. But I'm not that good, 3 of my four batches are horrible (Scotch Ale just tastes super bad, honey wheat is way too dry & brown ale tastes burnt due to not letting the extract dissolve before putting the heat on high).  The oktoberfest just smells off, it tastes ok.

Kharn

Have you pinpointed why your batches are going bad?

Only with one of these:  

Quoted: Have you pinpointed why your batches are going bad?

Stupidity.
Honey Wheat because I added the honey at the last minute thinking it would be a good idea (originally it was supposed to be a weizenbeer), turned out it was not due to all the dextrose the Mr Beer kit uses instead of malt extract.

Oktoberfest, used the Mr Beer yeast.

Scotch Ale, I forgot to add the DME during the boil, added it the next morning and stirred the shit out of the carboy but it still clumped and did not fully dissolve.  Later, when using more DME as the bottling sugar, I just poured it in and stirred, rather than dissolving it in a cup of water and boiling prior to mixing.

Brown Ale, I forgot how long the liquid extract would take to dissolve, and turned the burner on full-blast, so it carmelized and then charred some of the extract on the bottom of the pot.

Kharn

heh...that'd do it!

Quoted: You know, they may be 6.5 gallons, they're the standard sized used to brew 5 gallons at a time.  I plan to just use the plastic tubing comingout of the top to vent the CO2, with the other end in a bucket of water to prevent contamination. Is there a kind that is easier for your first couple batches?

If you have read the book, then go with the extract type beer.  It is the easiest.  Should take you only about an hour to get it in the fermenter.  

Hey, I think people have already said it, but boil as much as you can fit in your pot while being careful of boil-over. Your first time WILL be messy/sticky, so warn the wife.

Make sure not to get the grains too hot. (170 degrees, iirc.) Remove the grains, bring to a boil for whatever time they want you to (60 minutes or so) and add the hops when the directions tell you. (Caution: adding hops makes it boil over!)

Take the pot off the stove, into the sink filled with ice water. Add a bunch of ice INTO your pot and get that temp down as fast as you can.

Once it is cool to the touch you can fill the carboy with the wort and then add a few gallons of bottled water to top it off at 5 gallons.

Once the carboy is room temp (or close to it) you can add the yeast. Get the wyeast Smack-Packs. They are fool-proof. Pop the little pack inside and let it sit for a few hours, itll get all bulgey, like a moose.

Brewing beer is AWESOME! Save your cash and get a keg system and chest freezer. Well worth it to not deal with bottles anymore.

Read this if you haven't already: www.howtobrew.com/intro.html (or buy the latest version in print)

If you are starting with extract then it's not necessary to boil it all at once.  If you buy a kit it should come with instructions but otherwise use some brewing software to figure out the right amount for, say, a 3-gallon boil.  You're going to have to chill the wort quickly.  Without a wort chiller it will not be possible to bring 5 gallons down to yeast-pitching temperature in a reasonable amount of time.  So, what I do for partial boils is boil 3-4 gallons in my pot, chill it in an ice bath in the sink while stirring until it is at least less than 120F, transfer to the fermenter and top-up with really cold water (purified [not distilled] water is best).  Check the temp and if it's good (below 80F) pitch your yeast and seal it up.

What is a good site that I could learn and get started at?

thanks

Hmm...it almost sounds to me like using a propane powered turkey fryer to boil the water in (outside) may be alot easier.  Maybe the method you guys are saying sounds overly complicated to me.  No one uses those copper wort chillers?

Use a turkey fryer, it'll save you from domestic violence when you boil over.
Not if, when.

Wort chillers are awesome, if you do it often enough to justify the $75.

Kharn

Quoted: Read this if you haven't already: www.howtobrew.com/intro.html (or buy the latest version in print) If you are starting with extract then it's not necessary to boil it all at once.  If you buy a kit it should come with instructions but otherwise use some brewing software to figure out the right amount for, say, a 3-gallon boil.  You're going to have to chill the wort quickly.  Without a wort chiller it will not be possible to bring 5 gallons down to yeast-pitching temperature in a reasonable amount of time.  So, what I do for partial boils is boil 3-4 gallons in my pot, chill it in an ice bath in the sink while stirring until it is at least less than 120F, transfer to the fermenter and top-up with really cold water (purified [not distilled] water is best).  Check the temp and if it's good (below 80F) pitch your yeast and seal it up.

Gotcha...that doesn't sound so bad then.  I bought that book of Amazon too, I haven't read the advanced section yet though.

Quoted: No one uses those copper wort chillers?

The wort chillers are great. But they are expensive. You need to buy the wort chiller, usually $40 for a garden hose type, or $70+ for a copper one.

You also need a pot with a spiget in it, you connect the wort chiller to the spiget and let it drain out.

Ice is cheap, and easy enough.

Quoted: Hmm...it almost sounds to me like using a propane powered turkey fryer to boil the water in (outside) may be alot easier.  Maybe the method you guys are saying sounds overly complicated to me.  No one uses those copper wort chillers?

I use mine, and it is the cat's ass.  Just make sure you get the stuff dissolved really good before you put it back on the fire.  

My wort chiller consists of a horse feed tub and some ice I make in empty milk jugs.  I put a little wate in the feed tub.  Add the wort pot, and then break up the ice using a claw hammer and put it around the side.  I check the temp using a thermometer, and when it gets down to around 120, I add it to about 3 gallons of cold tap water.  Then pitch the yeast.  Pouring the cooled wort into the tap water aerates the wort.  

If you are using dry yeast, take some of the cooled (120 F) wort and add it to some cold tap water then add the dry yeast.  This makes the yeast take off faster.  Sorta giving it a jump start.  

Another home brewer here.

I'll tell you this, homebrewing doesn't save you any money because you end up drinking more. You might also want another carboy or 2 so that you can have several batches fermenting at once. You find that you'll finsh drinking a batch before the next one is ready.  

After you get a few batches under your belt you'll quickly start to hate bottling. Its one of the most time comsuming and tedious parts of brewing. So begin to keep an eye out for deals on Corny kegs and a CO2 canister (most are 5 or 10 lbers).

The quality of your water makes a big difference on your final product, so if your tap water taste funny, use filter or spring.

Since its summer time, ales and the like are a perfect thing to brew.

Quoted: You know, they may be 6.5 gallons, they're the standard sized used to brew 5 gallons at a time.  I plan to just use the plastic tubing comingout of the top to vent the CO2, with the other end in a bucket of water to prevent contamination. Is there a kind that is easier for your first couple batches?

Airlocks for about $1-2 that fit into a rubber stopper in the carboy. Small and cheap. Reusable but cheap to replace. Buy several so you can have several batches brewing at the same time.

www.northernbrewer.com/ferment.html

Quoted: Use a turkey fryer, it'll save you from domestic violence when you boil over. Not if, when. Wort chillers are awesome, if you do it often enough to justify the $75. Kharn

You can make your own using 20-25 ft of 1/4 or 3/8 in copper tubing from home depot and some fittings to make it attached to a garden hose for about $30-40. Still pricy, but a big time saver, expecially if you do 10 gallon batches.

Quoted: www.northernbrewer.com

Northern Brewer is GREAT, and has a great forum. I live about 20 minutes away. Also check out www.midwestsupplies.com/ Their prices are usually better. Both are within 40 minutes drive from me.

Get the universal bungs, you cannot push them all the way through and into the carboy. It is a BITCH to get a bung out of a carboy.

Here's a pic of what I'm buying.  I'll have to get it home and figure out what else I'll need to get started.  We're probably moving in a month or so, so I will probably wait to brew anything until we're in the new place and have a basement.

Quoted: img392.imageshack.us/img392/8762/01150301040201161220080er8.jpg Here's a pic of what I'm buying.  I'll have to get it home and figure out what else I'll need to get started.  We're probably moving in a month or so, so I will probably wait to brew anything until we're in the new place and have a basement.

I'd say brew now, that way you have something to bribe the help with.  

Quoted: Quoted: Use a turkey fryer, it'll save you from domestic violence when you boil over. Not if, when. Wort chillers are awesome, if you do it often enough to justify the $75. Kharn You can make your own using 20-25 ft of 1/4 or 3/8 in copper tubing from home depot and some fittings to make it attached to a garden hose for about $30-40. Still pricy, but a big time saver, expecially if you do 10 gallon batches.

Put the wort chiller in the boiling wort 5 minutes before the end of the boil to sanitize it.

Put a lid on the boil pot as it is taken off the burner.  Then start the water flow through the chiller.  Collect the water as it leaves the chiller and use the first 3 gallons to sanitize the brewing container.  It will be 180 F or more, be careful as it can crack glass.


Hops are expensive.  Malts are expensive.  I used to get 50 pounds of Breiss 2-row pale for $13.  And hops were in the $3 a batch.  About the only thing that hasen't gone up is yeast.

I just took a tour of the Boulevard Brewery and they were saying there is a severe shortage of hops in the US.  I hadn't heard why, but that may be part of the price increase.

Quoted: I just took a tour of the Boulevard Brewery and they were saying there is a severe shortage of hops in the US.  I hadn't heard why, but that may be part of the price increase.

Hops and grains are up because of ethanol and gov't subsidies.

You can grow your own hops if you live in a decent climate.

Quoted: I just took a tour of the Boulevard Brewery and they were saying there is a severe shortage of hops in the US.  I hadn't heard why, but that may be part of the price increase.

Most farmers are under contract with breweries to grow x amount of hops. The rest are sold to the public. Hops are up because for years farmers were growing tons of extra, driving down the prices.  Most of the excess hops were turned into hop extract for easy storage.

Because the prices kept going down, farmers grew less. In time the demand increased. All that stored extract also began to dry up. There was also weather issues that affected hop growers in Europe further hitting supply.

The weak dollar adds to it as European brewers are better able to buy up hops on the open market.

Quoted: I'm picking up a home brew kit this weekend from someone that assembled one but never used it.  It comes with two 5 gallon glass carboy's, a ton of 22 oz bottles and capper, plus all the other stuff.  I think I'll probably still need to work out a way to boil 5-6 gallons at one time (I was thinking a converted turkey fryer) and pick up the ingredients for my first brew.  Eventually I'd probably do a kegerator fridge with the mini 5 gallon kegs to store the brew instead of bottles in the fridge. I'm a big fan of dark beer - ales, stouts, etc. so I hope to be able to make some good stuff once I get good at it.   Show your setup!

Homebrew addict here, as well. Sorry for no pictures but I don't have a camera.

My wife and I and a few others from our brew crew brew at least once a week, not including wine, mead, or cider. I'm on a Belgian kick right now, and am working up my stash for the fall/winter as we speak. I have a 6.5 gallon, two 6 gallon and 4 5 gallon carboys. I have 35 1.2 gallon carboys, as well, for wine and mead. I have a few kegs but no CO2 setup or chest-freezer. I will get one here soon, but I really have no problem with bottling - especially since I have help. I'm brewing with one 15 gallon and one 10 gallon easy-mashers and assorted other boilers for sparging, etc. I do have a chest-cooler Lauter/Mash-tun setup, but have never used it - I am going to experiment with overnight mashing because I work so much that I need to save some time, if possible.

Here are a few of my favorite recipes - none are mine, though all are modified in my book slightly. These are the ones I generally have on hand regardless.

Jamil’s Cream Ale
A ProMash Recipe Report

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
03-C Light Ale, Cream Ale
Min OG: 1.044 Max OG: 1.055  
Min IBU: 10 Max IBU: 22  
Min Clr: 2 Max Clr: 4 Color in SRM, Lovibond

Recipe Specifics
Batch Size (Gal): 6.00 Wort Size (Gal): 6.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 12.00    
Anticipated OG: 1.054 Plato: 13.28
Anticipated SRM: 2.9      
Anticipated IBU: 17.5    
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70 %  
Wort Boil Time: 65 Minutes  

Grain/Extract/Sugar
% Amount Name Origin Extract SRM
41.7 5.00 lbs.   Pilsener Malt(2-Row) Continental Europe 1.020 1
41.7 5.00 lbs.   Pale Malt(2-row) America 1.021 2
8.3 1.00 lbs.   Flaked Corn (Maize) America 1.005 1
8.3 1.00 lbs.   Cane Sugar Generic 1.008 0

Exract represented as SG.
Hops
Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
1.00 oz.   Liberty Pellet 4.00 16.1 60 min
0.50 oz.   Liberty Pellet 4.00 1.3 1 min

Yeast
White Labs WLP001 California Ale

Mash Schedule
Mash Type: Single Step  
Grain Lbs: 11.00  
Water Qts: 14.30 Before Additional Infusions
Water Gal: 3.58 Before Additional Infusions
Qts Water Per Lbs Grain: 1.30 Before Additional Infusions

Rest Temp Time
Saccharification Rest: 149 60 Min
Mash-out Rest: 168 10 Min
Sparge: 170 60 Min

Total Mash Volume Gal: 4.49 - Dough-In Infusion Only
All temperature measurements are degrees Fahrenheit.



Fred's Borders Porter
Baltic Porter

Type: All Grain Date: 2/1/2005
Batch Size: 5.50 gal Brewer: Fred Bonjour
Boil Size: 6.62 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 90 min Equipment: My Equipment
Taste Rating(out of 50): 40.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0
Taste Notes: Big Malty Aroma w Choc notes. Light fruitiness w understated alc. Very Deep Brown w good clarity & reddish hues. Good lasting Tan head. Deep sweetness w malt & raisins. Almost cloying but it stops short & leaves you wanting another sip. good example,

Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
17 lbs Pale Malt (Weyermann) (3.3 SRM) Grain 86.4 %
10.0 oz Briess Carmel Malt 20L (21.0 SRM) Grain 3.2 %
10.0 oz Briess Carmel Malt 80L (81.0 SRM) Grain 3.2 %
5.0 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 1.6 %
5.0 oz Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 1.6 %
5.0 oz Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 1.6 %
2.75 oz Saazer [4.60%] (90 min) Hops 33.2 IBU
0.75 oz Saazer [4.60%] (5 min) Hops 1.7 IBU
8.0 oz Molasses (80.0 SRM) Sugar 2.5 %
1 Pkgs Windsor Yeast (Lallemand #-) Yeast-Ale


Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.093 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.092 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.022 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.034 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 9.3 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 7.6 %
Bitterness: 34.9 IBU Calories: 436 cal/pint
Est Color: 30.9 SRM Color:


EdWort's Pale Ale

Recipe Type: All Grain  
Yeast: Nottingham  
Yeast Starter: Nope  
Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter: Nope  
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.5  
Original Gravity: 1.051  
Final Gravity: 1.011  
IBU: 39  
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60  
Color: 5 SRM  
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 10 Days at 68 degrees

Grain Bill
8 lbs. 2-Row
2 lbs. Vienna
0.5 lb. Crystal 10L

Mash
Single Infusion mash for 60 minutes at 152 degrees.
I batch sparge in a 10 gallon water cooler with a stainless braid manifold. Click here for great info on Batch Sparging.
Dough-in with 3.5 gallons of water. After 60 minutes, add 5 quarts of 175 degree water and begin vorlauf. My system only takes about 2 quarts before it clears up, then it's wide open to drain in the kettle. Have another 3.25 gallons of 175 degree water ready for the next batch sparge. You should then get 6.5 gallons to your kettle for the boil.

Boil & Hops
1.0 oz Cascade 6.6% at 60 min.
0.5 oz. Cascade 6.6% at 30 min.
0.25 oz. Cascade 6.6% at 15 min.
0.25 oz. Cascade 6.6% at 5 min.

Chill to 70 to 75 degrees

Pitch with Nottingham Dry Yeast. No starter or hydration.

This ferments out very fast, so I will crash cool and keg after 1 week to 10 days. This recipe is calculated at 75% efficiency. I'm getting over 80% though with my Barley Crusher and my 10 gallon Rubbermaid cooler w/stainless braid MLT.

The beer drops very clear after sitting in the kegerator for a week and looks like this.  

Hey Fingerpicker

When you do your mead, do you bottle condition it?  How long do you age it?

I just finished with one.  I aged it 6 mo.  I did mine as a 5 gallon batch.  I ended up with 22 22oz. bottles of it.  It turned out great.  

I gave some to the women here at work.  Their hubbys were very appreciative of it.  

Quoted: I gave some to the women here at work.  Their hubbys were very appreciative of it.

Do tell?

anything made by EdWort will be full of win. He his a homebrewtalk.com legend. If you like ciders, his apfelwein will rock your socks off.

Quoted: Quoted: I gave some to the women here at work.  Their hubbys were very appreciative of it.   Do tell?

Dude, the stuff is known as liquid panty remover.  Follow the directions on the label.  

Buy this book and read the first chapter before you proceed any further.

Already read it...I'm g2g!

BTW...You can get those books of Amazon for like $6 shipped for anyone interested.

+1 for the book.

I home-brewed for about 14 years. Even got into putting beer in 5 gallon kegs. It was great brewing 2 cases of beer for the price of a couple commercial 6-packs.

The great thing about the hobby is that you can make it as complex as you want.  You can use malt syrups or mash your own grain, fresh hops or pellets.  I created a recipe for a Porter that makes me seriously consider finding a contract brewer and having it made.  Here I go thinking about it again.

Anyway, you might want to join the American Homebrewers Association and subscribe to their magazine "Zymurgy."

Also check out Williams Brewing a great source for supplies; I used them a lot back in the day.

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/

Quoted: Hmm...it almost sounds to me like using a propane powered turkey fryer to boil the water in (outside) may be alot easier.  Maybe the method you guys are saying sounds overly complicated to me.  No one uses those copper wort chillers?

thats what i use.

Quoted: Hey Fingerpicker When you do your mead, do you bottle condition it?  How long do you age it? I just finished with one.  I aged it 6 mo.  I did mine as a 5 gallon batch.  I ended up with 22 22oz. bottles of it.  It turned out great.   I gave some to the women here at work.  Their hubbys were very appreciative of it.

Hey 338,

I do bottle condition. They can be stored, essentially, indefinitely. I think that mead should be aged at least 2 years in the bottle. But, many disagree with me. Especially those who like Sack or dry meads. Also, I don't bulk age the mead, either, although everyone says that this is preferable. I like to break it down into the smaller batches so that out of one batch I can get a Metheglin, Sack, different Melomels, etc. For me, usually a 3-4 month primary and then a 4 month secondary is about right. Then bottle.

Just like with my beers, I follow other peoples award-winning recipes (for mead my recipes are always from the Polish tradition unless they are dry and sparkling) and then tweek them to my liking. I'm not as creative as other brewers.

I also age my ciders, as well, although they are bulk aged since I only use one receipt at a time.

Quoted: anything made by EdWort will be full of win. He his a homebrewtalk.com legend. If you like ciders, his apfelwein rocketfuel will rock your socks off.

Quoted: Quoted: Hmm...it almost sounds to me like using a propane powered turkey fryer to boil the water in (outside) may be alot easier.  Maybe the method you guys are saying sounds overly complicated to me.  No one uses those copper wort chillers? thats what i use.

I also have a copper chiller. I only did the ice thing once back when. It sucked.

Been there, done that.  Still have all the kegging equipment, most of the counterflow chiller, my great grandfathers capper, one sparging screen, 5 gallon gott (5 gallon, some jerk stole most of my 10 gallon setup).

Started with kits, went whole grain for a year or two (batches every few week - friends picked up the tab).  Wanted to do malt my own for my wedding, but let time get the best of me - only did my own wine for that.

It's been at least 10 years since I did a batch.  Might, just might have to do one this fall.  My wife was married to an alcoholic.  To tell her I want to brew up 5 gallons of beer for my own personal consumption might not go over too well - but it may be the only way to get a decent white or grand crue anymore.
----
you generally only have to boil a gallon or so if you are doing a kit.  If you go all grain and sparging you boil the full amount of water.  The grain gets seeped in the water for an hr or so (at aprox 153 degrees) to get some emzime action going (and convert the starches to sugars).  

If you are only boiling 1 gallon, cutting it with gallons of chilled bottled water will get it down to room temp in seconds.  With sparging, you really need a chiller to get the temp to drop down before you can add yeast.  Counterflow used to be able to do it in a couple minutes.  I suspect there are some better methods of chilling out there by now.

Quoted: Already read it...I'm g2g! BTW...You can get those books of Amazon for like $6 shipped for anyone interested.

Then you'll be just fine.  Remember to just relax and have a home brew.  oh yeah and sanitize, sanitize, sanitize!!

Seems by homebrewing, you won't save any money per this Wiki article..........



In the United States, typical equipment costs are approximately $75 - $99 plus the cost of a large kettle (about $35-$50). Ingredients for a typical 5 gallon batch range from $27 to $45 depending on beer style, using dry or liquid yeast and the store's pricing. Additional costs such as bottles (about $10-$14 per case of 24 12 oz bottles) (which may be reused with adequate cleaning) and sanitizers should also be anticipated. It is possible to produce beers using domestic kitchen equipment, but as it is reasonably inexpensive, most enthusiasts quickly buy some specialist equipment.

Quoted: Quoted: Already read it...I'm g2g! BTW...You can get those books of Amazon for like $6 shipped for anyone interested. Then you'll be just fine.  Remember to just relax and have a home brew.  oh yeah and sanitize, sanitize, sanitize!!

I think this is his first batch.  So he is going to have to beg some homebrew.  Otherwise, relax and have (your last) tastless commercial brew.  

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Already read it...I'm g2g! BTW...You can get those books of Amazon for like $6 shipped for anyone interested. Then you'll be just fine.  Remember to just relax and have a home brew.  oh yeah and sanitize, sanitize, sanitize!! I think this is his first batch.  So he is going to have to beg some homebrew.  Otherwise, relax and have (your last) tastless commercial brew.

LOL True, but there are plenty of good craft brews out there at your local liquor store.

Quoted: Counterflow used to be able to do it in a couple minutes.  I suspect there are some better methods of chilling out there by now.

Plate chillers, extremely large amounts of surface area in a very small space, but you have to clean the hell out of them.

Kharn