More on the Jaded Hydra Chiller

As you may remember if you've read any of my recent brewing articles on this blog ... I recently purchased:

The Hydra - World's Fastest Immersion Wort Chiller

In my recent post, Jaded Hydra Chiller, I compared my chilling times of a recent brew day with the chilling times that Jaded lists on its web page.

• 5 gallons from boil to 68 degrees in 3 minutes
• Fastest of ANY chiller to reach 140 degrees (F) for the whole batch (45 seconds)

My times didn't match what Jaded claims, but I told you that I'd try again trying to keep the chiller moving in the wort and with shorter hoses.

So, in T.Ra.Sh. Light Mexican Lager (batch 261), I paid attention to the stop watch while trying to keep the chiller moving in the wort. 

I also promised to use shorter hoses. I didn't do that. Shorter hoses are not convenient for me. I'll just accept the "slower" chilling times for a longer output hose.

To be honest, keeping my eye on the stopwatch and the temperature while moving the chiller in the wort isn't real convenient either. I don't plan on doing this test again.

So .... this time.

After 2 minutes ... my wort was down to 140. This isn't as fast as the 45 seconds that Jaded was able to get. But, it is slightly better than I got last time.

After 3 minutes ... I was down to 118. Certainly not as impressive as Jaded, but not bad ... and slightly better than last time.

After 4 minutes ... I was down to 100. 

After 5 minutes ... I was down to 90.

After noting the 5 minute time, I turned off the hose and switched to the pond pump.

I got the pond pump running right at 9 minutes at which point the wort was at 80 degrees.

11 minutes ... 74

13 minutes ... 70

Then, I had to get the fermentor ready, move the kettle, and start transferring.

30 minutes after starting to chill, I had lower-than-60-degree wort in the fermentor.

Someone who had things staged and ready to go would be faster, I'm sure. Again, the Hydra is almost too fast for my process.

So, I'm extremely happy with the Jaded Hydra Chiller. I'm going to be able to switch to the ice through the pond pump in 3 to 5 minutes if I have everything ready to go, which means I'll use a whole lot less water.

It will also help get my brew days done faster.