Brew Kettle Upgrade... Wort Chiller Coils Exposed?

[stadelman]

So, I'm planning to get a 10 gallon megapot and upgrade to full boil extract brewing and prepare for a future in all grain brewing down the road. So, the brew kettle I'm looking at getting (from Northern Brewer) is 17" in diameter.

If my calculations are correct, 5 gallons would bring the liquid up to just over 5 inches in the kettle. That's not super high.

The NB wort chiller has coils that go up to 7", the B3 chiller has coils that go up to 8". There appears to be a space betwen the bottom coils to bring the coils up higher. This makes sense because heat rises.

This means I'm going to have 2" to 3" sticking out of the liquid.

So, I'm thinking I should just go with a more old school, coils start at the bottom, sort of chiller.

Like this one-
http://www.williamsbrewing.com/WORT_CHI ... 05C107.cfm

Or, should I get a NB or B3 wort chiller and let the coils stick out of the wort?

Am I thinking this through correctly?

Thanks for your input!

[Bugeater]

The solution is simple, squeeze or spread the coils to fit your pot. I spread the bottom couple of coils on my chiller so the top coil was just below the surface on my brews. I had to change the spacing a little when I changed pots some time back. Just pick the basic chiller you like and adjust it to suit.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

[stadelman]

Wow... that's both an obvious and simple answer.

I'm kind of short on common sense.

Thanks!