Author: Marshall Schott

JaDeD Brewing designs badass immersion chillers, as I trust anyone who owns one of their ingeniously crafted pieces of equipment will attest. They are interested in providing homebrewers with high-quality chillers that meet needs many of us didn’t even know we had. Take for example The Hydra that can chill 5 gallons of wort from boiling to pitching temp in a mere 3 minutes using only 18 gallons of water. Or how about the King Cobra, my IC of choice, which has similar chilling qualities as The Hydra despite its low-profile design made specifically for those who brew smaller batch sizes in larger pots. Then there are the cute little Chinchilla and its bigger brother the Wasp, both designed with maximum water efficiency and chilling speed in mind. Compared to standard coiled immersion chillers, JaDeD’s offerings are leaps ahead.

So a couple months ago, after spending 45 minutes chilling 3 gallons of wort in an ice bath, I emailed JaDeD to chat about what my best options for a new small-batch IC might be, I was particularly interested in the Chinchilla at this point. I received a prompt response explaining they just happened to be working on a “new design that we’ve made a prototype of that will be perfect for your setup,” explaining they’d like me to do some beta testing on it. This “setup” of mine is simply a 4 gallon stainless stock pot my wife and I received as a wedding gift, I’ve seen similar ones sell for under $30. The only substance this pot has touched in the 10 years we’ve owned it is wort, usually for starters, though occasionally for a 2-3 gallon batch. Not 2 weeks later, I returned home from work to discover a big box sitting on my porch.

I was stumped why an IC designed for small batches would require such large packaging.

The Mantis has a long neck, leaving me with the impression it was intended to work with both tall or short kettles.

Two coils of 1/4″ copper run next to each other, similar to many of JaDeD’s other products.

The hose connectors are solidly and sanitarily soldered to larger copper tubes that gently bend to meet the 4 ends of the 1/4″ tubing.

I first used the Mantis on 2.25 gallons of starter wort I was splitting for an upcoming brew day. After a quick soak in StarSan, I placed the IC in the boiled wort, cranked my water hose to full blast, and gently swirled the pot.

As I mentioned before, this was usually the time where I’d throw the pot in my utility sink full of ice water and stir every 10 minutes or so until it reached about 75°F, 30 to 45 minutes was pretty typical. Here’s the data for this first trial run:

Wort Volume: 2.25 gallons

Wort SG: 1.040

Groundwater Temp: 68°F

Final Wort Temp: 68°F

Time to Final Wort Temp: 2 minutes 2 seconds

Beats the shit out of my old method! This included the 4 times I set the kettle down to take a temp reading with my thermometer. I actually prefer to pitch my starters slightly warm, around 72°F, and didn’t at all expect the wort to get down to groundwater temp.

I thought it’d be cool to try the Mantis out on 5.5 gallons of Märzen wort, not really sure what to expect given the increase in my groundwater temp and the relatively small size of the new IC.

Wort Volume: 5.5 gallons

Wort SG: 1.052

Groundwater Temp: 74˚F

Final Wort Temp: 78°F

Time to Reach 100˚F: 4 minutes 42 seconds

Time to Final Wort Temp: 9 minutes 12 seconds

That long neck was perfect for my larger brew kettle. Considering it was 101˚F outside and my groundwater was almost warm to the touch, these results both pleased and surprised me. I look forward to trying this IC out when my groundwater is cooler.

The Verdict

Prior to chilling the 5.5 gallon batch, I assumed the Mantis would take care of business in about 15 minutes; to go from boiling to 4˚F above groundwater temp in under 10 minutes was thoroughly impressive. At the risk of sounding like a fanboy, I truly believe JaDeD Brewing is on the cutting edge of immersion chiller design, engineering chillers that beautifully balance efficiency of time and water usage, and the Mantis certainly does not disappoint!

Unfortunately, the Mantis isn’t currently available in JaDeD’s online store. If it is something you’re interested in, go let them know! Or if you’re in the market for an IC that meets other needs, go have a gander at their awesome selection, I’m sure they’ve got a chiller to meet any of your brewing needs or desires.

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