Have not tried either of mine on the kitchen sink. They do suggest the highest flow possible to get the times they quote though. But I would imagine that given the design, it will still do the job faster than anything else around given the same slow flow
I haven’t tried it, so I don’t know. The guys at Hydra are very responsive and knowledgeable, so I suggest you contact them.
I did some research including online reviews, a search of the forum and stuff posted by JaDeD (or however they type that out.) It seems that the 6gpm flow rate is integral to getting the stated performance, and I can only provide more like ~1gpm or a bit more. At that rate, it appears that instead of 3 minutes to reach groundwater +10F, it will take 15-20 minutes. They recommended against using a pre chiller as it will further restrict the flow. Rather they suggest, if groundwater is not cool enough, stopping at G+10F, hooking up a pump, and finishing by running (not recirculating) ice water. So without 6gpm, it’s 15-20 minutes, then break down, reset, and pump for who knows how long.
My IC is 50ft of 3/8in configured in a very loose double coil to maximize contact and flow of stirred wort over the surface area. My pre chiller is 25ft of 1/2in in an ice bath, used only when groundwater temperature requires. My chilling time for 6.5-7 gal wort is never over 18 minutes, with my available ~1gpm flow.
So for now, it looks like I’m better off sticking with what I have. If I could provide the 6gpm, I’d surely try the Hydra, as I know I couldn’t push that through my current system. 3 minutes + switching to pumping ice water might still beat my current time.
Hope this info helps anyone else with similar questions to mine.
Do you use the whirlpool arm?
^^^^
No, I’m old school, 10 gal stockpot on the stove. IC in, stir with a spoon, agitate the pre chiller in the ice bath, and I take 6.5-7 gal from boiling to the 60s in ~18 minutes. Looks like with my flow rate I can’t beat that right now. The Hydra looks like it’s better suited to the brewer who’s outdoors with a garden hose, not to mention a bigger batch than me. By no means do I suggest there’s anything fundamentally wrong with the Hydra.
Yeah, I got that. I was just curious.
At one point, just for a moment, I found myself considering what it would take to plumb in a full pressure garden spigot under the kitchen sink to run a Hydra off of. Then I realized this might be a sign of an unhealthy obsession. 8)
I’ve found that if I whirlpool as well as lift and lower the Hydra a few times it cools the wort very quickly. I let the chiller run until the inlet and outlet feel like the same temp. I raise and lower it a few times and notice a HUGE difference very quickly. I let it stabilize again and repeat a few times until it no longer feels different. My challenge in N AL is warm ground water so I get close enough then let the ferm chamber do the rest.
I whirlpool while chilling through a whirlpool arm. I found that pulling the chiller back to the back wall of the kettle greatly decreases the time of chilling. I think that if you leave it directly in the center you set up a couple thermoclines-one in the center of the chiller and one circling the outside. If you place the chiller on the wall, the whirlpool hits the coils and cools quicker and disrupts the thermoclines. Once everything is at a temperature, I move the chiller to the center again for a good hop cone.
Also by the way, the jaded guys have a product that is not on their website for if you have an electric kettle. It’s called the electrichair. It is a copper stand that elevates their chillers above your element. So you can definitely use their chillers with electric Brewing. I am thinking about going electric and contacted them and they let me know about it.
Hope not a stupid question but what is difference between the hydra and a regular IC?
thx
A hydra is really three IC(s) connected together into one. Homebrewing Made Easy with The HYDRA™ Wort Chiller – JaDeD Brewing LLC
Hey, that’s minor compared to what some people do. It’s nearly sane!
A garden spigot under every sink! There are several uses for them, such as a fixing drain clogs with a bladder style sprayer…
I may have to think about this. I mean if I can rationalize it as a practical home improvement that just coincidentally has brewing applications. 
Is Hydra really better than a 50’ immersion chiller? That’s $170 for the chiller and more bucks for plumbing for a few minutes of savings per brew day.
But, I guess knowing thermodynamics is your $&@#% is priceless.
No, in fact it’s not any more efficient when you look at it: Hydra at 6gpm reportedly does the same job in 3 minutes as my chiller at 1gpm in 18 minutes. That’s 18 gal of water either way to go to 10F above groundwater. Or, in my case, 10F above prechilled water temperature, well below groundwater, so really my rig gets more bang for the gallon, if you will. But if you already have 6gpm flow available, and you’re buying your first chiller, and don’t want to build one, it would at least be worth considering. And if I ever had to replace mine, I’d think about it. Time and materials, I probably am into it for not too much below the price. But then the Hydra would require a pump to finish the job with ice water, so that changes the equation. Again, if you already had a pump available, and the right water supply, worth looking at. It’s not for me right now.
But now I’m thinking about that spigot. I could run my RO off that instead of the utility sink in the basement, at even higher pressure differential for better rejection, and not lug the water upstairs. And maybe someday a different chiller. But I’ve got a lot of projects that are queued up way ahead of this.
World’s better in my case. 1/3 to 1/4 the time of my 50 ft. 3/8 in.
Wow. That’s a big speedup.
But is that at the same flow rate? Or is it just running the same amount of water faster? That would make it more effective, but not more efficient, like with my rig. So it’s down to what your time is worth, as Tommy suggested. If you’re in an area where water usage is a critical factor, I think I’d want to know if that would really be reduced. If so, fantastic.
Good point. Water flow from the tap is the same, but I use less since it goes faster. With my well, I’m not concerned about usage.