question about a wort chiller

Brewer's Friend 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
C

Crito

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2011
Messages
469
Reaction score
24
Location
H-Town
I am thinking about a 3/8" x 50' Stainless Steel Immersion Wort Chiller.

Do you think I can turn it into a counterflow chiller on a later date if I want to switch over? I figure all i have to do is to run a garden hose through it. I shouldn't bend any metal by doingh so (I am thining, I could be wrong).


I am trying to see if I can get a immersion one, and not regret buying it if I upgrade my kettle later on that can use a counter flow.


thanks,
 
Ok this is what I did. It basically a reverse immersion chiller. I have a valve on my kettle that clamps the stainless braided hose that has a compression fitting with an NPT adapter I just fill the bucket up with pure ice and let it gravity feed into my fermenter. This would be very easy for you to do later. Hope this helps

image-4066616654.jpg


image-3768931145.jpg


image-1653433066.jpg
 
for the cost of 50' of stainless you could buy a plate chiller. go get a 40 plate and your all worries go out the door. 5 min to cool from boil to 66 deg.
 
fletchsj said:
for the cost of 50' of stainless you could buy a plate chiller. go get a 40 plate and your all worries go out the door. 5 min to cool from boil to 66 deg.
Click to expand...

where would i get a pump on the cheap plus all the other gear? (lines, etc).
 
I found a pump on craigslist for 60. it was an old little giant worked good for a couple years. Chugger's got one for 99 that is really good. just have to hog out the inside of the impeller with a 1/4" drill bit, easy peezy. you shouldn't need a pump (but, id get one, makes life so much easier and improved my efficiency to 85% or so) gravity should work fine. the hose is like 1.80 a foot from brew brothers and you just need like 10 feet ( 3 3.5 foot sections.) all said and done you might spend a little more but in my opinion even if it cost double it's soooooo worth it. cause eventually you will want/need a pump and a better chiller. I went your way when i first got into brewing and now I have 2 immersion chillers (1 25' and 1 50') that are sitting and dusty... (the 50 is being convered into a HERMS just for kicks)
 
fletchsj said:
I found a pump on craigslist for 60. it was an old little giant worked good for a couple years. Chugger's got one for 99 that is really good. just have to hog out the inside of the impeller with a 1/4" drill bit, easy peezy. you shouldn't need a pump (but, id get one, makes life so much easier and improved my efficiency to 85% or so) gravity should work fine. the hose is like 1.80 a foot from brew brothers and you just need like 10 feet ( 3 3.5 foot sections.) all said and done you might spend a little more but in my opinion even if it cost double it's soooooo worth it. cause eventually you will want/need a pump and a better chiller. I went your way when i first got into brewing and now I have 2 immersion chillers (1 25' and 1 50') that are sitting and dusty... (the 50 is being convered into a HERMS just for kicks)
Click to expand...

a good wort chiller is 100 and the pump with food grade plastic is 140. way over the 80 bucks for a chiller.

plus i would have to upgrade my kettle
 
dudadiesel.com has plate chillers starting at $60. I bought the 40 plate chiller from them. It takes me about 15 minutes to get from boiling to pitching temps in 15 minutes. (I live in the desert and even in the winter time, my tap water is on the warm side). Mine is done all by gravity so there's no need for a pump.
 
Immersion chillers are 100% easier to clean at the end of the day. I can chill 6 gallons of wort down to pitching temps in around 20 minutes using Lake Michigan tap water in the summer. In the winter, the tap temp is a balmy 45 degrees so time to chill is considerably shorter.

Wrapping a hose around a 50 ft coil down the road is going to be an exercise in futility I imagine. You could try dish soap to act as a lubricant though, but doing while the coil is straight is much easier.
 
Getting the hose over copper tubing even when it's almost straight was very difficult for me. I would get the immersion chiller, and then get a pump and make a whirlpool arm.
 

Similar threads

hopsnmalt
For Sale 25 foot & 50 foot Stainless Steel Wort Chillers For Sale
Replies
0
Views
429
hopsnmalt
hopsnmalt
G
Cooling the wort
Replies
23
Views
2K
gewehr43sniper
gewehr43sniper
teesherv
Sold Stainless immersion chiller in Sacramento, CA
Replies
1
Views
327
teesherv
teesherv
B
For Sale Immersion wort chiller
Replies
0
Views
428
Beer99
B
hennesse
How long can wort stand before yeast added?
Replies
3
Views
549
hennesse
hennesse

Latest posts

Back
Top