HLT coil

Hey Guys,
I plan on using 1/2" stainless for my HLT coil. I am building a single tier system with converted kegs. What length does my coil need to be to get the best heat exchange. I know that it depends on flow rate but I'm looking for good rule of thumb. I've seen people use 50' of copper but I have no idea on stainless. I'm off to the shop to finish my welds and scrub up, so I'll check this post later. Thanks for the help.

If it is for a herms, I think 25' is a good length. That is the length I will be using.

By the way, McMaster has the cheapest stainless coil I have been able to find reliably. #8989K98


You can find them on eBay once in a blue moon, but you may have to wait a while and it still may not be as cheap.

Thanks for the input. Digging through my junk, I found a 3/4" x 20' coil of stainless that I made years ago. What do you think? If I go with 1/2", I either have to go with
20' or make a connection since that's what I can get locally for a good price. Weigh in on that. Thanks for the help. Dwain

I say use what you got... the effective area of the 3/4" should make any difference negligible vs a 25' 1/2 coil!

Isn't that a lot of wort tied up in the plumbing? How do you flush it so you don't lose the sugar? I guess you can run your sparge water through it. I've never really thought about it but with all you guys that do HERMS, someone has to know.

You'll be fine getting all the sugars out of the coil, I do HERMS and my last step in the mash is to send 170 *F water through my coil in order to fly sparge. Cleans the coil up nicely too so cleanup isn't really necessary.