New to homebrew, made a wort chiller

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verotik

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Just finished my first batch of beer. I went with the Midwest Brew Supply kit "Liberty Cream Ale". Everything went pretty good i think. Came close to having a boil-over but watched it close and did everything i learned watching a bunch of online videos and the video that came with my equipment kit and survived without any nasty mess.

One thing that i did think was pretty cool was the homemade wort chiller i made. It worked absolutely fantastic. I used the 3/8" copper tubing, 50ft and washer supply hose. From the time i turned on the water to the time it got down to 80F was 5:39. Of course the water coming out of my house right now is a cool 58 degree's, but that was impressive to me. Now i just gotta wait for it to start bubbling.:mug:
 
Grats on your chiller fabrication. I really want to do this as well, but I keep putting it off. I guess I'm just worried that I'll end up making a picasso-like chiller that won't even be remotely functional, and I'll be out the cash for the copper to boot.
 
ya i work in a welding and machine shop, i was thinking about making my own. glad to hear someone else has done it and had success with it.

+1 on the request for a pic
 
Not to thread jack but I just finished up my second and third batches of brew. I also built a chiller. Amazing how much quicker it works than just putting the pot in ice water.
P1010868.jpg
 
Nice. My very first brew was the Liberty Cream Ale as well. It turned out pretty good for the first beer ever!

Like you, I also jumped in head first with making a chiller, but for those worrying about trying it, don't worry. It's really easy! As long as you have something round to wrap the copper tubing around it's pretty hard to mess up. Then all you need are some hose fittings and maybe sweat a few elbows on and it's golden.

Here's mine. Notice the odd tapered shape... it's because the only thing I had was the base of a bird bath to coil the tubing around. It doesn't matter and it works great. I can still get 5 gallons down to 65 in just about 10 minutes :D

chiller51.jpg
 
Mine looks similar to the two above, except not as pretty. I made mine all one piece rather than sweating on elbows. Is there something you have to do to condition the lead/solder so it doesnt leach into your wort or is it ok just like it is.

Marubozo...how long before your LCA started bubbling? I got mine all sealed up last night around 8pm. I just woke up at 6am and its bubbling away, about 1 bubble per second. Starting gravity was 1.043.
 
As long as you use a flux that's rated for drinking water I wouldn't be concerned about the little bit that is in contact with the wort.

And when I did my cream ale I noticed activity by the next morning so it sounds like you're right on track.
 
Woke up this morning and after about 8 hours it was bubbling like crazy. Its still going strong as i speak. I wish i would have used my carboy instead so i could watch it, but i didnt have a funnel yet. Next time around i will for sure.

 
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hehe, looks like its rocking along nicely there. Just a note, if you have a racking cane/auto siphon you don't need a funnel, you can just rack the wort from the brew kettle into the carboy. :mug:
 
Ok, so it fermented like crazy the first day, 2nd day it bubbled maybe once every 2 minutes, and now its not doing anything. Do i have anything to worry about? I havent pulled the lid to check it. Should i take a hydrometer reading or just wait a few more days? It was at 74 when it was going good, then 72 when it slowed down to a stop, i moved it to a cooler room and it didnt help. Any input is welcome.
 
Ok, so it fermented like crazy the first day, 2nd day it bubbled maybe once every 2 minutes, and now its not doing anything. Do i have anything to worry about? I havent pulled the lid to check it. Should i take a hydrometer reading or just wait a few more days? It was at 74 when it was going good, then 72 when it slowed down to a stop, i moved it to a cooler room and it didnt help. Any input is welcome.

It's fine, so I wouldn't be concerned. Many beers, especially at warmer temps will get a quick start and seem like everything is done after just a few days. So it's likely that the bulk of the fermentation is already complete, but the yeast still aren't done. After converting the sugars to alcohol and creating all of that CO2 you saw, they are now hard at work cleaning up after themselves which will help keep off flavors to a minimum.

So, give them a little more time and a few days before you're ready to bottle go ahead and take a hydrometer sample. If it's at or near your target gravity and you pull a few readings over a couple days and it doesn't change you're ready to go.
 
You guys all make nice, round immersion chillers. Mine sort of looks like a modern art masterpiece. It's sort of round, but there's a few odd angles in it. :(
 
I would guess the reason you fermentation was fast and aggressive was due to the 80 degrees temp you pitched your yeast at. I like to get my wort down to 60. I think this gives the yeast a slower start resulting in a longer fermentation and better tasting beer. I am not sure why this works. Maybe the yeast clean up better this way. By the time I move it to secondary, around 10 days later, the temp is 66-68 degrees.
 
It was just a tad under 80 when i pitched, it was 75 the next morning when it was going crazy, and now its hanging out around 68. My house temp stays right around 70. Next time i'll try getting it down around 65-70 before i pitch. It was sure a lot more fun watching it when it was going nuts. I popped the top for just a second today just to spy a look. I could see where the kraussen (sp?) was, but theres no real foam on it now, but when i bent over to smell it, it smelled awesome, but i also got a big whiff of C02, so its still doing something, its just not building enough pressure to bubble. The instructions say 5-7 before transferring to the secondary. Sunday will be 5 days. Since it is pretty much done with the furious fermenting, should i go ahead and transfer Sunday (day 5) to the secondary or wait till Tuesday (day 7)?
 
I like to get my wort down to 60. I think this gives the yeast a slower start resulting in a longer fermentation and better tasting beer. I am not sure why this works. Maybe the yeast clean up better this way. By the time I move it to secondary, around 10 days later, the temp is 66-68 degrees.

The more I read the more I'm learning how much fermentation temperatures have an effect on beers. For some reason I hadn't paid much attention to controlling temps when I started brewing, but it's so important. In general, it seems like the best method for me has been to cool the wort to the low end of the yeast's range and then gradually increase the temp during the week or two until (by the end of the fermentation) I'm at the high end of the yeast's range. This is suggested by other brewers on this board, too.

Of course, there are a lot of different methods for different beers but that has produced great results in most beers.
 
Transferred it to the secondary. There are several stratifications that are visable as the yeast has been settling. I tried using the panty hose over the tip of my auto-siphon....worked well for the frist 2 gallons, then started sucking some air somehow, so i immediatley stopped and removed it. Im guessing this stratification is normal as the beer settles out. Amazing how much gunk fell out in the bottom of the primary. 2nd is what i took for my hydrometer sample.

LCA-secondary.jpg


LibertyCreamAle-Day5.jpg
 
Bottled this up Tuesday and used a few small 12oz PET bottles so i could squeeze them and test for carbonation. Tried one today just cause i had to, you know, since its my first one. I got the "pssst" when i opened it, but its not disovling c02 into the beer yet. Flavor is gonna be great. A good light hop flavor with a tiny bit of sweetness at the finish and a nice aroma.
 
The liberty cream ale from Midwest was one of my favorite kits. Good luck. Remember patience = good beer!!
 
I was going to make my own chiller, but b/c of the price of copper at Home Depot, Lowes, etc. it's cheaper to buy one. Are you guys finding it cheaper somewhere?
 
It cost me just as much to build one as it would have if i bought one at a local shop, but not if i had to have one shipped. I think i spent $45 for 50' of 3/8 copper and like $6 for a washer supply hose.
 
Nice build Just to clear up any concern about the lead/solder, As long as you're not borrowing that old roll from grandpa's barn, the solder nowadays is lead free. Should say so on the roll.
 
Okay, so cool that you can make your own chiller which I wasn't sure of. I happen to have some copper tubing an electrician found in my attic. So, it's not spotless, but perhaps I can make it work? I figure if I douse it in bleach, clean it up it should be okay. Then I'll attach the lines on the end. Any good place to find out how to do that?

Nice video of your beer bubbling away earlier, mine never got that rapid, believe my wort was coooler. So I just went to secondary on this HopNogg after 5 days in primary, my first brew. Will leave it in secondary for 2+ weeks and bottle. I will likely do the Cream Ale everyone here speaks so highly of next!

:mug:
 
Okay, so cool that you can make your own chiller which I wasn't sure of. I happen to have some copper tubing an electrician found in my attic. So, it's not spotless, but perhaps I can make it work? I figure if I douse it in bleach, clean it up it should be okay. Then I'll attach the lines on the end. Any good place to find out how to do that?

Nice video of your beer bubbling away earlier, mine never got that rapid, believe my wort was coooler. So I just went to secondary on this HopNogg after 5 days in primary, my first brew. Will leave it in secondary for 2+ weeks and bottle. I will likely do the Cream Ale everyone here speaks so highly of next!

:mug:

gawine,

You can use bleach to "kill" what ever may be on your copper. But if you want it "shiny clean" I would suggest buying a gallon or two of cheep vinegar and a scotch-brite pad it works very well. Let it soak for an hour or two then scrub off any remaining stubborn gunk. Rinse with water and your in business.

Cheers...
 
Yeah, mine actually was too warm. I started it out around 78 and it was bubbling hard for a full day then stopped. I didn't realize i should have started it about 10 degrees or more cooler, but it still turned out good.
 
Good recipe, but I can pretty much only attack the outside. Hopefully the interior is okay!

I've heard wrapping it around a paint can works. I'll look into the end attachments.
 
Good recipe, but I can pretty much only attack the outside. Hopefully the interior is okay!

I've heard wrapping it around a paint can works. I'll look into the end attachments.

As long as nothing is blocking the interior (and flow of water) its OK. Your wort wont touch it. You just need the outside parts that touch the wort to be clean.
 
Ah great point... who cares about the inside of the tubing right!? But, now I've got to thinking, i'm a newbie, doing kits which only require 2.5 gallons of wort to boil, so do i really need a wort chiller as it seemed to cool fairly quickly in just a simple ice bath. wort chiller may be best for doing partial mash or full grain.
 
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