Simple Immersion Wort Chiller

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Schlenkerla

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This is what I made this afternoon.

3761-WortChiller006.jpg


Its a simple set-up:
- 50' of 3/8" Copper Tubing
- 2 Compression to Pipe Union (3/8" - 1/2NPT) Watts A-124
- 2 Hose Adapters (1/2" NPT - 3/4 male garden hose) Watts A-668
- 2 Clothes Washer attachment hoses 4' each.
- 1 faucet to garden hose adapter
- 7 wire ties to hold it together well (less slinky-like)
Also needed;
- Teflon Tape for wrapping threads
- Tubing bending kit.

3761-WortChiller001.jpg


Close up of the fittings/ hose connections

3761-WortChiller004.jpg


I tested it with water so it doesn't leak. I'll being testing later to see how well it works with water (cooling boiled water), and not too long with a John Palmers Tittabowsi Brown Ale. :mug:

Comments Welcome.
 
Looks beautiful! I hope those hoses are long enough for you, but again it looks easy enough to change if it turns out you need more length.

Assuming you do your full boils outside, you may find yourself hooking up the wort chiller directly to the hose outside and leaving the kettle on the burner instead of bringing it inside to chill by the kitchen sink. That way there's no chance of spilling it or slipping and falling in transit.
 
Thalon said:
Looks beautiful! I hope those hoses are long enough for you, but again it looks easy enough to change if it turns out you need more length.

Assuming you do your full boils outside, you may find yourself hooking up the wort chiller directly to the hose outside and leaving the kettle on the burner instead of bringing it inside to chill by the kitchen sink. That way there's no chance of spilling it or slipping and falling in transit.

Thanks for all the complements!!

As far as where I was thinking of using this.... The sink was my first thought, then possibility of using it outside is pretty practical. Hooking up the garden hose is gonna be easy.

Just out of curiosity, when you use these outside do you need to cover the pot? I'm a bit concerened about the risks of the wort getting contaiminated by things blowing in the breeze. I'm not sure how well the lid would stay on the kettle. A big piece of saran wrap would work? Right?

I've always done partial boils never full boils so they have always been on the kitchen stove. I'm pretty certain I'll have too use the turkey fryer to get the BTU's to boil 6 gallons.

That'll be a first. - In a short time I'll being doing my first AG.

Any advice you can give me would be appreciated. BTW - I plan to plumb the inlet so cold water starts at the bottom working its way up.
 
It looks really nice, one thing though are you sure that the plastic zip-ties (think that is what is on there, right?) are going to be able to stand up to the boiling wort? You may want to think about using some copper wire to tie it all together. just my opinion though.

Cheers
 
""Just out of curiosity, when you use these outside do you need to cover the pot? I'm a bit concerened about the risks of the wort getting contaiminated by things blowing in the breeze. I'm not sure how well the lid would stay on the kettle. A big piece of saran wrap would work? Right?""
I use a towel and a bungee cord. This allows DMS to absorb into the cloth without dripping back down into the wort, it allows pressure differentials to pass through the cloth, and it prevents birds, flying mammals, leaves, kids, pets, etc from making me nervous.

""BTW - I plan to plumb the inlet so cold water starts at the bottom working its way up.""
It would be slightly more efficient if you start your coldest water at the top. This creates a larger temp differential, and more energy transfer faster. You could time one brew one way and time another brew the other way, but that might be scientific or something..ha, ha. :p
 
Schlenkerla said:
Just out of curiosity, when you use these outside do you need to cover the pot? I'm a bit concerened about the risks of the wort getting contaiminated by things blowing in the breeze. I'm not sure how well the lid would stay on the kettle. A big piece of saran wrap would work? Right?

.
try a splatter screen ( fine mesh stainless steel) from walmart @10$us
also doubles as a strainer during transfer to the fermentor.
 
wop31 said:
It looks really nice, one thing though are you sure that the plastic zip-ties (think that is what is on there, right?) are going to be able to stand up to the boiling wort? You may want to think about using some copper wire to tie it all together. just my opinion though.

Cheers

Your probably right. The zip ties were an after thought. The thing was like a slinky. I didn't want it coming uncoiled. Its surprising how heavy 50' of copper coil is when you have in hand. Add water and its worse.

Copper wire is a good idea. - Thanks!

Thanks also for ideas for covering the wort too.

:mug:
 
Man, yours puts mine to shame, mine was real simple.

Brother in-law used to do plumbing so i got 25' of 3/8" Copper pipe for free. I bent that around a coffee can and put it in with the boil, since it's warm i jeasily attach siphon hosing to run the water through it. I fill the bottling bucket with ice water, set it up high, open the spigot and let gravity do the work, the other hose drains into the yard, and i have a hose keeping the water level constant.... maybe i'm just cheap, but it works, and if it's not broke......
 
If you have a lid for your kettle, you can also just cut notches in it so it will still sit on the pot with the chiller in there. I used to put plastic wrap over it but I like to be able to open and stir every once in a while.
 
DeadYetiBrew said:
... I fill the bottling bucket with ice water, set it up high, open the spigot and let gravity do the work, the other hose drains into the yard, and i have a hose keeping the water level constant.... maybe i'm just cheap, but it works, and if it's not broke......

That's a pretty damned good idea with the bottling bucket!! :mug:
 
Very nice looking!!!

I was thinking about buying one till I noticed how much water one of those uses. I just moved into a apartment which actually charges for water usage, so now I have to watch how much water I use.

Might be a good idea for me if I could find a way to recycle the water somehow.
 
Cregar said:
Very nice looking!!!

I was thinking about buying one till I noticed how much water one of those uses. I just moved into a apartment which actually charges for water usage, so now I have to watch how much water I use.

Might be a good idea for me if I could find a way to recycle the water somehow.

Submersible pump

Works great! Just something else to buy for your brewing arsenal.
 
I drilled two holes in the lid of my brewpot and used ss bulkhead fittings to run the in and out of the immerson chiller through. 10 minutes before flameout I throw the lid on and sanitize the chiller. Brewpot stays covered during chilling and transfer to fermenter.
 
Worse comes to worse, just collect the water in buckets, and then use them to fill the flush tank on your toilet. Or give your car a wash. Or water the plants. Or wash the dishes. Or give the dog something to drink out of besides the toilet. The list goes on... jk ;).
 
Cregar said:
Very nice looking!!!

I was thinking about buying one till I noticed how much water one of those uses. I just moved into a apartment which actually charges for water usage, so now I have to watch how much water I use.

Might be a good idea for me if I could find a way to recycle the water somehow.

I think you could use the water for clean-up. It'll be hot water. I'd think the submersable pump will work but I understand the hot water discharge is pretty darn hot, so it wouldn't be very efficient. From what I understand the discharge water can be hot enough to kill grass and burn the piss out of you. (I haven't tried it yet so I don't know that for fact.)

The counter flow chilling would be more water economical. In Chuck's book he uses his w/ gravity to push the wort through the copper tubing which is set in a ice bath, then out to the primary. I think regular stirring is required in the ice bath. That's low $$$ and simple.
:mug:
 
Schlenkerla said:
I think you could use the water for clean-up. It'll be hot water. I'd think the submersable pump will work but I understand the hot water discharge is pretty darn hot, so it wouldn't be very efficient. From what I understand the discharge water can be hot enough to kill grass and burn the piss out of you. (I haven't tried it yet so I don't know that for fact.)

The counter flow chilling would be more water economical. In Chuck's book he uses his w/ gravity to push the wort through the copper tubing which is set in a ice bath, then out to the primary. I think regular stirring is required in the ice bath. That's low $$$ and simple.
:mug:
Can attest to this as my friend put his finger in the discharge on my last brew.

Burned his finger, nothing serious but it hurts.
 
Reidman said:
Can attest to this as my friend put his finger in the discharge on my last brew.

Burned his finger, nothing serious but it hurts.


hehe, the first time we used a wort chiller i was interested in whether it was working and just how hot the water coming out was.... ouch...
 
ColoradoXJ13 said:
so what was the total cost for building that thing vs. just buying one?

I think for most of you.... you'd say its not that big of a savings and may not be worth the hassle.

I believe my total cost was $90 with tax.

The two hoses were $14 (Not included if bought online)

The 50' 3/8" tubing was $59

Misc fittings $17​

Comparatively speaking..... $76 without hoses.

See the link from Midwest;


Add $8.00 for shipping + $4 make vs buy difference. - It saved me whopping $12.00

My pay-out was less by $50 because I had a Home Depo gift card worth that much. Cha-ching

So for me, I saved about $62 (Net Diff, No shipping & Gift Card) :rockin:

In all - I shelled out $40 with hoses for my rig. :D

:mug:
 
lngarrett said:
I called Lowes and they said for 20' of soft copper tubing it was going to be $66. Whats the deal?

This thread was 7 months ago. The price of copper has been going up steadily since then...
 
I thought that might have had something to do with it - but wow thats a lot. Why is copper going up so much?
 
Lots of reasons, from global demand to fuel costs. The point is, alternative materials for everything from wort chillers to electrical wiring are gonna come into play eventually. Aluminum wiring in houses? again? but those houses had a habbit of burning down?? Well, it's a real possibility soon.
 
Kimsta said:
I found the same stuff, except much cheaper.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=23051-000076063-22100015&lpage=none

Why is this stuff so much cheaper? Is this O.K to use to build my WC?


It is not the "same stuff" you found a short length of tiny 1/4" copper. You could use that but it is really too small to be an effective chiller. You really want 50' of 1/2 " tubing which is a lot more expensive from lowes
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=4198-27953-02006&lpage=none

But it can be found for $50 or less on the good old internet, or for $80ish from HD.

edit... I did some more research and found that you can have 50ft of 1/2" soft copper shipped to your door for $54 here is the link for all you diy fools.
http://coppertubingsales.com/pricing.php
 
Levels or mold and bacteria counts are typically 100-1000 higher concentration INSIDE than inside your home. I have the my wort open to the breeze during my cooling step and have had no problems.
 
I've been researching making one also but was planning on using 25' of 1/2" copper. Is this too short? Will it still have high enough efficiency?
 
I brew outdoors all the time. Never had an issue with things blowing in the breeze. I used to worry but my buddy, who also brews, says "Monks used to brew by a running stream....they made beer, don't worry". Changed my perspective.
 
I used 20' of 3/8" copper as well, and with my recirculating setup (a fountain pump from Harbor Freight immersed in a bucket of icewater), I get my wort from 212* down to 80* in about 25 minutes, and only use about 5 gallons of water + ice.

I'm going to look into swapping the input and output, since I think I have the cold water going into the bottom of the IC, where it isn't as efficient because it essentially gets preheated before it starts working through the coil...
 
I'm going to look into swapping the input and output, since I think I have the cold water going into the bottom of the IC, where it isn't as efficient because it essentially gets preheated before it starts working through the coil...

Do you stir your wort while chilling it? If so...who cares if the heat gets exchanged in the bottom or the top of the wort? It's going to get homogenized anyway by the stirring.

If not...why not? It makes the chiller work much more efficiently.
 
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