I recently added a pick up tube to my kettle and I have a hop spider assembled. I'm thinking about upgrading my wort chiller and adding a water filter as I'm getting tired of making runs to the store for water. I'm looking at these items here:
Water Filter Setup
Superchiller
The current chiller I have is the basic one from Northern Brewer. It's 3/8" ID and about 6-7" tall (coil height). The super chiller seems to be 1/2" ID and is twice the height (again, coil height). It also has a whirlpool arm which I think would be a nice feature if I add a pump later on (which I want to do).
I could probably make my own chiller, but I don't have as much time as I used to have (work and kids). Is this chiller worth purchasing, or would it be better to just add a whirlpool arm to my current chiller? I'm boiling 5 gallon batches in a 10 gallon kettle. The Super chiller seems like it may chill faster due to the bigger copper and whirlpool arm attachment. On another note, since I'm doing 5 gallon batches, is a pump and whirlpool arm really for those doing 10 gallons + and overkill for my 5 gallon set up? Is this overkill?
It seems worth getting to me, but wanted a second opinion before pulling the trigger. I'm looking to make my brew days go a bit easier.
Water Filter Setup
Superchiller
The current chiller I have is the basic one from Northern Brewer. It's 3/8" ID and about 6-7" tall (coil height). The super chiller seems to be 1/2" ID and is twice the height (again, coil height). It also has a whirlpool arm which I think would be a nice feature if I add a pump later on (which I want to do).
I could probably make my own chiller, but I don't have as much time as I used to have (work and kids). Is this chiller worth purchasing, or would it be better to just add a whirlpool arm to my current chiller? I'm boiling 5 gallon batches in a 10 gallon kettle. The Super chiller seems like it may chill faster due to the bigger copper and whirlpool arm attachment. On another note, since I'm doing 5 gallon batches, is a pump and whirlpool arm really for those doing 10 gallons + and overkill for my 5 gallon set up? Is this overkill?
It seems worth getting to me, but wanted a second opinion before pulling the trigger. I'm looking to make my brew days go a bit easier.