New to brew.

Made my first batch last night and wasn't really impressed with cooling the wort with ice and water. The question I have is there a certain diameter copper tubing that works best when making a chiller? ie: 3/8",1/2"or 5/8". I'm sure there's a surface area to flow ratio. Any opinion would be greatly appreciated.

3/8" seems to be very popular, and many use 25' lengths. I could only find 20' lengths in town, and I get at or below room temperature when it flows into the carboy.

3/8 is what I got and 20 feet too. Works fine but I also place it in ice bath. Cools 3 gallons to about 80 in 15 mins or so.

My water must be colder than yours - I get 5 gallons down to about 65° in less than 10 minutes.

hbrew85 said:

3/8 is what I got and 20 feet too. Works fine but I also place it in ice bath. Cools 3 gallons to about 80 in 15 mins or so.

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kscarrington said:

My water must be colder than yours - I get 5 gallons down to about 65° in less than 10 minutes.

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Says the man from Alaska.

Yeah, that part helps!!

KBentley57 said:

Says the man from Alaska.

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Thanks for the replies. My concern with the larger diameter would be it would flow too fast and just be wasting water.

And with a larger diameter copper tube, the less water you have in contact with the tube unless you move up to a larger diameter hose.

pi55edoff said:

Thanks for the replies. My concern with the larger diameter would be it would flow too fast and just be wasting water.

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pi55edoff said:

Thanks for the replies. My concern with the larger diameter would be it would flow too fast and just be wasting water.

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You could always recirculate the water into an ice bath, which is a common practice among many. Get a cheap pump, bucket full of ice water, and let it circulate in the loop. No excess water is wasted, and you could always dump it in the washing machine with a load of clothes when you're finished.