Cheap wort chiller Idea

With the price of copper being as it is I've been trying to find a cheap alternative to building a copper wort chiller.

I've thaught of using frozen sanitised bottles but apparently they can give a plastic taste to your beer when hot wort hits the frozen plastic bottles.

I've been thinking I'll have to with an ice bath but that sounds like a hassle.

So, my next thaught is: Could i buy 5 - 10 meters of siphon tubing, dump it in my kitchen sink filled with cold water and siphon my wort from the brew kettle to fermenter through this.

Even if I need to finish off the cooling in a water bath as long as i get below 140f I'll be out of the DMS danger zone.

Does anybody know if this would work?

would there be any draw backs like plasticy taste ect?

You probably need high-temp silicon tubing because of the input temp on the wort. High temp silicon probably approaches 3/8" copper tubing on a price/ft basis.

I have read about this being discussed and I think the consensus was not to do it, but I'm not sure if thats from experience or just theory.

IIRC, the reasons were that it might melt the plastic tubing and that plastic doesn't transfer heat near as well as copper, so even if it was being siphoned through ice water it wouldn't really cool it that much.

Although like I said I think it was all speculation, and I would love to hear if you (or anybody) tries it

I'm still getting my AG set up sorted out. So i'm not 100% about the process. But If you can't use a plastic siphon to transfer the hot wort to another vessal, how would you do it? people who water bath must have a way. Am i right in thinking you shouldn't airate the hot wort so simply pouring it would be a bad idea.

Anyway, maybe i'll experiment with just water and see what happens.

As i said, even if i just get it half way cool I'd see that as a success as i could leave it in a water bath to finish off without worrying about DMS.

Go to a restaurant supply store/site and look into Rapi-Cool sticks. They arent cheap, but its an alternative.

As for the tubing- you be better off with your frozen water/soda bottles; unless you use high temp silicone ($2.10 p/ft).

My DIY 25' copper (home depot) chiller with a sump pump (harbor freight) only cost me $55.

Yes, you can pour back and forth to cool- you HAVE to aerate.

Now, a friend of mine distills her water, puts it into sealable containers, then freezes it. It works for her, however, i dont not practice this method.

Do a search for No Chill brewing. The winpacks are cheap.

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The heat transfer of the silicone tubing is very low. It would take you forever to cool it trying to run wort through it while it was covered in ice water.

I think there would be much less risk of plastic flavor transfer through a vessel that actually carries liquid for a living- water bottle/soda- rather than something that does not- tubes.

Again, i am not saying that this is the best way to chill your beer. I would invest in a wort chiller. If you have the ability to connect one to your sink/hose faucet, one can be made for +/-$30. Go check out 3/8" copper tubing at your local hardware store. Your wort will go from boil to pitching temps in less than 15 minutes. This will also give you a much better cold break, in turn, better beer.

Now, if you need to cool fast, and dont want to spend money, you can divide you wort into multiple SANITIZED pots, fill your bath tub with ice water, stir with a SANITIZED spoon, and cool it that way. It will cool much faster than 1 large pot would.

Agreed. I think I'll just have to save for a copper chiller.

Might give tubing a go as it won't cost much.

I'll post the result if i give it a go.

I have siphoned near-boiling water through vinyl tubing before (siphon tubing). It picked up a god awful acrid plastic taste and smell that never went away. I agree with others, silicone or copper only, (really copper is the best option).

Ok. Sod that then. Think I've just found some cheap copper anyway.
Thanks for all the replies!