AHS Immersion Chiller...

I'll be cooling 5g full boils and have looked at quite a few. This seems to be a reasonable price and, based on the comments regarding AHS on this site, I'm guessing it's good quality. Does anyone have this immersion chiller? Anything else I should consider? Thanks in advance!

Austin Homebrew Supply

I bought that wort chiller from Austin Homebrew plus the pre-chiller since my tap water is pretty warm. I don't have any complaints about either product and AHS always has great service.

I think AHS has great products, but if you haven't checked out Morebeer.com they are worth a look too. FWIW, I built my own 50' IC.

Hi Craig, that looks to be a good IC. You can build one a bit cheaper but if you're not into that, AHS is always terrific.

btw, I have a 50ft ic and about 1/3rd of the ic is not submerged while doing a 5 gallon batch. If it's not submerged, it is not cooling my wort.

My point to you is that I think the one from Austin, @ 33ft, is going to be a good size for cooling your 5 gallon batches.

Buy or make a 50' 1/2" IC for when you decide to do 10 gallon batches, save yourself the upgrade hassle. I made one for under $40.00 .

TexasSpartan said:

I bought that wort chiller from Austin Homebrew plus the pre-chiller since my tap water is pretty warm. I don't have any complaints about either product and AHS always has great service.

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Ya, our tap water is averaging 80+. Does the prechiller help that much?

Oh yeah, pre-chilling kicksass. I wouldn't chill without it again....

Irrenarzt said:

Oh yeah, pre-chilling kicksass. I wouldn't chill without it again....

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Recirculating ice-water is also a surefire way to get temps down quickly, and some prefer it to a pre chiller.

phatuna said:

Hi Craig, that looks to be a good IC. You can build one a bit cheaper but if you're not into that, AHS is always terrific.

btw, I have a 50ft ic and about 1/3rd of the ic is not submerged while doing a 5 gallon batch. If it's not submerged, it is not cooling my wort.

My point to you is that I think the one from Austin, @ 33ft, is going to be a good size for cooling your 5 gallon batches.

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Odd, I have a 50' 1/2" chiller and it's fully submerged in my 5 gal of wort....

You likely have a narrower kettle.

shortyjacobs said:

Odd, I have a 50' 1/2" chiller and it's fully submerged in my 5 gal of wort....

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Irrenarzt said:

You likely have a narrower kettle.

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I have a morebeer BE315 kettle (wide diameter) and I used my old 5 gallon pot as a form (a little bit wider than a 5 gallon bucket) for my IC, and the top third still sticks out of my 5 gallons of wort. The 5 gallon pot was the widest form I could use without the chiller actually being too close to the wall of the kettle, works great, but mine sticks out too, just sayin'.

FWIW, I will be graduating to 10 gallon batches, and it will be perfect!:rockin:

godofcheese said:

Ya, our tap water is averaging 80+. Does the prechiller help that much?

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Either a pre-chiller or recirculating ice water is a must until mid winter down here. You'll never get the beer below 90ish with ground water in Texas.

Irrenarzt said:

You likely have a narrower kettle.

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Story of my fricken life...

I have the AHS immersion chiller, and use it until the wort gets down to tap water temps. Then I hook it up to an el cheapo submersible pump from Harbor Freight that is submerged in a cooler of ice water. I get 5 gallons down to below 80 in less than 15 minutes.

hitbyatrain said:

I have the AHS immersion chiller, and use it until the wort gets down to tap water temps. Then I hook it up to an el cheapo submersible pump from Harbor Freight that is submerged in a cooler of ice water. I get 5 gallons down to below 80 in less than 15 minutes.

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Same thing I do, except I have a cheap pond pump from Lowes.

Thanks for the replies! Looking forward to my first full boil.