DIY- Wort chiller w/ Pre-Chiller $55

So I was tired for wasting money of Ice, plus it is a inefficient way to cool wort. So i decided to build a immersion wort chiller as cheap as I could. I am a college student so I wanted it cheap and I could have control on the design which is nice. I would say it cost me about $55 to make. I timed it once and it cooled water from 220 degrees F to 70 degrees in about 17 minutes. I will test again to get average But is way faster that ice. So the way mine works is I have a pre-chiller before the wort chiller. I coiled the 20' 1/8 in copper in a coffee can. I add water, little bit of ice and rock salt to chill the sink water. The water goes in to the pre-chiller then to the wort chiller. Which is made of 20' 3/8 in copper coiled with a 5 in diameter. It stick out of the wort about an inch so I would suggest making the diameter bigger. The over all water flow is as fallows : Water from the sink faucet-TO- the pre wort chiller-TO- wort chiller-TO-sink. I would enjoy to have comments on my project to see how I did and would like if anyone has suggestions.

Here is what I bought at Lowes
Supply's:
20' 3/8 in soft cooper tubing($25 at Lowes)
20' 1/8 soft copper tubing
10' 3/8 plastic tubing
4 hose clamps
Adapter from sink to water hose
Adapter from water house fitting to 3/8 tubing

Other:
Knife
Screw Driver
Coffee can

Looks like a good set up. Have you tried it yet? I use a double chiller in the brew pot and it only takes 10 min. to cool the wort from 212 F to 64 F.

Good luck,

Thanks! Yeah I have tried it just a few days ago on a Red Ale. Yeah I thought about that but I got the 1/8 in copper for free and was going to make it cheap. But might try a double some time.

How did you coil your tubing? I am thinking of making a chiller, but am also on a student's budget, so I'd like to avoid buying a tube bender if I can (even if it's cheap, I'll likely never use it again).

McCoy said:

How did you coil your tubing? I am thinking of making a chiller, but am also on a student's budget, so I'd like to avoid buying a tube bender if I can (even if it's cheap, I'll likely never use it again).

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Find a cylinder of some sort and wrap it around that. I had an old oxygen cylinder out in the barn... it had about a 7-8 inch diameter. Worked like I charm, made all my bends using that or my hands... no kinks or anything.

McCoy said:

How did you coil your tubing? I am thinking of making a chiller, but am also on a student's budget, so I'd like to avoid buying a tube bender if I can (even if it's cheap, I'll likely never use it again).

Click to expand...

I just got a Pendleton whiskey bottle and coiled it around. Copper is very easy to bend so don't buy a bender