Wort chiller....

None ever made their own wort chiller? I'm contemplating making one as its cheaper. I see some videos on YouTube but is it as easy as they make out?

Pretty easy just take it slow so you don't put a kink in the tubing.

I built a counterflow chiller based on this thread.

I spent more time in the store getting materials than it to assemble the chiller

I made my immersion chiller last weekend sitting on the floor in my garage between a 30 minute hop addition and a 15 minute hop addition. Coiled around a keg to get the right diameter then bent my inlet and outlet pieces to run nice and neat. Worked out great and super fast.

+1

I made my immersion chiller last week and it was super easy. The toughest part for me was bending the copper tubing without kinking it (I used 1/2'' coil and it took a lot of muscle to bend with the cheap-o spring pipe bender I got).

One thing, though - my first go around I went a little crazy buying compression clamps, nuts, etc. to connect the hose to the copper. These supplies alone were ~$20 at Home Depot.

Then, I realized I could simply fit a bigger size vinyl hose around the copper and screw-clamp it down. Much cheaper and it works great with no leaks as long as the screw clamps are tight.

Good luck!

I soldered all my fittings with 1/2 in.copper tubing and used male/female garden hose fittings for the in/out.Easy connections for brewing indoors or outside.I also built a counterflow chiller but I find the immersion chiller so much easier to use.

alane1 said:

I soldered all my fittings with 1/2 in.copper tubing and used male/female garden hose fittings for the in/out.Easy connections for brewing indoors or outside.

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+1

Super easy!

It's a lot easier than I thought it would be beforehand. I bent mine around a keg and used a 22oz bottle to aid in the sharper bends without kinking.

I got a really long piece of copper. I think it was 75ft if I remember correct. I double coiled it which seems to have made it very efficient..

DerekTC said:

+1

I made my immersion chiller last week and it was super easy. The toughest part for me was bending the copper tubing without kinking it (I used 1/2'' coil and it took a lot of muscle to bend with the cheap-o spring pipe bender I got).

One thing, though - my first go around I went a little crazy buying compression clamps, nuts, etc. to connect the hose to the copper. These supplies alone were ~$20 at Home Depot.

Then, I realized I could simply fit a bigger size vinyl hose around the copper and screw-clamp it down. Much cheaper and it works great with no leaks as long as the screw clamps are tight.

Good luck!

Click to expand...

they will eventually leak with just hose clamps. the compression fittings are the only long term solution.

eastoak said:

they will eventually leak with just hose clamps. the compression fittings are the only long term solution.

Click to expand...

I've been using only hose clamps for 7 yrs and no leaks.

eastoak said:

they will eventually leak with just hose clamps. the compression fittings are the only long term solution.

Click to expand...

cars use either worm gear clamps or spring metal clamps with much higher pressure. No problems there.

Thanks everyone. Will look around for parts today. Here in the UK copper seems to be a little more expensive but would still save money.

it is really easy. one note: bend the input and output down to keep the dripping from any leaky clamps out of your wort. i used a 5g keg to wrap mine around when making the coils.