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Brewme

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Oct 21, 2008
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Location
Salt Lake City, UT
I was recently screwed by brewsterbrown.com, a crappy small homebrew shop. I ordered their "Super Chiller". HA! When I got it I realized why it was such a good deal...it is TINY! The pic makes it look big (to me), but it is only 1/4" copper. When I tried to contact he owner I have not gotten a response after 3 emails! He does not provide a phone number either! Please help spread the word that this guy is not a reputable vendor.

Big enough to handle "big brews"? HA! The thing is only 7 inches tall! What a joke.

yhst-57573664908531_2061_1156401
 
I already have a 25' 3/8 chiller. I wanted a 50' chiller that was 3/8" or .5" to actually handle big brews. This thing is so small it wouldn't do crap for 10 gallon brews. I didn't use it b/c I am going to sell it as new. Either way, if someone wants to return something, wouldn't you take it back as long as it is within a reasonable time? I would have paid for shipping and a restocking fee but he never even got back to me!
 
It doesn't say it is 1/4", but it doesn't say it isn't, either. I don't buy anything unless I know what I am in for. I certainly wouldn't have bought that chiller just looking at the tubing coming off it. It looks like a thrown together wort chiller.

I'm not saying don't be mad, but you got what you paid for. It sucks that their customer service is off. Have you been nice the whole time?
 
i ordered the same one. it is too small, AND the hose connection kept slipping off from the tube connected to the copper after the second use (annoying, but not hard to fix). Thankfully no hosewater got into my wort.

I just ignored how small it was because it was so cheap, and I'm only doing 5 gallon batches...
 
I have the same one and it works fine. Go price 50' of 3/8 copper........

David :)
 
I scored a 60' roll of 3/8" I.D. 1/2" O.D Copper from Lowe's. It was out of the box and dented in a few spots (on the ends so no big deal). I had to haggle with the manager. Standard retail was $65. He gave it to me for what he said was cost @ $45.

How much did you pay? Why not make your own? Its probably the easiest DIY project there is.
 
I have the same one and it works fine. Go price 50' of 3/8 copper........

David :)


I did. I went with 50' of 1/2" OD copper. yes, I should have asked what size the copper was, but I didn't think someone would call 1/4" "Super Sized" either! If you don't think that's misleading, then you are crazy!

Bottom line, chiller size put aside, he wouldn't return my emails and that is ****ty service.
 
Anyone that sells 1/4" OD tubing as a "super chiller XL" is either out of touch with the norms of the hobby or trying to be intentionally misleading. There's nothing extra large about it.
 
Well from the picture they use compared to the actual product, they are clearly in the bait and switch business so I wouldn't expect any answers on email complaints.
 
I have the 25' foot chiller from there and it works fine with my 3 gallon boils. They guy's pretty open about it being a budget product. As far as the customer service, I have no complaints. I know several other people have used him without trouble.
 
try it out....... might not work as bad as you think.

I have two of these. Stuck them both in a 15 gallon boil and it cooled fast.

The two of them in a 5 gallon boiled cooled it in under 6 minutes.

Have never used only 1 in a 5 gallon boil.

I will admit that i was also shocked they were small when i opened the box.
 
I had a 25' 1/4" home made one.

I decided to upgrade, I priced copper locally and found it cheaper to buy the chiller. I have used it 4 or 5 times. The hose does leak. The clamp is as tight as it will go. A different clamp or a few turns of electrical tape to make the hose bigger under the clamp.

5 gallons takes twenty some minutes to cool to 68*f 12 gallons takes 45 to an hour. I have a well. The water is cold.

David :)
 
this post makes me glad i got my counterflow chiller from Austin Homebrew

I had concidered buying this for about 10 min, till i decided something was wrong, it was too cheap compared to the competition. And the garden hose fittings are not in view, because that would give a point of reference to it's actual size.
 
Yea I made my own copper chiller, just get bendable copper and roll it around a small bucket, makes an effing sweet chiller. I wouldnt make another tho, I would rock a counterflow chiller... Copper tube+hose= amazing.
 
I got the 25' one. Works as expected. Don't have a Home Depot or Lowes here, just expensive mom and pop stores so this was actually cheaper than a DIY. Did my 5 gallon batch in 15 minutes. You get what you pay for. A friend ordered other equipment from him and has been happy as well. Considering the prices I can't complain.
 
Bought a plate chiller for $75 from my LHBS. Tested it on an extract brew; it brought 3 gallons of extract to 75 degrees in three minutes. I plan on testing it with a full boil next week, but I'm sold on the plate chillers right now.
 
I decided to upgrade, I priced copper locally and found it cheaper to buy the chiller.

A tip I found here was CopperTubingSales.com :: ICS Indsutries ::; I got 50' of 3/8" for about $50 shipped, and then it was only a bit more to get the fittings to hook up a hose (it leaks a bit, but I need to retighten it).

And whether or not it works, I agree with some of the other people here: 1/4" isn't 'super' or 'XL.' Nowhere in that image does it make it seem like it's a budget product.
 
Glad I saw this post. I posted to another string last week, saying that I placed an order and hadn't heard anything (3 weeks after ordering I got no chiller and no response to e-mails).

After reading this I started the process to disbute the charge and cancel the order with my cc company.

Bad product and bad service is not a good combo.
 
I just got 50' of 1/2" copper tube from Menards for 38 bucks total. Get the refrigeration tubing, not the "gas" rated stuff...you only need thin walls....

It took 10 minutes to make my own chiller, (after 2 hours of hunting for the right fittings to hook up my hose in Menards)....and it chilled 5 gallons of wort from 212* to 80* in 8 minutes.

Thanks for the warning though....I was considering buying that same one a little while ago, but then decided I was too anxious to wait for it to be shipped and decided to DIY. Glad I DIYed!
 
I'm sure there's a posting for this somewhere, but is it possible to make an IC without soldering. I'm pretty handy and could probably figure it out, but I'm not excited about buying a torch and solder for a single use.
 
I'm sure there's a posting for this somewhere, but is it possible to make an IC without soldering. I'm pretty handy and could probably figure it out, but I'm not excited about buying a torch and solder for a single use.

Yup. That's what I did.

Bought 50' of pipe from Menards. (38 bucks) (or 46 from lowes Cerro at Lowe's: 1/2" ODx50' Copper Refrigeration Tubing)

I bought two of something like this: Watts at Lowe's: 1/2" CTS x 1/2" MPT Quick Connect Adapter ... (but note you need a 3/8" CTS to 1/2" MPT fitting, not a 1/2" CTS to 1/2" MPT..... your 1/2" OD copper tube is 3/8" ID ... MPT means male pipe thread....or something)

Then I bought two of something like this: Plumb Pak at Lowe's: 3/4" MHT x 3/4" MIP x 1/2" FIP Hose Adapter , which turns your 1/2" MPT into male 3/4" hose thread, (used on your garden hose)....I chose one to convert to MALE hose thread because I had a washing machine hose with female connections on both sides. If you want to just use your garden hose, get an adapter that goes from 1/2" FIP to 3/4" FHT (female hose thread)

:rockin:

Easiest way to do all this is buy your tubing and cut off a 3" section of it.

Go back into your hardware store with your 3" section of tubing and start trying to piece together parts until you get to the hose thread, (male or female) that you desire. Then buy all that crap. It's SO hard to know what fits what unless you are an expert, so I just tear all the packages apart and screw stuff together until I find what works....most packages have a zip seal on them so you can reseal them after you rip them apart.
 
Yea I made my own copper chiller, just get bendable copper and roll it around a small bucket, makes an effing sweet chiller. I wouldnt make another tho, I would rock a counterflow chiller... Copper tube+hose= amazing.

I HATE my counterflow chiller. Honestly, I have days when I don't brew because I don't feel like cleaning the damn thing.

I've got 25' of 3/8" left though, maybe I'll make an IC.
 
I don't understand any of this...I bought two of the super chillers from the guy and he was great with responding to my emails. I knew from the price that it was smaller diameter so if it turned out to not work well I was just going to use it to make a counterflow chiller.

The product itself works great though, hose ends do not fall off mine (don't turn hose on full blast). I cool 5 gallons with it in 15-20 minutes with regular hose water. I use two chillers in anything larger than 5 gallons up to 15 gallons. Two of these chill 15 gallons to pitching temp in 20 minutes. I'd say that's a fine working product.

I bought mine a couple months ago, maybe something happened to him.
 
I ordered one of those a couple months ago too. Works fine for me, though I only do 5 gallon batches. At the price I expected 1/4", since 3/8" would cost that just buying the copper myself.
 
I HATE my counterflow chiller. Honestly, I have days when I don't brew because I don't feel like cleaning the damn thing.

I've got 25' of 3/8" left though, maybe I'll make an IC.

What do you mean cleaning it? I guess if you don't have a pump then it can be a PITA to circulate some hot PBW through it. But really, it takes about as much time and effort to hose off an immersion chiller as it does to flush out a CFC. I don't even bother doing PBW every time I brew...I usually let it go 2-3 brews between cleanings. The key is flushing it out with water immediately after using it. You can use a garden hose to do this, nothing special.
 
I don't even bother doing PBW every time I brew...I usually let it go 2-3 brews between cleanings. The key is flushing it out with water immediately after using it. You can use a garden hose to do this, nothing special.

That's what I do with my plate chiller...I made a short garden hose to quick-disconnect adapter, so I can blast high pressure hose water through it a few times in both directions. Then I give it a blast of compressed air to get most of the water out.

About every third batch I'll give it a good long soak in hot PBW or Oxiclean, and use a turkey baster to circulate the solution through it. Flush with water, and back into service it goes. I don't miss my IC at all...
 
What do you mean cleaning it? I guess if you don't have a pump then it can be a PITA to circulate some hot PBW through it. But really, it takes about as much time and effort to hose off an immersion chiller as it does to flush out a CFC. I don't even bother doing PBW every time I brew...I usually let it go 2-3 brews between cleanings. The key is flushing it out with water immediately after using it. You can use a garden hose to do this, nothing special.

I don't have a pump.


An immersion chiller gets dropped into the boil pot 5 minutes before flame out. A CFC requires cleaner to be run through it. That, and its a pain in the but when I suck up some plug/leaf hop debris and have to try to get it out of the 3/8" copper.
 
I don't have a pump.


An immersion chiller gets dropped into the boil pot 5 minutes before flame out. A CFC requires cleaner to be run through it. That, and its a pain in the but when I suck up some plug/leaf hop debris and have to try to get it out of the 3/8" copper.

I run water and sanitizer after I use the CFC I have every time. I sanitize it by pumping hot wort for 10 minutes before the end of the boil to make sure it is bug free. Works like a charm.
 
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