Latest brew day with the hybrid chiller (lots of pics)

Testing out the hybrid chiller. It is 25 ft of copper I rolled by hand with some steel rods for support. Basically you put it in a bucket of ice water and run the wort through it. I reuse my MLT and HLT for this process. As the wort is boiling, I'll clean the MLT out and put in the chiller using the same fittings and fill it with ice water. When the boil is done, I'll pour the hot wort into the HLT and let it drain through the system. Eventually if I ever get a pot with a valve it will make this process easier.

The copper didn't kink but I didn't do a very good job rolling it. One small spot is flat and wort gets trapped there if there's nothing pushing it through.







8 lbs English 2-row
1/2 lb chocolate malt
1 lb carapils
1/4 lb patent
2 oz fuggles

The chiller in action. Boiling to 75 degrees F in one pass!

senorfartman said:

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What did you use on the end of this hose to make it sparge like that?

It's 1/2 inch vinyl tubing that I plugged then drilled around 20 holes near the bottom. I'll see if I can get a closeup

Hmm, I assumed that was what you did, but you know what happens when we assume things . . .

What size are your coolers? They look like 5s.

nope both 10 gal

How are your coolers after pouring boiling wort into them?

I only use mine for the mash and they only get to around 154F and there is warping. I can't imagine you can get many uses out of them with boiling temps.

i love the oil painting! and my wife would kill me if i used the dining room set, let a lone the dining room to brew beer.... :rockin:

nice pics mate

I've done 3 batches so far. There is warping but it's not too bad. It is just a temporary fix until I can go SS throughout.

As per the dining room, as master of my domain I do as I please. Haha it's just one of the perks to being a single homeowner.

very cool pics on your brew, and that painting is nice!

what process do you use to sterilize the inside of the chiller?

Cool pics, thanks for sharing!

morebeer4me said:

what process do you use to sterilize the inside of the chiller?

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It is a big pain in the butt actually.

I have a 2 way valve in my my shower hooked up to vinyl tubing that is the same diameter as the chiller. I run the water through it to get all the loose particles and gunk out. Then when I sterilize the cooler with iodophor, i leave the chiller in there with it and let it sit.

thanks guess till I go with a pump I will keep using an IC . I just ordered 50 ft of 1/2 inch from coppertubingsales. 59.11 delivered to my door If I have to in the summer I will use the 25 ft 3/8 IC that I have now as a pre chiller

The setup in convenient however and was under $30 when all was said and done. It's really not as difficult to clean as I made it out to sound. The real issue is transporting 10 gallons of water and not getting it all over the damn kitchen (again)

My tubing arrived yesterday . I ordered it last wed well packaged and not one dent or bend in it. Hats off to ICS industries.

im pretty much set on creating a set up like this to use as my chiller for when i start on AG (hopefully soon). what would be the dis/advantages of using high temp tubing (the kind like beer/co2 lines are) to do this?

i only wonder because my copper experience is none and dont know how difficult it would be to shape it and to make the connections from rubber tubing to the copper and vice versa.

I like your sparge fitting idea. I've got a lathe, mill, and rotary table so I can turn out a similar part. I assume delrin plastic would be a suitable material for this application.