See my Wort Chiller

I am about to cross over to All Grain Brewing. Always wanting a new challenge, I decided to make my own wort chiller. I used 50 feet of 1/2" copper (holy crap! it's expensive!)

Please take a look at the picture to see if there are any improvements that I can make.

Looks great to me... I would have probably gone with the 3/8" to save a little money, but 1/2" works a little better by having more contact area.

awesome, at 50' and 1/2" it should be adequate for 10 gallon batches. my chiller is 25' of only 1/4" copper and I can chill 5.5 gallons to 70F in 10 minutes, of course incoming water temp plays an important part too.

Looks great and should do a damn good job cooling the wort. I just changed mine so the garden hose will connect at the copper tube instead of the end of a short hose. I had a problem with the hose clamps leaking sometimes.

Nice to know that I am ready for larger, 10 gallon batches.

I'm at about 10 minutes with 25' of 1/4 inch in 5.5 gal -- is it safe to say I'm looking at 20 min. for 11 gal?

With the price of copper, I'd like to not have to upgrade, and I think 20 min would be OK - I will probably just stir more, as I've noticed that stirring makes a big difference.

Looks good man, did you use Bobby_M's video as a guide?

I brewed my first 10 gal batch this weekend, took about 10 mins to get to 70 with 50' of 1/2" tubing. If you don't stir, it's going to take longer, for sure. You can check out bobby_m's vid to see the chiller being created.

I can't imagine using 25' of anything for a 10 gal batch, especially 1/4".

coppertubingsales.com is THE source for reasonably priced tubing.

I did use Bobby_m's Video as my template. It's almost fool proof!

Was this type of plastic tubing recommended for use with an immersion chiller? The chiller gets hot while being sterilized in the boiling wort. My chiller is finished except for the plastic ends so I could use some advice on this issue.

gruversm said:

I did use Bobby_m's Video as my template. It's almost fool proof!

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I have seen the video and will be using it as a guide once I get the tubing. He puts out some great videos.

I used reinforced hosing that you get in the dishwasher supply/plumbing section in your home improvement store. It came in 10' lengths and I just cut it to size. I hope it holds up OK.

gruversm said:

I used reinforced hosing that you get in the dishwasher supply/plumbing section in your home improvement store. It came in 10' lengths and I just cut it to size. I hope it holds up OK.

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If you're not reusing the water for drinking or brewing then it doesnt matter what tubing you use. If doesnt matter if they leach impurities into water.
If you plan on reusing the water, then using something rated for 180F+ just to be safe.

Atl300zx said:

If you're not reusing the water for drinking or brewing then it doesnt matter what tubing you use. If doesnt matter if they leach impurities into water.
If you plan on reusing the water, then using something rated for 180F+ just to be safe.

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I just finished my immersion chiller and want to find hose that won't melt while the chiller is being sterilized in the boiling wort.

PAbrewer07 said:

I just finished my immersion chiller and want to find hose that won't melt while the chiller is being sterilized in the boiling wort.

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Just make sure the hoses dont touch the burner or stand and ull be fine.

until i switched to food safe high temp hoses, i just used whatever homedepot had.

Atl300zx said:

Just make sure the hoses dont touch the burner or stand and ull be fine.

until i switch to food safe high temp hoses, i just used whatever homedepot had.

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Great, thanks. That's all I needed to know.

Well, folks....I finally got to use my Super Wort Chiller. I cooled 212F Wort down to 70F in just over 5 minutes!! Just amazing!

Moonshae said:

coppertubingsales.com is THE source for reasonably priced tubing.

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+1. I got 50 ft 3/8th OD ref. for like 36 bucks. I'm gonna make Bobby's, and use the leftover for a nice little immersion chiller for when I'm just doing 5 gal.

Nice 50ft 1/2 inch. Looks solid!