CHEAP reverse flow wort cooler. works AWESOME!

[beamar]

A friend and I are slowly setting up a nice eHERMS setup. So we setup a keggle to use for now and needed a wort chiller.


There are a bunch of how-to's on here, but figured I'd post mine with results.


I used the cheapest garden hose I could find at home depot. 25'- $15. The "how to" I read said to use the nicer hoses that supports hot water. I just used the cheapy and it works fine. The hose stays nice and cool as long as I keep the water running. Used a 3/8 OD copper tube for the middle - $15. I wrapped a small 14 or 16 gauge wire(had laying around) around the copper tube and soldered it every few inches. Getting the copper into the 5/8" hose SUCKED. I used wd-40 and soap/water.

I used a compression fitting on the ends for the 3/8" OD copper to 1/2". think they were like $3 each. I had some 1/2" copper piping and T's laying around.



Anyways, the result was about 215*F going into the setup and 70*F out. I was shocked at how well it worked!

I have about $40 into the whole setup.

Here's the how-to I used. I also added the copper wire around the copper tubing, which it doesn't have you do.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/How_to_make_a_Counter_Flow_Chiller



Brian

 

[n240sxguy]

People suggest using a good rubber hose that can handle the heat so you can recirculate the boiling wort through the chiller and sanitize it with the heat before chilling. If you use a cheap vinyl hose, that may damage it. You can still use star san or some other sanitizer with no problems.

Just out of curiosity, how cold is the water you are running through it?

 

[beamar]

I just used some star-san to sanitize.

I'll have to check the temp, but Chicago tap water is COLD. I would guess in the 55* range.

 

[n240sxguy]

That is cold. I can't wait for it to cool off a little so my tap water will be colder. It's 75 now.