How many batches before you bought a wort chiller?

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I use an IC 20' 3/8" copper with the brew kettle in an ice bath (50 lbs of ice in plastic tub with about 3 gallons of water) and recirculate the cold water through the IC with an old 12v water pump from my trailer. Gets 6 gallons of boiling wort down to 70's in about 20 minutes. A 50' coil would be even faster but not in the budget right now. It saves a lot of water too since I'm recirculating the chilled water. for full boils or larger batches definitely need some sort of cooling system. I am going to get a better system that won't require so much ice but for now it works great.
 
I bought my supplies from a gent on Craigslist and it included a home-made IC. I used it the first time. 15 minutes to cool to 68 degrees from boiling. 3 gallon boil.
 
Maybe i did something wrong... but i didn't use an IC for my first batch and it only took about 20 minutes to cool w the ice bath and adding the additional 2 gallons (after they'd be in freezer for 2-3 hours). Seemed to work great.
 
1. I let my first batch cool overnight in the bucket since my kettle wouldn't fit in my sink (turned out fine). A chiller was my first upgrade and was completely worth it.
 
No need to yet through 5 batches. I can cool my wort down to 100 in 15-20 mins, then mix it with cold water in the fermenter to get out down to 70. So far so good with the smaller 5 gallon batches.
 
Mine is the one from Northern Brewer. I didn't think to make my own until after I had already bought mine and started watching some home brewing videos on on You Tube.


Is it worth making a second one to use as a pre-chiller? One in the wort, and the other in a bucket of ice water with a cheap pond pump to re-circulate? If you build a bigger one, which one do you use in the wort/ice water bucket?

Sorry OP if this is off topic.
 
When I was doing partial boils it wasn't a big deal, like some have said I would get it to 90-100 and add in 2 gallons of cold water to get it the rest of he way. 4 batches of full boil and borrowing a buddies and I built my own for about 45 dollars. 40 ft of copper, hose, garden hose fittings, and copper 90s.

image-1802900036.jpg
 
I brewed one batch before building a wort chiller. Since up sizing my system to handle full wort boils I've built a larger chiller for my new kettle. I've used the smaller ic in an ice bath to pre chill the water going to the larger chiller but that is often more trouble than it's worth... Plus I'm lazy.
 
Zero. Made it after I got my kit from midwest. Actually used the bottling bucket.. Then forgot one night after the second brew to bring it in and it froze that night.. frozen water in copper tubing = bad idea.. split the copper tube open. So I had to make another.. grrr..
 
Yesfan said:
Is it worth making a second one to use as a pre-chiller? One in the wort, and the other in a bucket of ice water with a cheap pond pump to re-circulate? If you build a bigger one, which one do you use in the wort/ice water bucket?
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Only if your water temps are above typical pitching temps. In these cases, the water can't cool any colder than itself, so it becomes necessary to "pre-chill" the water so you can get down a little lower. It could also be desirable in a fully recirculating setup where you're cooling down water that has all ready extracted heat from the wort.
 
Pre chillers are never worth it. Use that copper in your wort. If you want to pursue an ice bath, use a pump to pump the ice water directly through the chiller.
 
I did at least a dozen batches before I got sick of dropping $5 on ice for brewday. Realized for the $60 I'd spent on ice, I could've bought a good amount of copper tubing and made a chiller. So I did. About a year ago I bought a 25' coil of copper tubing and bent it to fit my kettle. A few months ago I bought another 50' of copper tubing, cut and spliced to the original 25 and bent it to fit my keggle. Don't know how I ever did without. 15 min from boil to fermenter vs 1hr from boil to fermenter with the icebath.
 
danmdevries said:
I did at least a dozen batches before I got sick of dropping $5 on ice for brewday. Realized for the $60 I'd spent on ice, I could've bought a good amount of copper tubing and made a chiller. So I did. About a year ago I bought a 25' coil of copper tubing and bent it to fit my kettle. A few months ago I bought another 50' of copper tubing, cut and spliced to the original 25 and bent it to fit my keggle. Don't know how I ever did without. 15 min from boil to fermenter vs 1hr from boil to fermenter with the icebath.
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One hour with an ice bath?? I'm guessing you saw some undesired side effects like chill haze frequently. I used to get nervous if my ice bath took longer than 35 mins.
 
0 batches before buying an immersion chiller, about 10 batches before I built my CFC. 5 years later and I'm on batch 70, going strong... ;)
 
I made IC right after 1st batch and complications with ice tub.
From this perspective I would made it before that 1st batch...
 
I got 90s so I could have the part totally bend out of the top, it is 6 inches outside my pot and 4 inches below the lip. I was already joining and soldering so I figured why risk it dripping in my kettle, it cost me about 8 dollars and took 30 minutes more but I'm glad I did

image-3544394502.jpg
 
so far 7 batches into my homebrew resurgence and have been doing ice bath up until my last batch when i borrowed my buddies IC. SO much easier and faster. planning to buy a IC kit from coppertubingsales.com and solder it myself. won't have to pay shipping because I will be traveling to the city where company is located that sales the kits.

Slainte-brew, that is exactly how i was going to build mine...!!
 
Been brewing for several years and while I have used an IC a time or 2, but I still don't own one. I a big proponent of the "no-chill" method. When the boil is done, I just take it off the heat and wait until it hits somewhere around 120-140F and drain it into my primary. I know 140F is good since that's what my water heater is set at and I only use hot water when I'm cleaning my fermenter. Once it's in the bucket, I put it into the swamp cooler with several frozen 2 liter bottles and wait until the next morning to pitch. No fuss, no muss. That said, it's a good idea to leave the lid of your fermenter open a little for half an hour to let some of the heat escape.
 
It's cool to read about all the different cooling methods on here. I probably did about 15 or batches till we got one. I got so sick of buying ice for the ice bath method. That and the saved time it was totally worth the investment. Even better than the auto-siphon!
 
After about my 5th batch I moved to AG... Since then I've been doing full boils, so after my 6th(1st AG) I bought 50 feet of copper and rolled my own. Much faster and less time consuming then trying to get a huge barrel and enough ice to try and chill it.
 
I've never used a chiller and don't plan on using one. I put a lid on my brew pot at the end of the boil and leave it for 24-48 hours, until my yeast starter is ready to pitch (stir plate 12-18 hours, chilled in fridge 8-24 hours). Then I combine the yeast and wort in the fermenting bucket. I've done this for 10-15 batches and never had a problem. I also throw a whirlfloc tablet in right before I put the lid on at the end of the boil and my beer ends up very clear.

I would argue that this method actually takes less time than the chiller method. Less hands-on time, that is. I just space my brewing out over the weekend. It takes very little active time. Different strokes for different folks.
 
cbar said:
I've never used a chiller and don't plan on using one. I put a lid on my brew pot at the end of the boil and leave it for 24-48 hours, until my yeast starter is ready to pitch (stir plate 12-18 hours, chilled in fridge 8-24 hours). Then I combine the yeast and wort in the fermenting bucket. I've done this for 10-15 batches and never had a problem. I also throw a whirlfloc tablet in right before I put the lid on at the end of the boil and my beer ends up very clear.

I would argue that this method actually takes less time than the chiller method. Less hands-on time, that is. I just space my brewing out over the weekend. It takes very little active time. Different strokes for different folks.
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While you're still 'chilling' the wort, this way, mine is already well into the fermentation process. I simply make my starters ahead of time (I plan accordingly) and it's a non-issue. I can also clean up my boil keggle on brew day, not days later.

While I know there's a following for the 'no-chill' method, I can't see ever doing it. There are negative effects that can easily happen from putting the lid on the boil kettle right at the end, and leaving it that way. I'd say you've gotten lucky so far.
 
10th batch of beer brewed and I celebrated by picking up a wort chiller before I started. I should have bought this thing sooner for sure! From boil to pitched yeast on my Holiday ale.....20 minutes. Took only 12 minutes to drop the temp from boiling to 73 degrees.:rockin:
 
FermentNEthinG said:
10th batch of beer brewed and I celebrated by picking up a wort chiller before I started. I should have bought this thing sooner for sure! From boil to pitched yeast on my Holiday ale.....20 minutes. Took only 12 minutes to drop the temp from boiling to 73 degrees.:rockin:
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I typically chill over 7 gallons to pitch temp in 10-12 minutes (from a full boil). Going to be interesting to see what happens during the colder months, while I'm brewing. Get a great cold break this way. :D
 
rtb178 said:
Ok, so I brew on my kitchen stove, and am unable to fit my 10 gallon pot into my kitchen sink to chill. More than anything, this is what makes me want to get a wort chiller.

But I don't know if my faucet will work with an IC or a PC. It's a pull out kitchen faucet with a sprayer (this one: http://www.moen.com/salora/chrome-one-handle-low-arc-pullout-kitchen-faucet/_/R-CONSUMER:7570C )

Anyone know which attachment works w one of these? Thanks.
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http://www.moen.com/shared/docs/exploded-parts-views/7570pt.pdf

I might think about putting a "T" in below the sink with a separate shut-off and a hose connection if you are really set on this.

I haven't seen an adaptor for that style of head.
 
I got a chiller after three batches. The only way I was able to cool before was an ice bath and in order to to reach pitching temps in a reasonable amount of time I was spending $10-$15 on bags of ice. At that rate it paid for itself very quickly.
 
It wasn't about a number of batches for me, but rather when I started doing AG and full boils. Chilling 6 gallons of wort is possible with ice, but ridiculous in terms of time and amount of ice. Before my second AG batch, I built a 50' copper immersion chiller.
 
0

I decided to get one before I made my first batch. They're not that expensive and it's not like you're going to wear it out. :mug:

Rick
 
copper immersion chiller since batch 0 through 14...

Blichmann Therminator upgrade after that for the last dozen batches.
 
I don't see the attraction to an IC. Maybe I'm missing something here but most are reporting chilling to pitching temp in approx 25 min. I do that with an ice bath. As far as cost for ice walmart sells this item called ice trays,:D so I make my own ice. It takes about three days using 10 ice trays to get the ice I need for chilling a 5 gallon batch to 64 degrees in about 20 to 25 minutes so unless everyone is chilling larger batches where is the time saved?
 
Part of the value isn't just the time for chilling, which mine works in roughly 8 minutes on a 5gal batch.The other thing is hassle factor. It only takes me 10 minutes total, if that, to hook it up and take it down. I don't have to spend three days making ice. I have a hard time envisioning where 25 minutes comes from unless you really warm tap water or use a really low flow rate through the coil or don't agitate the wort.
 
I have yet to make a wort chiller,still using ice baths. But I've had an idea in my head for a year now & I'm curious what y'all think. I'm going to use aluminum tubing,with a long straight section to go between two sink bowls. On the right,one coil for an ice bath with tap water running IN to it,then the other coil in the hot wort in the BK. Then sitting on a trivet so output hose can drain the hot water. I'm thinking I'll have to boil the BK side of the coil assembly,just like an aluminum BK. Should have quicker heat transfer,cost be damned. What say you??
 

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