Wort Chiller - New vs. Homemade

[redwing_al]

I'm going to invest in a wort chiller finally. Is there a cost/value benefit to building one form copper tubing from Lowes/Home Depot or should I just buy one?

What gauge copper do I need to build? How many feet of it should I buy?

If I simply buy a wort chiller, what is a good price? What is considered a good deal?

I'm just trying to compare my options, but I'm not exactly sure which path I should take.

Thanks!

 

[andhou27]

I'd go stainless steel over copper and northerbrewer.com has some for around $50-60

 

[OkashiiBrew]

HD sells 1/2 inch by 20 feet for $21.65. the NB website show a made chiller that is 3/8 inch by 25 feet for $79.99. My homemade one may not look great but the $50 I saved is more than enough for 6 packs of yeast or.......
It works great and I have the satisfaction of having done it myself. You-tube has a few videos of guys making them by
wrapping the tubing around a keg. The local brewstore owner just does it freehand and his look great.

 

[danthebugman]

I've been pondering this for a while and finally decided to do my own. Mostly because I like to build my own brewing equipment when/if I can. I think I'll also save a little money for what I want to do. Some things to think about would be can you do it yourself? A wort chiller is a pretty easy DIY project, but I know some people just aren't very handy. How big are your typical batches? If you're cooling 5 gallons you can build a smaller wort chiller than if you're going to try and cool 10 gallons of wort. It seems that the "standard" wort chiller is 3/8" and about 25', but there's no rule that's what you have to do.

 

[redwing_al]

Thanks everyone.. I should have stated my typical.. I usually do 2.5g boils, chill and then add water.

I might give a home-made chiller a try since I have a gift card to Lowes! thanks!

Oh, before I head down there, what gauge tubing do you recommend? I wouldn't want it to melt coming out of the hot-end of the chiller...

Should I go with 20' or should I go longer?

THANKS!

 

[Lcoron4]

I'm in your same shoes... I ended up buying a 25' copper line set that is 3/8" thick... I have it rolled inside my 5 gallon pot... BUT I don't know how to finish it! Should I add copper fittings to it? If do what do I need? ... what about hoses? What do you guys recommend? I want to make it so I can brew inside in my kitchen and outdoors. Thanks!

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[Lcoron4]

^^^^ This is my wort chiller. how do I finish so I can run water through it.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[mtnagel]

I used a pipe bender to make the tighter bends and attached plastic tubing with teflon tap and these:

For the end that attaches to the faucet, I used a barbed hose adapter like this:

But you'd have to make sure you can hook that up to your sink.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Thanks everyone.. I should have stated my typical.. I usually do 2.5g boils, chill and then add water.

For 2.5 gallon boils, might just be easier to chill in the sink w/ an ice bath and chill your top off water very cold...just sayin.

I don't think I would bother getting out the chiller for small batch brewing, sorry JMO cheers!

 

[mtnagel]

This isn't mine, but this is exactly how I made mine, except I went with 50' for the main chiller and 20' for the pre-chiller. I figure if it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing.

 

[OkashiiBrew]

I also used a barbed hose adapter. But for tubing, I used the silicon tubing as it makes a better seal.. I found myself making the clamps on the clear plastic so tight, it was denting the tubing. I also had a few leaks spraying water into my fresh boiled wort. Had to stop chilling and boil for 15 more minutes just to be safe. With the squishy silicon tubing I have had no problems at all.

 

[Lcoron4]

Yeah for now I'm attaching hoses to the ends, clamping them down and getting a hose/faucet adaptor. I'm gonna look and see what I need to get copper fittings into it instead.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[dobe12]

About 2 years ago I was going to make my own. I priced out the copper, tubing, fittings, clamps, etc. I then found a 50' chiller online for around $60. Since the price was almost identical, I bought premade. Not sure the cost of copper these days, but 2 years ago it was quite expensive.

 

[Sjorge3442]

if your making it yourself, make a Counterflow chiller. I just used mine for the first time yesterday and wow. Boiling wort to 68 degrees in the amount of time it took the pot to drain by gravity. No more waiting for an immersion chiller to do its work or the need to throw frozen water bottles into the beer.

 

[day_trippr]

To provide a valid comparison of utility between an IC and a CFC, you kinda need to include setup and cleaning times for both along with their operational speed.

If you can beat 10 minutes from start to finish with a CFC, you're good in my book, because that's how long it took this weekend to setup, cool a 5.5g batch, and clean my trusty IC...

Cheers!

 

[Transamguy77]

I have both, I have a store bought 3/8x25' chiller that I used for 5 gallon batches, I made a 1/2x50' for my 10 gallon batches that I made from a kit from Coppertubingsales, what I liked about making my own was I could make it how I wanted it, rigid uprights, rigid 90's and legs so it sits above my dip tube. What I made I couldn't buy anywhere. Here's a pic.