50' or 25' immersion for 5 gal batches?

[limulus]

I can get either, but can save $30 if I use a 25' chiller.

 

[Hoppus_Poppatopolis]

I forgot what length I bought many moons ago but I know it's no more than 25'. That will work fine for a 5 gal batch.
I find that it works faster if I move it around every few minutes.

 

[wildwest450]

25' will work but I went with a 50', that way I can do double batches, it works well for both.

 

[Cold_Steel]

i used a 50' for a 40 gallon batch and it did the trick

 

[pdbreen]

I went with the 50' for the same reason as wildwest - it can handle 5 or 10 gallon batches. In a 5gal batch, the top 2 or 3 coils are not in the wort so it is more than what's needed, but it will cool 5gal in under 10 minutes with a whirlpool (and VT well water).

 

[wilserbrewer]

Buy two 25 footers and use one as a pre-chiller. All kidding aside, water temp is really more important than chiller length IMO. I would imagine summer tap water in Atlanta is on the warm side.

 

[Palefire]

50' is probably overkill for 5 gallon batches, since it'll probably stick out of the wort some. I bought 50' of tubing, made a 35' IC and a 15' pre-chiller. Works great.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

Wilserbrewer is right in that tap water temps are going to vary drastically on location. I would pay attention to where each person is along with the advice they give.

I chose to make a 50 foot chiller. I like it and I feel 25 feet would take too long for me.

- Pennsylvania

 

[MultumInParvo]

Just to second everyone else, anything over 25' for 5 gallons is over kill, unless you like spending money. Some people will say you will want larger for a 10 gallon batch, but in my opinion that is really only if you put a very high value on your time. What is an extra 5-10 minutes anyways?

 

[shortyjacobs]

I love my 50' even for 5 gal batches.

Things to think about:

• What diameter pipe?? This is VERY important. 50' of 1/4" will cool less than 25' of 1/2".
• What pot are you chilling in? 50' in my keggle for 5 gallons is overkill, a lot sticks out. 50' in my 7.5 gal turkey fryer is great, as it's all submerged.
• What is your water supply? Coming from a hose, you have plenty of pressure and flow, so no worries. Coming from a kitchen tap, your pressure and flow are going to be more limited, and you'll want a larger diameter tube so you don't lose a crapload of pressure (and flow), from pressure drop in the tubing.

I think that regardless of groundwater temp, bigger is better. I have a 50' 1/2" chiller, and it's dynamite for 5 gallon batches with my cold water, (under 10 minutes from boil to pitchable), and still good for 10 gallon batches.

 

[Lupy]

I built a 50' x 1/2" for my 5gal batches. It does work great but it is a couple of coils taller than my typical 5gals. Mine was wound close to 13" in diameter and will have to be modified to work in my forthcoming 15.5gal keg conversion. I tend to agree that "bigger is better" when it comes to cooling.

 

[wilserbrewer]

I think that regardless of groundwater temp, bigger is better.

Well Shorty, from MN guess there are two grounwater temps...flowing and frozen. The boys in FL are fighting a whole different battle, down south they only bury the water lines about a foot or so as there is no frost. Summer months the tapwater flows like soup, and even a hundred foot IC won't be of much use.

 

[CDbrews]

I would say the bigger the better but i got my copper for free so there was no point in making a 25' when i had 50'. it depends on how much 30$ is of value to you. Will the left over money go to something of value or get blown on insignificant stuff? there is more to the situation than just money, at least i veiw it as that.

 

[CDbrews]

Well Shorty, from MN guess there are two grounwater temps...flowing and frozen. The boys in FL are fighting a whole different battle, down south they only bury the water lines about a foot or so as there is no frost. Summer months the tapwater flows like soup, and even a hundred foot IC won't be of much use.

Haha i guess we are lucky with our water temps shorty!

 

[Reedwalker]

50' is probably overkill for 5 gallon batches, since it'll probably stick out of the wort some. I bought 50' of tubing, made a 35' IC and a 15' pre-chiller. Works great.

+1 to this. I have a similar setup. Water temp is the key. Ice bath pre-chiller with re-circulating pump is very water and energy efficent.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

I can say that my 50' x 1/2" immersion chiller took about 30 minutes to get down to 68F when I brewed 5 gallons last week. Right now the water temp in Pittsburgh is "average". In other words this was a completely average sized brew with average tap water temps. If my IC took longer than 30 minutes I would be dissappointed. I'm glad I built a 50' chiller as 25' would have taken too long. Although, a 35' and 15' prechiller might be a good option. Yeah it cost more money but my time during a brew day is important to me.

If you have plans to build a keggle someday I would be sure to keep the outer diameter of the chiller at 12 inches maximum. Also, you will want to make the output and input portions at least 24 inches tall so that it clears the top of keggle. Building my IC to these dimensions left me with only 1 coil out of the wort on a 5 gallon batch in a keggle. Below is a link with keg dimensions.
http://www.micromatic.com/article-aid-11.html

 

[limulus]

Thanks everyone for all the info. I ordered a 25' IC and I have a section of hose that I can coil up in an ice bath. The water around here in Jul/Aug is probably around 80. However, I'll be at my lake house in the mountains whenever I have free time in summer, so my "brewing season" will be over in those months. The temps here in suburban Atl are going down into the 30s tonight, so I think the water will be much cooler for my return to brewing!

 

[limulus]

The 25' immersion chiller arrived yesterday and I'm happy with the quality. It was packaged very well in a sturdy box and absolutely surrounded by styrofoam peanuts.
http://www.learntobrew.com/store/category/gm1w/-_Chillers_Pumps.html

 

[rico567]

I have a 25' copper chiller, have no problems getting <70F in 20 minutes with our 55F well water, and I'm sure that any 50' chiller I could build would stick up out of my wort anyway. And since I have no intention of brewing larger batches in future, that's pretty much it.