Best deal on a immersion wort chiller?

[ProfessorBrew]

Does anyone have a recommendations on where to get a good deal on an 25' immersion chiller? Also, any good brands (or ones to avoid)? I've heard horror stories about ones that leak into the wort.

 

[kevin476]

I stopped by Home Depot and got 50' of 3/8 copper tubing and wraped it around my Cornie keg about 10 times or so and then put compression end on to get to garden hose. It all cost me about $40 and Im in Alaska so surely you could do it cheaper.

 

[ProfessorBrew]

I considered doing it myself, but I'm paranoid about getting kinks in the tubing. Thoughts?

 

[ChandlerBang]

I considered doing it myself, but I'm paranoid about getting kinks in the tubing. Thoughts?

As long as you go slow and use a keg or something of similar diameter you'll be fine.

 

[BeardedIdiot]

I stopped by Home Depot and got 50' of 3/8 copper tubing and wraped it around my Cornie keg about 10 times or so and then put compression end on to get to garden hose. It all cost me about $40 and Im in Alaska so surely you could do it cheaper.

I've looked at the copper tubing at HD/Lowes here, and as far as I can tell I canget 25 feet of 3/8" for about $50. If I want 1/2", or 50 feet, then it jumps up dramatically...

 

[d3track]

Mine isn't perfect, but works - Menards had 25' for an ice maker - $22. It's only 1/4" but for less than $30 with hoses and fittings it gets me to 75* in about 30 mins (less than half the time with ice).

The bonus wit this is it is already coiled and will take a whooping 3 mins to bend the ends to sit up over the top of your kettle.

 

[d3track]

Mine isn't perfect, but works - Menards had 25' for an ice maker - $22. It's only 1/4" but for less than $30 with hoses and fittings it gets me to 75* in about 30 mins (less than half the time with ice).

The bonus wit this is it is already coiled and will take a whooping 3 mins to bend the ends to sit up over the top of your kettle.

 

[BrewThruYou]

I bought mine from nybrewsupply.com

 

[JonathanG]

I bought mine from nybrewsupply.com

Same here. I ended up getting the 50-foot stainless steel IWC. Thought it'd hold up a little better and be easier to maintain, compared to copper. I went with the 50-foot size, as I plan on stepping up to 10-gallon batches at some point. I simply added worm clamps onto all the tubing to avoid anything coming loose.

 

[kh54s10]

I got 20' of 3/8" copper tubing at Home Depot for $19. Along with some hose clamps, vinyl tubing and a garden hose/nipple fitting made an IC. I used no tools to bend the tubing. I just went very carefully. It does not leak.

It was great while the house water was very cold in the winter but lagged as the water warmed up so I got another coil. I coiled this one a little smaller so it would fit inside the first one. I can put both in the wort or put one in a bucket of icewater as a prechiller.

Do not fear making one. It is easy and you should have no problems if you work slowly and carefully while making bends.

 

[Lennie]

Get the thinnest walled copper tubing (used for refrigeration lines), it is plenty sturdy and works fine. I think it is sized differently though, possibly based on outside diameter rather than inside so watch for that. It isn't that prone to kinking and is easily bent around a circular object like a keg. The only place you want to go easy is on the bend to bring it out the top of your kettle, thats the hardest bend and you might solder a 90 degree elbow there to eliminate the need for a hard bend. I try and find something for a form that puts the coils about an inch inside the wall of the kettle, that way I can stir without beating on the IC too much.

 

[WesleyS]

It isn't that prone to kinking and is easily bent around a circular object like a keg. The only place you want to go easy is on the bend to bring it out the top of your kettle, thats the hardest bend and you might solder a 90 degree elbow there to eliminate the need for a hard bend.

I formed mine around a corny. For the 90 degree bends I used a 22oz beer bottle to slowly bend the tubing around. I just moved the bottle little by little while bending.



The top bends aren't quite 90s but that's because it was more difficult to bend towards the ends. If I didn't have an old chiller to use as a pre-chiller I definitely would've went with 1/2 inch instead of 3/8.