DIY Cost-Effective Immersion Wort Chiller

[bikerchef970]

Add a cheap fountain pump and a cooler of ice water to chill quickly and without excess waste water by recycling into the cooler

 

[bnhocking]

That might work out well for 5 gallons. I have a plate chiller that I use, I am brewing 16.5 gallons at a time. I used to use a 25 foot copper coil and the chill time was around 1 hour. The plate chiller will, in the winter, drop 16.5 gallons to 68F from boiling in about 11 min. About at fast as my March pump can pump the wort. Then I can also use a hop back as well. This option may end up 140 bucks cheaper than a plate chiller, but a plate chiller will more than makes up for that in time saved. Now come up with a cheap DIY plate chiller and I am in!

 

[bikerchef970]

@bnhocking 50 feet of dual coil copper should definitely be enough to cool a big batch without the big investment of a plate chiller. we normal brewers have to brew in a budget and need highly effective, affordable options for our operations. Immersion chillers are highly effective when used properly and correctly adapted to individual needs.

 

[hatedheretic]

that is awesome!! thanks for that step by step write up.

 

[Peteambrose]

Some of you talk about string your wort while you are chilling your beer to drop the temp faster. I don't recommend this though. The clarity of your beer starts as soon as you take it off the heat and all the turb sediment starts to fall out. You want to leave as much of this in your brew kettle as possible. when you stir your wort you mix in all of the sediment and then end up racking it into your primary, making it harder for your Irish moss to do its job. just let it sit, I don't even move my kettle off the burner at this point. The wort chiller will cool the beer just fine without string and in the end your beer will be clearer when you bottle or keg it. And remember to siphon off the top.

 

[drklingman]

I live in FL too. I also use a pre-chiller in a bucket of ice during the summer months (don't need it now in Jan), but I don't put the ice in for the first 10 min or so since even at 80F water temp the differential to the boiled wort is pretty high. It definitely does help to move the wort chiller around or stir the wort (slowly) as a boundary layer forms in the liquid around the copper tubing and the heat transfer goes way down. The same with the tubing in the bucket of ice. A little movement makes a huge difference in the amount of cooling in the water going through the coils in the ice. And I haven't had any clarity issues as the solids seem to settle out fairly quickly.

 

[drklingman]

@kacey1973
lhbs = local homebrew supply (shop)

 

[tone_s]

@drklingman
I tried swirling the wort chiller tonight with boiling water as a test. It cools a lot faster. As long as you don't slosh it around and disturb the bottom it should be fine. There are a lot of posts on this site with people swirling. I do want a pre chiller for the hot florida summer days though.

 

[sutepan]

I made a 25' immersion chiller much like this last week. Totally cost including taxes was $46CAN (My LHBS sells a 20' version for $80 plus tax). 25' of 3/8" copper tubing at Home Hardware was $27.99. A tube bending spring to make the tight bends at both ends of the tube was less than $5 at Home Depot. I wrapped the coil so the vertical outlet length from the bottom was inside the coil, which makes for a sturdier assembly IMO. I used copper ground wire to secure the outlet length to the coil top and bottom. I attached a brass compression fitting for my garden hose directly to the inlet pipe. Easy-peasy, took about 45min total start to finish. Can't wait to try it out! I'd attach a pic but don't know how to do it in a thread comment...

 

[spm19713]

It may be worth noting that you don't need the full 25'. I found a box of flexible copper tubing at Home Depot that was, for some reason, missing a few feet. I think it ended up being around 10', so grabbed it and the cheapest garden hose they had and two hose clamps. $20 total and it cools my wort from full boil to 70 degrees in 40 minutes.

 

[dongemus]

@kacey1973 LHBS = Local Home Brew Store
We went to Adventures In Homebrewing (http://www.homebrewing.org)

 

[TwoJays]

After my first homebrew batch took forever to chill (someone forgot to make/get enough ice for an ice bath...), I went ahead and made one of these. If you have ANY diy talent, it's simple and will save a buck for sure. As someone pointed out above, stirring gently, but constantly will rapidly accelerate your cooling. I am going to have to look into the 'pond pump' idea, as summer time temperatures on our municipal water can reach the 80s (slowing the cooling process immensely).

 

[NewBrewerTFM]

From boil to pitch in less then ten minutes, NO running water. I just cooled my wort from 200 deg to 80 in about five minutes. I used less the two gal of water and a bag of ice. Place the copper coil in a bucket of ice water and siphen the wort through the coil into the fermenter. don't allow the wort through too quickly or else.

 

[GeorgiaBeer]

Thanks for the write-up. Just used my homemade wort chiller last night and loved it.
If you're doing DIY beer, why not use DIY materials? Keep the great articles and projects coming!

 

[kepo]

@NewBrewerTFM
Could you elaborate? I was thinking the same thing then I read your post. I was thinking of taking 20foot of copper and coiling it inside a bucket. Cut a hole at the bottom of the bucket for the copper to come through and seal with silicone since it wolnt touch the wort. Fill bucket with ice water and run the wort through into the fermenter. It's seems like it could be a cheep way to cool quick. You could even take it a step further and use a wort chiller in the kettle till a certain temp and then run it through the other chiller. Any one else ever try this?

 

[ImperialStout]

Thanks for the original post. I made an immersion chiller form 1/2" copper. It works great but doesn't look professionally done like yours does. I cool 7.5 gal boiling wort to 68 F in 15 - 20 min. Stirring is the key. Without stirring cooling will take much longer.

 

[tone_s]

@ImperialStout
I agree. I cool way faster now that I stir

 

[heinz99]

@dannylerchTrue, but copper is also anti microbial....

 

[asdf1234]

swageloc and mc master carr will allow for a quick, cheap sourcing of the exact supplies you want, no welding needed for a good solid connection

 

[CrazyJoeMalloy]

Thanks for posting this - made one of these yesterday in no time for my first extract brew, worked like a charm!
I used a washer hose for my connection and threaded the output through one of the loops to help hold it in place as I didn't want any hose clamps in the wort. I didn't have a pipe bender so there are no 90 degree bends so much as long swooping curves. A little crude but very effective and that suits me just fine.

 

[Robar]

Love the write up and the pics help for those who have never made one before. I made mine 6 years ago and have never regretted it.
For those who do smaller batches and can get their brew pot into the sink and use an ice water bath to chill it keep doing it! But don't let it stop you from making your immersion chiller. In summer when it was hot and I was still using a small enough pot I did BOTH at the same time to cool down quickly.
Plate Chiller: My other hobby is Blacksmithing so I catch a lot of things on youtube related to heat and metal. I watched a few videos on back yard foundry projects. As I watched a guy melting down aluminum cans to make things with, I immediately thought of a chiller plate. I'm thinking it would be easy to make if you are handy in that way. Once I get some of my more pressing projects done I might give it a go.

 

[lifefermented]

I recently made a wort chiller using much thinner copper tubing to improve heat transfer efficiency. I used three parallel coiled tubes to ensure my coolant flow was about the same as a a larger tubing diameter. With so much more copper surface area in the pot, it cools faster than a single larger tube. I did a write up about it here: http://lifefermented.wordpress.com/2013/05/18/diy-immersion-chiller-the-hydra/

 

[mdennytoo]

How do you get 25' of 3/8" for $20? Best price I can see is $60 for 50' and $40 for 20'. This will still be less expensive than a pre-made one, but after fittings, driving to Lowes/ Home Depot, and an hour of your time they are about equal. My LHBS has a short 20' chiller for $89. Mine was free because Mrs. mdennytoo's mom thought of me on my birthday.

 

[ClemTiger0408]

How in the world did you get 3/8" hose around the pipe? I spent nearly 30 minutes and destroyed my hands trying to get it around the pipe and eventually gave up. The pipe opening and the hose are the exact same size around, and with the thickness of the hose it is utterly impossible!

 

[tone_s]

Mdennytoo, I just waited for a sale at a big box store.
Clem, heat the hose end under hot water first to soften it. It does take some work, but a it does go on

 

[jmaple4]

Thanks for writing this up. I used your instructions and built one of my own. You can see it here: http://imgur.com/a/id4T7

 

[golson3]

@Peteambrose
If you cool gradually, you're missing out on the "cold break" that happens when you rapidly chill the wort. This is another opportunity to knock more of that gunk out of your beer. Just rapidly cool and then let settle. I mean, you're "probably" going to have to aggravate the wort again to aerate it after cooling anyhow, unless you're using some kind of aeration contraption like the aquarium pumps to get the O2 into your wort.

 

[150kwh]

Cheap DIY upgrade to prevent leaks ruining wort: compression to garden hose in one $4 part, a "dishwasher elbow"
http://i1290.photobucket.com/albums/b538/150kWh/Home%20Brew/7330a146-69b8-4b16-8939-d85362c2a346_zpsf1d13080.jpg
My intention: Hose in (through window), barb + tubing out. No sink mods required.

 

[Wvbrewer77]

Thank for the info... I will have to make one soon...

 

[Ronf]

We buy milk in 1 gal plastic jugs. I fill with water and freeze. I break up the ice with an ice pick thru the wall of the jug and cut open to dump ice into the sink. I've cooled in under 30 min

 

[phillip]

I have the same setup only thing I do different is instead of putting the pre chiller in a ice bath I freeze the pre chiller in a pot of water so it's one solid block of ice. The fastest I've cooled is 18mins but mostly steady at 20min.

 

[Joseph Mead]

I’ve been thinking about doing this for sometime now. Looks pretty easy!