DIY Wort Chiller and Pump

[evilpresence]

My brother bought myself/wife a starter brew kit a few weeks ago. After making the Brewer's Best American Amber, I knew that a wort chiller was necessary. I've spent the last few weeks learning a ton on this forum and another.

Went to Home Depot and bought the following items for $61.

• 20' x 3/8" OD soft copper coil
• 10' x 3/8" OD vinyl tube
• 3/8" comp elbow
• 3/8" straight
• Rigid Universal Water Pump

Used a paint can to bend the copper.

Attached a few connectors. Original plan was to make mine similar to a mass produced one but after bending the copper a little, I was not going to achieve my goal so an elbow connector wasn't necessary but it's what I had.

And gave it a test drive.

Since I'm still new to brewing, I picked up The Innkeeper (from Northern Brewer) and made a batch after work. Below is the wort chiller in action.

Trying to be as efficient as possible with the ice (used 15 lbs), the first few minutes I had the water drain in the sink (on the right) instead of the pool on the left for re-circulation. After three minutes I re-circulated the water.

Temps as follows:

• 7:21 PM - 210*F
• 7:24 PM - 150*F
• 7:27 PM - 110*F
• 7:31 PM - 90*F
• 7:34 PM - 80*F

This took about 10 minutes to make and was well worth it!