DIY Wort Chiller- Any Real Savings?

[wolverinebrewer]

My concern is that the copper at Home Depot andbLowes only comes in 10', 20', and 50' lengths. Is there gonna be a major problem with only having a 20' chiller? I only go 5 gallon batches.

I used Lowe's 20' coil of 5/8". I bought a couple of straight pieces for the uprights, used elbows for the connections, and brass hose fittings.
Since it came in a coil shape, it was easy to hand-bend to form a 10" circle.
I might have went overkill with the straight pieces and elbows but, IMO, it looks much neater than just bending up the inlet and outlet ends. The key is to shape it according to the shape of your kettle.
Anyway, it all cost $48 and it does a great job.

 

[Skagdog]

LBHS has one in Fairbanks for 85 bucks. I bought a 25' copper roll for $36 bucks and two garden hose adapters for $5.65 a piece. It took me about half an hour to coil it and I Red RTV'd and hose clamped the fittings in the pipe. Buying anything and shipping it to AK is a PITA (6oz of hops from NB is $22+ in shipping for 6 days)

Once I add the shipping it's almost always cheaper to DIY stuff where applicable.

I think it's a case-by-case basis on whether or not it's a cost savings and I know a lot of people (ME) love to tinker with things and make things so you have that intangible to consider as well.

Happy Brewing.

 

[aubiecat]

I just got a 3/8" x 50' coil from Amazon for $57.54 free 2 day shipping. Will be here Friday, brewing Saturday.

 

[joehalford01]

I made mine for my first brew from parts I bought at Lowes. 20' of 3/8" copper, some tubing, adapter's for my facet, and some hose clamps. Came out to $50. I saved a couple bucks and at least I was able to get it custom to fit my faucet. I wouldn't feel bad buying one pre-made though.

 

[Gunrunner]

I had made one from 20 ft of 3/8 and it cost around $30 with all the parts. It works great and drops the temp in no time at all. I would not buy a premade one when you can DIY for half as much.

 

[Pie_Man]

I just went through this make vs. buy decision on my new wort chiller. I wanted a 50 ft. chiller as I plan to do larger batches in the future. The 1/2 inch 50 ft. copper tubing at homedepot is $80, and that doesn't include any of the hose attachments. I bought the same spec wort chiller, with shipping, pre-made, and with hose attachments for a little over $100. For me, it was well worth the extra $20 to have it pre-made. Technically, my wife bought it for me for Christmas which is cool.

Cheers everyone.

 

[tedscastle]

I bought the parts at Lowes also. To me, it is not about the cost savings. Just like brewing the beer, it is about the satisfaction knowing that you made it. This was also the easiest project I have assembled and it saved about $20 over the exact same item at my LHBS.

 

[badhabit]

I ran in to the same thing a year ago when I bought my second one...I ended up going with stainless steel after owning a copper one, and I absolutely love it.
I think that Midwest is going to try and get you on the shipping cost and thats why I bought mine from these guys: Homebrew Supplies: Buy home brewing supplies at NY Brew Supply it ended up being less than $50.

I ended up buying from nybrewsupply as it cost less that $10.00 more with shipping for me to buy rather than make.

 

[zacster]

I put my own together and it wasn't worth it. I don't know how to attach proper fittings, and to this day I just have ring clamps on the tubing. The copper was expensive and it basically looks like crap. It does work however, so not all is wasted.

I'm buying a 10 gallon pot and I'll have to modify it now too so that it will reach in. At least I left all the extra copper attached.

 

[BigTerp]

I made a 25' 1/2" IC for around $40. Took me about 15 minutes to make and was stupidly simple. Lowes and Home Depot have overpriced copper tubing, IMO. I got mine from copper tubing sales. You can definitely save money by DIY.

https://coppertubingsales.com/store...=21_117_119&osCsid=ja2d9jrksa5ki29phti4l83ve4