DIY Wort Chiller (Immersion)

[CRQuarto]

Well, thanks to the awesome community here and the outstanding write-ups you do, I sucessfully built my own wort chiller with my dad this weekend, right in time for brewing a Belgian Wit on Sunday! Thanks everyone, this thing works great! We did two full overlapping coils using 3/8" soft refridgerator copper tubing, and used aerospace grade stainless steel wire to lash together the intersecting points on the outer counter twist coil, giving it a decent amount of rigidity.

The finished beer!

 

[Beer_Guy]

You give me hope.

I like the way you turned the ends over the edge instead of having to sweat fittings. I can do that.

 

[Beer_Guy]

I think I will use a small tubing cutter to put a few light grooves near the ends to help the clamps hold on.

 

[michigator04]

I am trying to accomplish something similar with my setup. The problem I'm running into is that I haven't figured out the best way to connect the 3/8 copper tubing to the kitchen sink. The guy at home depot was clueless about how to do it and wanted me to buy $40 worth of solid brass connectors to do the job, but there must be a better (cheaper) way. Any thoughts? Also, what size vinyl tubing did you use to go over the 3/8 copper?

 

[CRQuarto]

The tubing will have measurements for the inside diameter, which is what you will want to look for. The copper is 3/8's, so look for the tubing that has an inside diameter of 3/8's. It'll slip right over the copper nice and snug. Make sure you tighten the hose clamps really tight, the pressure put on this thing is more than you would suspect. For the connection to the kitchen sink, they should have hose adapters with barbed ends. Find the barbed adapter that is 3/8's inch that steps up to the size connection your sink is. It was like $4 for that piece, so don't listen to the guy at home depot. Good luck, it really is easy to do!

 

[jasonsbeer]

I am trying to accomplish something similar with my setup. The problem I'm running into is that I haven't figured out the best way to connect the 3/8 copper tubing to the kitchen sink. The guy at home depot was clueless about how to do it and wanted me to buy $40 worth of solid brass connectors to do the job, but there must be a better (cheaper) way. Any thoughts? Also, what size vinyl tubing did you use to go over the 3/8 copper?

This is what you want:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/faucet-adapter.html

This will let you connect your sink faucet to a garden hose adapter.

 

[atwebb]

I've got a simple 50 ft 3/8 inch copper chiller. All it is is 50 feet of copper that was wrapped around a pot, then I took a washing machine hookup hose (these have garden hose connectors on both ends), snipped off one end and slid it onto on end of the copper (fits perfect but I did put a hose clamp on just in case). The other end is open since I brew outside and let it go into the lawn. No soldering, no sweating, about 20 minutes to make.

 

[camiller]

This is what you want:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/faucet-adapter.html

This will let you connect your sink faucet to a garden hose adapter.

If the sink has a removable aerator. A lot of modern sink hardware does not have the removable piece that the adapter replaces.

 

[michigator04]

Thanks for the suggestions. I ended up deciding to just keep it simple and am using a garden hose from outside coupled to the vinyl by a 3/4 hose --> 3/8 barb adapter.

Works great once I figured out that the reduction in size = a huge increase in pressure, and therefore the hose has to be on really low so you don't blow out all over the kitchen on your test run.

 

[manoaction]

Thanks for the suggestions. I ended up deciding to just keep it simple and am using a garden hose from outside coupled to the vinyl by a 3/4 hose --> 3/8 barb adapter.

Yeah I did the same thing. My immersion chiller is literally just 30 ft of copper tube with the ends draped over the sides. The 3/8" vinyl tubing connects almost without clamps at all.

Even if it leaks a little, it doesn't matter because it is just dripping in the sink. Nobody who wants one should be without one.

 

[camiller]

Yeah I did the same thing. My immersion chiller is literally just 30 ft of copper tube with the ends draped over the sides. The 3/8" vinyl tubing connects almost without clamps at all.

Even if it leaks a little, it doesn't matter because it is just dripping in the sink. Nobody who wants one should be without one.

I just skip the vinyl tubing altogether.

 

[johnodon]

Did you find the stainless thread in a local store?

 

[NateLTB]

If the sink has a removable aerator. A lot of modern sink hardware does not have the removable piece that the adapter replaces.

Actually, almost every single faucet out there still has removable aerators. There are a couple of high end ones that aren't removable without a tool or taking the faucet apart but you can change almost all of them.

 

[KavDaven]

How do you bend the copper tubing? Is it so malleable that you can bend it by hand? or do you need to heat it? or do you need a certain plumber pipe bending tool?

 

[JoshuaW]

How do you bend the copper tubing? Is it so malleable that you can bend it by hand? or do you need to heat it? or do you need a certain plumber pipe bending tool?

You can do it by hand, but you might get some kinks if you aren't careful.

 

[Ibrewaletx]

How do you bend the copper tubing? Is it so malleable that you can bend it by hand? or do you need to heat it? or do you need a certain plumber pipe bending tool?

You can bend it around a keg or any other skinny object that is round. See pics of my old chiller I rolled around a cooler.