How many batches before you bought a wort chiller?

[grmski]

No need for those clumsy copper rolls just pour the hot wort into a no chill cube and let nature take it course.

 

[jwalk4]

I'm making my IC this weekend. 50 feet. 1/2 diameter. I'm so tired of the ice bath thing.

 

[FTG-05]

Built mine while my first kit was in the mail. I also repurposed an old Hayden 457 oil cooler as a pre-chiller since our tap water can get pretty warm during the summer.

My current IC is 50' of 3/8" copper, I'm thinking of modifying it with another 50', connecting them together in parallel with 1/2" hose ends. I plan to go to partial 10 gallon brews, but since I haven't started that yet, I'll probably wait until next spring for that project.

Good luck!

 

[trevor_b]

13-14 batches for me, only because I'm frugal. Finally bought one from ny brew supply a few months back and I'm now wondering why I waited so long. They are so convenient.

 

[rtb178]

Ok, so I brew on my kitchen stove, and am unable to fit my 10 gallon pot into my kitchen sink to chill. More than anything, this is what makes me want to get a wort chiller.

But I don't know if my faucet will work with an IC or a PC. It's a pull out kitchen faucet with a sprayer (this one: http://www.moen.com/salora/chrome-one-handle-low-arc-pullout-kitchen-faucet/_/R-CONSUMER:7570C )

Anyone know which attachment works w one of these? Thanks.

 

[Toga]

I did 20+ batches just chilling in a ice bath. In the sink at first when I was still brewing with extract then on to a huge tub I could fill with water and ice and stick my larger boil pot in when I moved to all grain. Both worked well and would get down fairly fast. Since building an immersion chiller I am kicking myself for not building one sooner. I am down to around 70 in 10 minutes or less with a 50ft 3/8 coil using my ultra cold well water.

 

[diptherunner]

1 batch. I built a 50ft' 1/2 immersion chiller. From 210 to 70 in 15 minutes, easy. Shortened brewing time and its fun to watch. Definitely a good investment.

 

[usfmikeb]

Once I started doing full boils, I made my own 50' copper immersion chiller. Bought the copper from Home Depot, along with a spring style pipe bender for use with flexible piping. Used a corny as the guide, has worked great for many years now.

 

[revco]

After my first ice bath, I had an IC on the way. Wasn't about to do that again...spent $8.00 on ice and it still took 30 minutes. Plus, I didn't care for the idea of hauling near boiling liquid over to the ice bath. I'm a fan of IC's personally...I capture the excess water and use it for cleaning.

 

[metanoia]

I've made 3 batches with ice baths now (lucky to have a large kitchen sink), but it's a PITA. I'm updating some equipment and a wort chiller is on the list for sure. I think some issues I had with the batches were due to an less-effective cold break.

 

[freeflydude]

I use an IC 20' 3/8" copper with the brew kettle in an ice bath (50 lbs of ice in plastic tub with about 3 gallons of water) and recirculate the cold water through the IC with an old 12v water pump from my trailer. Gets 6 gallons of boiling wort down to 70's in about 20 minutes. A 50' coil would be even faster but not in the budget right now. It saves a lot of water too since I'm recirculating the chilled water. for full boils or larger batches definitely need some sort of cooling system. I am going to get a better system that won't require so much ice but for now it works great.

 

[Aboo]

I bought my supplies from a gent on Craigslist and it included a home-made IC. I used it the first time. 15 minutes to cool to 68 degrees from boiling. 3 gallon boil.

 

[sok454]

Maybe i did something wrong... but i didn't use an IC for my first batch and it only took about 20 minutes to cool w the ice bath and adding the additional 2 gallons (after they'd be in freezer for 2-3 hours). Seemed to work great.

 

[dk21]

1. I let my first batch cool overnight in the bucket since my kettle wouldn't fit in my sink (turned out fine). A chiller was my first upgrade and was completely worth it.

 

[stellaontap]

I have never brewed without a chiller.

 

[sweed]

No need to yet through 5 batches. I can cool my wort down to 100 in 15-20 mins, then mix it with cold water in the fermenter to get out down to 70. So far so good with the smaller 5 gallon batches.

 

[Yesfan]

Mine is the one from Northern Brewer. I didn't think to make my own until after I had already bought mine and started watching some home brewing videos on on You Tube.


Is it worth making a second one to use as a pre-chiller? One in the wort, and the other in a bucket of ice water with a cheap pond pump to re-circulate? If you build a bigger one, which one do you use in the wort/ice water bucket?

Sorry OP if this is off topic.

 

[Slainte-brew]

When I was doing partial boils it wasn't a big deal, like some have said I would get it to 90-100 and add in 2 gallons of cold water to get it the rest of he way. 4 batches of full boil and borrowing a buddies and I built my own for about 45 dollars. 40 ft of copper, hose, garden hose fittings, and copper 90s.

 

[kilted_brews]

I brewed one batch before building a wort chiller. Since up sizing my system to handle full wort boils I've built a larger chiller for my new kettle. I've used the smaller ic in an ice bath to pre chill the water going to the larger chiller but that is often more trouble than it's worth... Plus I'm lazy.

 

[Nova5]

Zero. Made it after I got my kit from midwest. Actually used the bottling bucket.. Then forgot one night after the second brew to bring it in and it froze that night.. frozen water in copper tubing = bad idea.. split the copper tube open. So I had to make another.. grrr..

 

[Nova5]

When I was doing partial boils it wasn't a big deal, like some have said I would get it to 90-100 and add in 2 gallons of cold water to get it the rest of he way. 4 batches of full boil and borrowing a buddies and I built my own for about 45 dollars. 40 ft of copper, hose, garden hose fittings, and copper 90s.

90s? Why? larger than 3/8"?

http://www.lowes.com/pd_331956-943-66575.UPP5_0__?Ntt=tubing+bender

 

[revco]

Is it worth making a second one to use as a pre-chiller? One in the wort, and the other in a bucket of ice water with a cheap pond pump to re-circulate? If you build a bigger one, which one do you use in the wort/ice water bucket?

Only if your water temps are above typical pitching temps. In these cases, the water can't cool any colder than itself, so it becomes necessary to "pre-chill" the water so you can get down a little lower. It could also be desirable in a fully recirculating setup where you're cooling down water that has all ready extracted heat from the wort.

 

[BetterSense]

Pre chillers are never worth it. Use that copper in your wort. If you want to pursue an ice bath, use a pump to pump the ice water directly through the chiller.

 

[danmdevries]

I did at least a dozen batches before I got sick of dropping $5 on ice for brewday. Realized for the $60 I'd spent on ice, I could've bought a good amount of copper tubing and made a chiller. So I did. About a year ago I bought a 25' coil of copper tubing and bent it to fit my kettle. A few months ago I bought another 50' of copper tubing, cut and spliced to the original 25 and bent it to fit my keggle. Don't know how I ever did without. 15 min from boil to fermenter vs 1hr from boil to fermenter with the icebath.

 

[metanoia]

I did at least a dozen batches before I got sick of dropping $5 on ice for brewday. Realized for the $60 I'd spent on ice, I could've bought a good amount of copper tubing and made a chiller. So I did. About a year ago I bought a 25' coil of copper tubing and bent it to fit my kettle. A few months ago I bought another 50' of copper tubing, cut and spliced to the original 25 and bent it to fit my keggle. Don't know how I ever did without. 15 min from boil to fermenter vs 1hr from boil to fermenter with the icebath.

One hour with an ice bath?? I'm guessing you saw some undesired side effects like chill haze frequently. I used to get nervous if my ice bath took longer than 35 mins.

 

[nmfree]

Made it after I got my kid from midwest.

Man, they really do sell everything!

 

[bigbeergeek]

0 batches before buying an immersion chiller, about 10 batches before I built my CFC. 5 years later and I'm on batch 70, going strong...

 

[Dhruv6911]

0

20 bucks to save you 3hrs of time is pretty much giving you back your money in time the same batch.

 

[diS]

I made IC right after 1st batch and complications with ice tub.
From this perspective I would made it before that 1st batch...

 

[Nova5]

Man, they really do sell everything!

Must love swypisms!