Immersion Chiller - 25 ft. Copper vs. 50 Foot Stainless

PittsburghBrewer · Sep 22, 2017

Hi all,

I am looking for an immersion wort chiller that comes with attached hose or barbed fittings. (I know it's possible to make a DIY chiller, but I'm not that handy. I'm looking for something that will work right out of the box.)

I'm looking at two chillers from Northern Brewer: a 25-foot copper chiller and a 50-foot stainless chiller.

Does anyone have any thoughts on these, or any other suggestions? I know that copper is supposed to chill faster than stainless, but I'm thinking that going with the stainless model in a bigger size will compensate. I make mostly 5-6 gallon batches.

Thanks!

xpops · Sep 22, 2017

i'm wondering with 5gal batches (depending on your pot - so only you will know this answer) if the 50' stainless would protrude out of your wort volume?

PittsburghBrewer · Sep 22, 2017

xpops said:
i'm wondering with 5gal batches (depending on your pot - so only you will know this answer) if the 50' stainless would protrude out of your wort volume?

That's a very good point. I'm not sure, but I think it would be close. Since I plan to sanitize the chiller by boiling it in the wort, the whole thing might not get sanitized. That sounds like a good reason to go with the 25.

beernutz · Sep 22, 2017

PittsburghBrewer said:
That's a very good point. I'm not sure, but I think it would be close. Since I plan to sanitize the chiller by boiling it in the wort, the whole thing might not get sanitized. That sounds like a good reason to go with the 25.

Specs say 8” coil height fwiw. Why would not having all the coil immersed in liquid be a sanitation issue? The rest of the chiller isn't going to be completely immersed either. I think whatever part of the chiller that is not completely under water but is close to it is going to be sanitized by steam from your boiling wort.

azmark · Sep 22, 2017

PittsburghBrewer said:
That's a very good point. I'm not sure, but I think it would be close. Since I plan to sanitize the chiller by boiling it in the wort, the whole thing might not get sanitized. That sounds like a good reason to go with the 25.

Steam should sanitize the rest.