tubing

[Dark_Ale]

I'm going to use tubing similiar to racking tubing except its a little bigger to run from my kettle to counterflow chiller. The HBS says it will take the hot wort at flame out. I was just trying to get a second opinion....I dont think it will melt but what about picking up a weird flavor from the tubing since the wort will be so hot?

 

[slnies]

Well, the tubing that I got with my racking cane was able to handle the heat. It, however was not designed for it. It dicolered the tubing and in my stupidity I used it again to rack my completed brew to the bottle... I ended up with infection. The only varible was the tube, because I presure cook most of my bottles after they have gone through my extensive cleaning cycle. My recomendation is high temp. tubing from Menards or Home Depot, it is cheap. Good luck and happy chilling. S.

 

[Professor Frink]

+1 on the high temp tubing. Most chillers have thick walled tubing, similar to beverage grade kegerator tubing, just thicker, that can easily withstand the heat.

 

[Funkenjaeger]

Being thicker isn't the only issue - you don't want to use tubing that has plastic that will melt/deform/leech chemicals into your wort at those temperatures, regardless of whether it maintains structural integrity.

Silicone tubing is great on the hot side, or for cheaper alternatives, northern brewer sells high-temp thermoplastic tubing, and you can buy pretty much the same thing from mcmaster-carr under the name "norprene".

 

[abracadabra]

You are right to be concerned. Just because the tube won't melt doesn't mean it would transfer off flavors.

check this out

http://morebeer.com/view_product/17608/

 

[EdWort]

I use the silicone tubing from Austin Home Brew for all my tubing needs hot or cold. The hot side is obvious, but for cold use like racking from fermenter to keg it is much better than the clear crap as it does not have a memory and is much more flexible. I hangs down into my kegs without curling up and touching everything.

It costs a bit more on the front end, but is worth it in the long run.

 

[Desert_Sky]

I use the silicone tubing from Austin Home Brew for all my tubing needs hot or cold. The hot side is obvious, but for cold use like racking from fermenter to keg it is much better than the clear crap as it does not have a memory and is much more flexible. I hangs down into my kegs without curling up and touching everything.

It costs a bit more on the front end, but is worth it in the long run.

+1 on the silicone tubing. Great stuff

 

[Jester369]

I use the silicone tubing from Austin Home Brew for all my tubing needs hot or cold. The hot side is obvious, but for cold use like racking from fermenter to keg it is much better than the clear crap as it does not have a memory and is much more flexible. I hangs down into my kegs without curling up and touching everything.

It costs a bit more on the front end, but is worth it in the long run.

I gotta get me some of that! I'm tired of racking to keg through a curly pig-tail of a tube.

 

[conpewter]

This has been posted elsewhere I think but its a good price for silicone tubing though you better need a lot of it (comes in 10' lengths) but half the price of the homebrew shops online

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=USPlastic&category%5Fname=7511&product%5Fid=8415

 

[Germey]

This has been posted elsewhere I think but its a good price for silicone tubing though you better need a lot of it (comes in 10' lengths) but half the price of the homebrew shops online

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=USPlastic&category%5Fname=7511&product%5Fid=8415

Until you factor in 50-60% shipping and handling they charge. Still, a bit cheaper though. It just bugs me. I would rather pay actual shipping charges and have them charge the price they need, so that I can compare it to others.
I just ordered 10' of silicone with some various tubing fittings from them today.

 

[jcb317]

I ordered a bunch of FDA approved silicone tubing from McMaster, they have everything you could possibly need and shipping is fair. As far as the product it self its great. I ordered the harder variety and its very pliable, but not too pliable. Easy to clean (you can autoclave it if you wanted) I even used it at one point as part of my keggle for it's maiden brew. I connected a piece on the elbow i had on the bulkhead to get a bit lower into the pot. After the 60min boil, cooling, and draining it was still connected and looked good as new. Good stuff

 

[AiredAle]

A question for those of you using silicone tubing instead of vinyl. Do you use tubing of the same inside diameter as the outside diameter of your racking canes, or a size smaller? That is, I use a 3/8" OD racking cane, and a 5/16" ID vinyl tube because the 3/8 ID vinyl can slip off at the wrong time, particularly if the transferring liquid is warm or hot. 5/16" grips the cane and won't let go. What is your experience with silicone (tubing, not any other object)

 

[WBC]

I standardized all my tubing needs as much as I can. I use 1/2 inch barbs on all my vessels and the auto-siphon too. That way I don't have to have several tubing sizes to clean and store. I do use silicone for the hot transfers from boiler to counterflow chiller and it works great.

Silicone tubing link: http://morebeer.com/view_product/17608/

 

[Gabe]

FOXX tubing is the way to go. Made for hot transfer and absolutley no plastic like flavor. Look em up on the webb or in the back of either Zymurgy or BYO.

 

[Germey]

FOXX tubing is the way to go. Made for hot transfer and absolutley no plastic like flavor. Look em up on the webb or in the back of either Zymurgy or BYO.

Except that they are wholesale only. I guess you can "ask your LHBS to stock Foxx"
or not.