Very Simple Immersion Wort Chiller

[Erythro73]

Hi folks,
I've built a very simple Immersion Wort Chiller. I start a thread on it here because... well, it may help someone like me who's not close to be a good handyman. I tried following a lot of designs and instructions, but every one failed me at some point. Some lacked instructions, some used soldering which I don't know how to do properly, and well... for others, I just couldn't find the parts.

Every parts were bought at Home Depot. It doesn't require any soldering nor special equipments. The plumbing parts are all of the brand Watts, which I think is available in every Home Depot in Canada and US as a standard.

I only do small batches (2.5 gallons), that's why I didn't buy a bigger/longer copper tube!

- 20' of copper tubing 3/8"
- 20' of vinyl tubing 3/8" (could be shorter, depending of the need...) which I splited in two.
- Adapter to hose
- 1 Watts A-660 Swivel Hose Adapter (3/4" FH x 1/2" FIP)
- 1 Watts A-828 Pipe Hex Bushing (1/2" MIP x 3/8" FIP)
- 1 Watts A-294 Hose Barb Adapter (3/8" Barb x 3/8" MIP)
- Teflon tape
- 5 hose clamps
- (Optional) Tube Bender

First, I wrapped the copper tube around a smaller pot than the one I use to brew. I used only my hands for everything:

Then, I made the two ends of the copper tube come out of the top. I did it by hand, without tube bender. I just did it very slowly/carefully as to not put any undesirable kinks on my tube. Taking the lowest end of the tube and bringing it to the top with the other end is the trickiest part, but it's doable without soldering (to put an elbow). The one that begins the coil is the "WATER in" (highest one)and the one that ends the coil is the "WATER out" (lowest end). It's ugly as hell, it would probably have been better with the tube bender... but hey, it's simpler this way!

View of the interior :

The 4 plumbery parts go one in another (I put Teflon tape in every connection) (in order: Adapter to hose--Watts A-660--WattsA-828--Watts A-294) which fits into the first half of the vinyl tubing. Everything is held by hose clamps.

The first half of the vinyl tubing goes onto the "WATER in" part of the chiller while the other half of the vinyl tubing goes from the "WATER out" into the sink.

End product:

(Yeah, I really should've put a shirt... but it's too hot outside...)

P.S. My WATER in and WATER out are this high because I plan on using another kettle soon! So I took the measurements...

 

[klyph]

I way overcomplicated mine with flare fittings and hose barbs. Looking back, I should've just slipped the tube over the copper like you did.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Perfect. Simplicity is a beautiful thing.

 

[dougf]

Indeed! I like it and may use this in the near future... I like it.

 

[Erythro73]

Glad you guys like this, despite it being so ugly compared to those sold on ebay or on online homebrewing shops!

 

[tcory77]

awesome!!! my tap water is getting pretty warm right now and i am brewing this weekend, so i am going to take your approach and make a pre-chiller for my IC. I have a feeling it will look something like your chiller, or at least i hope. It should get my water temp down enough, we will see. Thanks for posting. I too appreciate the simplicity.

cheers.

 

[TheBroonery]

Nice! Similar to what I did, however I used the old rubber supply hoses from my washing machine, cut one end off and clamped it to the copper tubing, and found an adapter that goes from kitchen sink thread, to garden hose/utility sink/washing machine thread, and wala! The old rubber hoses are nice with the utility sink downstairs when cleaning carboys, buckets, etc. Infact if the hoses on your washing machine are more than 5 years old, upgrade them to the braided stainless steel kind that won't burst, and utilize the old rubber ones for beermaking! Also I should mention I used a 1 gal paint can to bend my copper tube around.

 

[Bret86944]

Ugly? If it's simple and it works then it's beautiful

 

[machinelf]

Looks great! And what a difference a chiller makes.

 

[chask31]

Dare I ask what something like this costs? Seems like a good project for me to get under my belt.

 

[ErieShores]

Dare I ask what something like this costs? Seems like a good project for me to get under my belt.

I just bult one similar to this for around $20.

 

[mosquitocontrol]

Damn you people with ol faucets. All my faucets in the apt are fancy and have no fittings. I need to carry my full pot of boiling wort 30 ft to the bathtub and recur ulster with a pump. So jealous of your easy setup.

 

[MacGruber]

Man, I did the SAME exact thing. I bought everything at Home Depot!

 

[TheBroonery]

Damn you people with ol faucets. All my faucets in the apt are fancy and have no fittings. I need to carry my full pot of boiling wort 30 ft to the bathtub and recur ulster with a pump. So jealous of your easy setup.

Tap into the shutoff valve (3/8 compression size fitting) on your kitchen sink faucet. Get a long faucet supply valve in the plumbing isle that will give you a 1/2" female fitting at the other end. Find the appropriate brass fittings that connect it all together with your chiller. Also, if you make your chiller out of 3/8" copper, you can just use a few 3/8" male-female extension hoses and connect the flexible hose to the copper chiller with a compression nut and ferrule.

 

[Fluffhead]

+1 on this design! I used this build on a 50 ft chiller and have been very happy with it.

 

[Erythro73]

Dare I ask what something like this costs? Seems like a good project for me to get under my belt.

Well, it all depends on the size/length of your copper tubing. And I'm Canadian, everything is more expensive here at HomeDepot.

But I would say... Around 50$ CAD for me without tube bender. Then again, the guy above me said it cost him about 20 USD.

So it all depends with your locations and the size/length you need.

But IT IS very easy to make, so it is really a good project to get under your belt. Even I could do it.

 

[elproducto]

Just built the exact same thing! Thanks so much for listing the parts, I live in Canada as well and was able to find everything I needed at Home Depot. Pretty happy with the way it turned out, although the one time I rushed a bit I ended up with a bit of a crimp.. hopefully it will work ok.

Do I need to soak this in vinegar or something prior to brewing with it?

 

[TheCircuitBox]

I plan on getting mine here. http://nybrewsupply.com/products/wort-chiller-copper-immersion.php

 

[Erythro73]

Do I need to soak this in vinegar or something prior to brewing with it?

Yes, you have to boil him along a solution of acetic acid (white vinegar). Here's John Palmer weighing in :

Brewers who use immersion wort chillers are always surprised how bright and shiny the chiller is the first time it comes out of the wort. If the chiller wasn't bright and shiny when it went into the wort, guess where the grime and oxides ended up? Yep, in your beer. The oxides of copper are more readily dissolved by the mildly acidic wort than is the copper itself. By cleaning copper tubing with acetic acid once before the first use and rinsing with water immediately after each use, the copper will remain clean with no oxide or wort deposits that could harbor bacteria. Cleaning copper with vinegar should only occasionally be necessary.

Works very well, as far as I'm concerned!

Your wort chiller is really a beauty!

 

[elproducto]

Any particular mix/strength?-

 

[Erythro73]

Any particular mix/strength?-

I searched a lot on this, and never found any answer.

I just took about 0.5 L of white vinegar to 7.5 L of water, and it did the trick pretty well.

 

[Bheher]

Any thoughts on heating the copper with a torch or in the oven a bit before tying to bend it?

 

[TheBroonery]

Any thoughts on heating the copper with a torch or in the oven a bit before tying to bend it?

You could, but the copper would be too hot to handle without burning yourself. It might be easier to solder a 90-deg fitting on for that sharp bend at the bottom.

 

[Flomaster]

soft copper is so soft you don't need to heat it up, you can bend a perfect 90 and pinch the copper I suggest if you need a sharp 90 you solder a fitting onto it.

-=Jason=-

 

[MattCA]

Nice. Looks similar to what I did except connect to garden hose, 1 clamp each hose and 25'. Cost me about $30

 

[nayrb]

Nice dude. I've been looking for the right parts to connect mine to my sink. This writeup is perfect.

 

[HerotBrewer]

Looks great!

How much did the parts cost?

 

[Toecutter]

pretty much the way I did mine.I used 30' of 3/8 copper and wrapped it around a corney to form it. then I put quick connects on the ends so I can quickly attach garden hoses, since i brew outdoors. I'm moving up to 10 gallon batches, so I'm going to build a secondary larger ring and tee into the shorter ring to cool quicker

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Nice work. I built my house about 5 years ago and my HVAC contractor left a large box with insulated AC copper lines under my stairs. Yesterday I pulled the huge coil out of the box and stripped the insulation off, but it was 3/4" OD copper and impossible to bend in a diameter small enough to fit into my BK. I went to put the big coil back into the box and in the bottom of the box was a 75' coil of 3/8" refrigeration line that I didn't see at first. Needless to say, I was one happy camper, probably $60 to $70 worth of copper tubing! I have a 5 gallon BK, so it may be overkill, but I plan on moving towards a larger BK in the future. I used all 75' and did a double coil - "rib cage" design, so I can use this thing forever. I used a couple of 12" deep boiling pots to wrap the tubing around from either end until the two coils met in the middle. I then carefully interlaced the coils from each, so both the inlet and the outlet were at the top. Turned out great, but now I need to add couplings or silicone tubing with hose clams for the feed and outflow hose. This thread has been very helpful in giving me ideas for finishing the project. Thanks everyone!

 

[HerotBrewer]

You suck!

Seriously though, go sell the 3/4 inch stuff and buy some more brew equipment!