Very Simple Immersion Wort Chiller

[Hoppopotomus]

I know! There is probably 30 to 40 ft. of 3/4" OD copper tubing coiled up there. I have no idea what it is worth, but I would think that it is worth something. I'll check around and try to find a place to unload it. I'm relatively new to the home brewing world, but I'm hooked. My "want list" is endless, so any spare cash to put towards equipment and supplies is great. :rockin:

 

[DCPiet]

This was a very fun project, and easy too. Many thanks Erythro for the design.

My only recommendation might be to attach an additional hose clamp to the 'out' end of the chiller where it attaches to the vinyl tubing. The water coming out of there when I first ran the system in wort was hot enough to expand the tubing and cause a small leak even though I tightened the clamps with all my might.

Fortunately I left enough room at the end of my copper coil and the leak was plenty far away from that precious precious wort.

Thanks again!

 

[Oneofakind]

A live video of how to make one:

 

[RiseAgainstMe]

How long of tubing do I need for making one to use in a five gallon pot that I probably have 3 gallons in after boiling?

 

[Erythro73]

Woha! Never thought my little project would go for 4 pages on this forum. I'm glad it helped and inspired some of you.

As an update, this thing is still working like a charm. Yesterday, I brought about 2 gallons of hot boiling wort to 68F in about 10-15 minutes (my faucet's cold water is very cold).

How long of tubing do I need for making one to use in a five gallon pot that I probably have 3 gallons in after boiling?

Well, see my answer above. 2 gallons of 212 F wort to 68 in 10-15 minutes... but my water is really cold. I probably would still use 20' with 3 gallons. But I suggest you think of the future and build a larger one, because you'll probably go in 5 gallons batch in the near future. Your call.

This was a very fun project, and easy too. Many thanks Erythro for the design.

My only recommendation might be to attach an additional hose clamp to the 'out' end of the chiller where it attaches to the vinyl tubing. The water coming out of there when I first ran the system in wort was hot enough to expand the tubing and cause a small leak even though I tightened the clamps with all my might.

Fortunately I left enough room at the end of my copper coil and the leak was plenty far away from that precious precious wort.

Thanks again!

No problem!

I had no problem with only one hose clamp on the out part, but I guess it depends on many factor. Of course, you should always test it before using it with actual wort. Glad it worked out well for you!

 

[BrewcifersApprentice]

I've seen lots of simple designs for wort chillers, and most of them include an attachment for running tap water through the chiller.

Would it not be MUCH more efficient to run ice water through?

I am going to build one tomorrow (like the one in this thread); I'm thinking of attaching the IN hose to my bottling bucket (because it drains from the bottom), pre-filled with ice water, and the OUT hose to a lower bucket. I'll let gravity run ice water through the chiller (syphon start if necessary) and pour the OUT water back into the ice bucket whenever it fills.

Anybody foresee problems with this?

 

[klyph]

It really depends on how cold your groundwater is. Mine is often lower than 40 deg F, so ice water is really just a waste of time. If you are using a 6 gallon bucket of ice water, you'll turn that into 100 degree water or higher in the first pass, then you want to add that hot water to your ice up top, which will just turn into lukewarm water which you'll be running through the coils to chill your wort with.
IMHO ice is only a solution for places with warmer ground water, if your groundwater is cold enough, you'll be wasting your time and money with the ice. If you REALLY want to chill as absolutely quickly as possible, Use your groundwater until the temp. differential between the wort and water diminishes, then switch to ice water at the end to widen the differential and speed the cooling back up.

 

[Rahjah]

I've seen lots of simple designs for wort chillers, and most of them include an attachment for running tap water through the chiller.

Would it not be MUCH more efficient to run ice water through?

I am going to build one tomorrow (like the one in this thread); I'm thinking of attaching the IN hose to my bottling bucket (because it drains from the bottom), pre-filled with ice water, and the OUT hose to a lower bucket. I'll let gravity run ice water through the chiller (syphon start if necessary) and pour the OUT water back into the ice bucket whenever it fills.

Anybody foresee problems with this?

Sounds like a good way to conserve water. Otherwise we will just be sending treated water down the sink for 15 minutes or more. That is a long shower...

I was planning on designing a similar setup, to recycle water from an ice bath through the immersion chiller, and pour the warmed water at the outflow back into the ice bath. I'm sure with some observation and adjustment this would work to not only cool the wort quickly but conserve some precious water in the balance.

 

[BrewcifersApprentice]

I've now brewed several batches using my simple IC (a 20 ft coil of copper pipe) and I can regularly chill 5 gallons from boiling to 70 degrees in about 18 minutes using just tap water.

Observations: the heat transfer is MUCH faster at the beginning of the process and slows down considerably as the heat differential decreases. Adding ice at this stage would knock several minutes off cooling, I think.

As to water use: instead of attaching a hose to the sink, I filled my bottling bucket (with spigot) with tap water, put it on top of the fridge, and let gravity drive the cooling water. I usually have to refill the bucket once; I estimate 6-7 gallons to cool 5 gallons of wort. Not terribly efficient. Ice will decrease this substantially I think.

As to your idea: for the first few minutes the outflow from the IC is incredibly hot, if you pour this into icewater all you will do is melt your ice. I think the cheapest option is starting with tap water out of a bucket, then adding ice once the wort temp gets to a certain low temperature. I'm no physicist but some trial and error can probably find this temperature. The temp curve starts flattening around roughly 120 degrees so that might be a good time to add ice.

 

[bigirishape]

It really depends on how cold your groundwater is. Mine is often lower than 40 deg F, so ice water is really just a waste of time. If you are using a 6 gallon bucket of ice water, you'll turn that into 100 degree water or higher in the first pass, then you want to add that hot water to your ice up top, which will just turn into lukewarm water which you'll be running through the coils to chill your wort with.
IMHO ice is only a solution for places with warmer ground water, if your groundwater is cold enough, you'll be wasting your time and money with the ice. If you REALLY want to chill as absolutely quickly as possible, Use your groundwater until the temp. differential between the wort and water diminishes, then switch to ice water at the end to widen the differential and speed the cooling back up.

Or if your tapwater is too warm, just make 2 coils. Have your tap water run through a coil submerged in your ice bucket, then out of that coil going into the hot wort coil, then to the drain.

Thinking of making a coil this weekend, really excited about it too...ice baths soon to be a thing of the past!

 

[user 146522]

Just built a chiller and as soon as I am finished with this I am headed to my shop to brew up a batch.

Wanted to thank the OP for the Watts item #s for the hose adapter parts, you saved me a ton of time at HD searching thru a huge wall of fittings trying to find what I needed.

 

[HB_Aggie]

I just built this chiller today. Did anyone have a problem with the A-660 swivel adapter leaking?