Wider and Taller Immersion Chiller that's a good price?

[fendersrule]

My current chiller (about 9" wide and 18.5" tall (to the bend) is not really suitable for my taller 20G pot (that I use a lot for just 5G batches). Works well on my smaller pot though.

I'm wanting to upgrade to an immersion chiller that better fits my pot and allows to have more coils submerged during cooling. This means it needs to have a longer neck (needs to be at least 21-22") and needs to be wider (12" minimal).

I see that the Hydra is better fitted for my kettle, but man, that's a lot to spend. The HYDRA™ - World's Fastest Immersion Wort Chiller

Anyone know of some other options?

 

[RPh_Guy]

See if this fits your budget.

https://cussbrewing.com/collections/frontpage/products/the-faucetflow
https://***************.com/wiki/Wort_chilling

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, being copper-adverse from end to end, I use this SS chiller in my 20g kettle...

https://www.amazon.com/NY-Brew-Supply-Stainless-Fittings/dp/B01893SYDO
It's entirely submerged in my 11.5 gallon pre-chilled volume in that kettle (Blichmann G1) but with half that volume a fair number of loops will be above the wort level...

Cheers!

 

[fendersrule]

What's wrong with copper? It has better conductivity properties than stainless. I never really had to spend much effort cleaning mine...Soak it after brew day, and restart next-time.

What you linked isn't any better than what I got aside from one thing....the only improvement is that the snout would clear my Kettle's rims. The stainless would actually cool slightly worse...likely imperceptible, but still fact-sheet worse....

RPH, I'm thinking what you posted makes more sense. Interesting only 1/4" though. Then again, I'd rather have 50' of 1/4" 100% submerged for every batch vs 50' 3/8" only 50% submerged for my 5G batches....wondering if I can find something similar, but with 3/8" instead...

I feel like someone is making 3/8", that is more than a measly 5" high, and is 12" wide, in 50', and in copper. I know I found one about 6 months ago....maybe it was that ultra $$$ hydra one though.

I have no problem to keep using the one I have...it isn't sized perfectly for my kettle, and with summer months coming up you need ALL the cooling effort you can get. It was 98F here today.

 

[RPh_Guy]

What's wrong with copper?

Copper causes faster staling, and removes hop flavor.

Interesting only 1/4" though.

Two 1/4" coils run in parallel = much faster and more efficient chilling than single coil chillers.

wondering if I can find something similar, but with 3/8" instead...

Yup but you pay for it: Short and Stocky

You don't really need to worry about chiller width (as long as it fits in your kettle). Generally you should be agitating the wort while chilling so it doesn't matter.

Cheers

 

[fendersrule]

I think the first one that you linked would probably be best. Hard to imagine though that the coil height is only 5"....does that make sense?

I'm starting to think about how I would clean an immersion chiller in which has multiple coils...basically meaning there are areas that you are just not going to be able to reach with a scrub pad. Is this a problem?

 

[fendersrule]

I think I may just build a dual coil myself....10" wide, and 22" tall inlet/outlets. 50', 3/8".

That way, I can make it how I want it, and can calculate how to get more coils in the wort in my pot for most of my small (5G) batches.

 

[RPh_Guy]

In my experience, just rinsing the chiller after use is fine.

 

[fendersrule]

I bought everything I need to make my own chiller. Going to start soon. Total price: $135. Seems like a lot, but it will be pretty damn nice and comparible to high end coolers. Some of that cost is tools I didn't have for pipe work. I got the tubing for $89, which is pretty respectable for 1/2" for an "in-store-need-it-now" purchase. It's $70 on Amazon with free shipping by comparison. I got it at Ace Hardware. Home Depot didn't have ANY 50' tubing of any kind. And Lowes "may" have it for $91.

* 50 ft of 1/2 Copper tubing
* hose clamps
* Pipe cutting tool
* Pipe bending tool
* Garden hose adapter
* 8 feet of 1/2" hose
* 18 gauge copper wire
* Tax

I will do a dual coil design. 8 1/4" diameter inside, 10.5" diameter outside. Inlet heights will be 21-22". I still need to calculate the total height of the coils, but my guess is that it will be about 7" or so. A 5G batch in my kettle constitutes 5". My current coil is about 10" high.

I'm shooting for about 7" high or so. The idea isn't to have it completely submerged with my 5G batches, but to find a nice middle ground that would work great with 5G and 10G batches.

It will be miles better than my current chiller several reasons. I'll post pics.

 

[fendersrule]

Here we go! Pretty straight forward to make one of these. Felt like I nailed exactly what I wanted.

Wonder which one will cool better?

 

[day_trippr]

Great idea using the foam "shim" for the outer coil
What did you end up with for the coil height? Looks like the top is right around 6 gallons?

Cheers!

 

[fendersrule]

Coils are 7" tall (resting height), but that's with "more than enough" spacing between the coils. I could shrink it if I wanted to, but I feel like 7" is definitely in the range of ideal for an "all around" coil for 5G and 10G batches.

Inner coil diameter is 9.5". Outer coil diameter is 13".

Top is right around 7 gallons actually. I could contract it to 5G, but I feel like I'd be selling myself a little short when I do my 10G batches! My old 3/8" coil had about 10" of height, so it sat at about 10 gallons, basically meaning that half of it was doing nothing for 5G batches.

There is SO much more contact area with this chiller than my last one, even with the 7" height. I could compress it to about 6" height, but either way, I feel like calling it good and putting her to some use tomorrow!

My old coil honestly still cooled "just fine". Everyone I guess has a different interpretation of what "just fine" means. I think cooling within 20-30 minutes in late fall + winter + early spring is a properly performing chiller. I'd imagine this new coil will cool in 10-15 minutes in the same conditions. due to the increased surface area and spacing in-between coils.

I keep in mind that it won't cool it to be any "colder", but it will cool it faster for sure. 10 minutes off your brew day is totally worth doing after you're on your 50th+ batch. My old one would work great as a pre-chiller, which would be necessary for 100F brew days!

One big benefit is that the inlet/outlets are at the proper height for this kettle, as opposed to being below the surface! That alone is a reason to make your own...

 

[fendersrule]

68.8F Groundwater temp. It's 85F outside.

Within 10 minutes with this chiller, we went from 210 to 78F. I say within, because we knew it was inbetween 5 and 10 minutes, definitely not less than 5, but definitely not more than 10. Honestly, It was probably closer to 7 minutes.

That's a monster of a chiller, right?

It used about the same amount of water which is to be expected, but it cut the time down by over 100%.

.