Wort Chiller DIY?

[collinsDPT]

I went to Lowe's with the intention of buying everything necessary to make my own 50 foot copper wort chiller, after reading some of the other DIY posts on the forums.

But... They wanted $60 for a coil of low-grade 50-foot copper!

I understand that copper is expensive and fluctuates a lot in price, but a lot of the guides i was looking at said these should be around $20-25.

Am I better off just purchasing a pre-made wort chiller through ebay for like $70? I figure after buying all the supplies and the headaches that can come with making things yourself, it may be my best option.

Thoughts?

 

[Golddiggie]

I would spend a few dollard more and get a plate chiller. I would also highly recommend having a ball valve (1/2") in your kettle. With that combo you can do a gravity feed to run the wort through it. Then you can get a pump (later) when you decide you want to. IMO/IME a plate chiller is a much better option than an IC. I've used both and can't see ever going back to an IC.

 

[h22lude]

I have been looking at ICs but I think Golddiggie is right, why spend $60 on an IC when you can get a nice plate chiller for $30 more and have it cool your wort quicker.

I may look into plate chillers now. I just bought a 10 gallon pot so I need to put a bulkhead with a ball valve in it. I don't have a pump so I will have to go with gravity helping me.

 

[collinsDPT]

Thanks for the tip. What type of plate chiller (ie- how many plates) would you recommend if I am brewing in a 34-qt kettle and plan on doing 5gal batches?

Any thoughts on this plate chiller?

 

[VolFan]

The 30 plate chiller you linked is the same one I use, works great for 10 gal batches which can be chilled in about 15 min depending on water temp. Put your hops in a nylon bag during the boil to avoid plugging the chiller, flow boiling wort through the chiller for ~10 min before chilling and clean well afterwards. Cheers!

 

[LandoLincoln]

I think you priced the wrong diameter of copper. I just bought a 3/8" OD / 1/4" ID 50 ft piece of copper for $44. The 1/2" OD stuff was $60.

 

[LandoLincoln]

why spend $60 on an IC when you can get a nice plate chiller for $30 more and have it cool your wort quicker.

1) Plate chillers don't chill faster. I own both. Neither one is faster.
2) Plate chillers clog a lot easier.
3) Plate chillers are more expensive.

But on the plus side...
1) Plate chillers are more compact.
2) Plate chillers look nicer. Kinda. Maybe. Unless you're going for the illegal still operation look.

 

[insubordinateK]

I think you priced the wrong diameter of copper. I just bought a 3/8" OD / 1/4" ID 50 ft piece of copper for $44. The 1/2" OD stuff was $60.

How is there a wrong diameter if you are building it yourself? More diameter will equate to more heat transfer and cool faster. I built my own wort chiller, and now am just biding my time until I can justify buying a plate chiller.

 

[collinsDPT]

I priced the 3/8" diameter of refrigeration copper, not 1/2". I checked and double-checked.

I am leaning towards getting a plate chiller, mainly since it is more compact. I need to figure it out quick, though, as I am planning on brewing my first batch next week and want to make a decision before wasting $$ on ice.

 

[KYB]

Well as for building one, it's ridiculously easy. Get the coil, coil it around a keg or bucket (depending on your kettle diameter). Bend the bottom back up to go back out of the kettle. Get some vinyl tubing for both ends, 3 hose clamps, and a barb to garden hose fitting. Hook them all up. Done in 10min max.

 

[MichaelBrock]

It's pretty clear from threads here that Lowes varies it's prices on copper tubing depending on location. It's expensive in my area as well and it was cheaper for me to buy a complete chiller.

Edited to add: I considered building a counter-flow chiller but my tap water isn't cold enough to get the wort down enough in one pass so I would have to use a pre-chiller (more expense) or circulate the wort back into the kettle. The fact that my kettle lacks a spigot (again, more expense) and the added cleaning needed with a counter-flow chiller, made the decision for me pretty easy.

I bought an IC with the thought that I could always use it as a pre-chiller should I later buy or build a counter-flow chiler. So far I have no complaints.

 

[LandoLincoln]

How is there a wrong diameter if you are building it yourself? More diameter will equate to more heat transfer and cool faster. I built my own wort chiller, and now am just biding my time until I can justify buying a plate chiller.

More copper diameter means less water flowing past the copper, so there's a tradeoff to using bigger copper (other than spending more money).

 

[bubbakg101]

I just got 25' of 3/8" Id copper and made my first chiller, it cooled my 5 gal. from boiling down to 70 degrees in 7 min. it was hooked to my outside faucet 10 feet from the well.

 

[Dan]

Counter flow chillers are pretty easy and inexpensive to make as well. Boiling hot wort in - tap water temperature out.

 

[Transamguy77]

I priced the 3/8" diameter of refrigeration copper, not 1/2". I checked and double-checked.

I am leaning towards getting a plate chiller, mainly since it is more compact. I need to figure it out quick, though, as I am planning on brewing my first batch next week and want to make a decision before wasting $$ on ice.

I made my own ice before having a IC, I bought cheap plastic sandwich containers from wal mart and froze them the night before it was way cheaper than buying ice from the grocery store I did that for several batches. I too was going to make my own IC but after pricing the copper and fittings it was cheaper to buy than build. I do have to say that I have a super cool neighbor who used to brew his own beer and stopped so he sold me his IC for $35.

 

[day_trippr]

How is there a wrong diameter if you are building it yourself? More diameter will equate to more heat transfer and cool faster. [...]

Not sure "faster" is necessarily true. At least one limiting factor is how cold the feedwater is. Once the water in the tube has reached the temperature of the wort it doesn't matter how wide the tube is, it isn't "cooling" any longer...

Cheers!

 

[Golddiggie]

When the ground water cooperates with me, I can chill my 5.5-6 gallons of boiling hot wort to ~65F in about 8 minutes with my plate chiller. This is going directly into my fermenter too, so you can eliminate the time it takes to rack/transfer your chilled wort to primary from the equation. I've only had one chill time take longer than expected. That was with the last batch, where the ground water was still elevated due to the high temperatures we had been going through. I expect the chilling time to be back to my normal range for the next batch (probably end of the month).

You can chill to the same level, provided your chill water is the right temperature range, pretty easily/quickly. It's just using a plate chiller (or CFC for that matter) requires far less work in order to hit those temperatures. When I was using an IC, I had to move it around within the kettle in order to get it to chill even close to how quickly the plate chiller works. That meant using something to hold the chiller with, since one side WILL be very hot for at least the initial cool-down period (until the wort hits a temperature you can hold with bare hands).

As for the previous comment about the plate chillers being difficult to clean. Not in my experience. Maybe it's because the one from Rebel comes with the back-flush hose. Or maybe it's because I run that through both directions before disconnecting. Or maybe because I use QD's on both ends of the wort side. I also mix up some PBW solution in my brew/boil kettle post brew-day to clean items that need it. I then fill the plate chiller with some of the solution and let it sit. I then drain it out and rinse REALLY well before putting it away for next time.

IF possible, see if there are any brewers in your area with the different types of chillers. See what they go through to use said chillers to cool down a batch of brew.

Something else to keep in mind... The 3/8" copper tubing (flexible) that Lowes has has different wall thicknesses between the 25' and 50' packages. Not sure why, but if you look at the ends of both, the 25' will be thinner than the 50'. The 25' tubing package is fairly easy to bend by hand. Where the 50' package is a biotch to bend even when you use a keg as your mold. IF you can get the thinner wall stuff (matches the 25' wall thickness) then you'll be ok. Otherwise, I'd avoid it.

Also, when you eventually get a brew stand (we all want one, right?) you'll be able to mount the plate chiller to the stand. You can't do that with the IC. So you'll always have that extra set of items to use with the IC.