Wort chiller

[bcfzx2]

I live in South Texas and even in Jan. my tap water is 70. Would a wort chiller be more effective than ice?

 

[trigger]

Yes. Run hose water through it until you hit about 100 F. Get a cheap submersible pump from Harbor Freight too. Put the pump in a rubermaid tote full of icewater and recirculate that through the chiller until you get down to pitching temp. You'll use a lot less ice and cool way faster, promoting cold break, decreasing infection risk and generally being better.

 

[Bubba]

A wort chiller is one of the best investments I made once you have one you cant do without it.

 

[bosspressure]

I built one myself actually last night purchasing everything I needed at Home Depot. I'm looking forward to trying it out.

 

[woodstone]

I built one myself actually last night purchasing everything I needed at Home Depot. I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Pic, please?! You can't just toss that out there and not post one!

 

[ETCS]

I have a plate chiller that and that works really well.

 

[CentralJerseyBrewer]

I built one myself actually last night purchasing everything I needed at Home Depot. I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Same here, total cost came to about $30 and took about 10 minutes to whip up.

Will post a picture next time I'm near it.

 

[h22lude]

Did you guys use a website for instructions? I know there are a few sites out there but I would like to know how these came out.

 

[CentralJerseyBrewer]

Did you guys use a website for instructions? I know there are a few sites out there but I would like to know how these came out.

I spied out what a wort chiller looks like up close while at my local homebrew store, then decided to investigate the cost to make one before spending $65 on it at the store.

Went to the local hardware store (critical probably), grabbed a copper tubing coil and talked out what I need to make this thing do with a helpful employee. He grabbed the proper fittings and I was on my way.

All you really need is:
Copper tubing coil
Attachment so you can screw on to the hose outside your house
Tubing to attach to the end where the water will exit the chiller so you can make sure it doesn't get back in the wort

I know this is very technical so get out an industry dictionary to keep up.

 

[Thundercougarfalconbird]

Take much sodering? Every step by step I've found does. But I don't have an iron and by the time I have one paid for it costs more than just buying the chiller =(

 

[bosspressure]

http://www.ehow.com/print/how_5098353_make-wort-chiller.html

This is the site I used. I didn't use the garden hose, instead I bought 10 ft of a clear plastic tubing instead that was recommended to me. I used the wort chiller this afternoon when I brewed my first batch, and it worked awesome.

 

[idlasna]

use male or female compression fittings on the ends of the copper tubing then you can screw whatever other fitting you like to the end of it. No soldering necessary. That is what I did. It is all available at Home Depot or any hardware store. Works awesome.

 

[bcfzx2]

Thanks, I have an old aquarium pump that would work perfect. I had the same idea but glad to know it will work.