wort chiller

[noobrewer]

Hey, been reading on wort chillers for my next batch. Instead of copper tubing, can you just take clear vinyl tubing, coil it up in a ice bath, then run the wort through that? Or even coil the tubing into the boil pot, then run cold water through it? I guess my real question is, do you have to use copper tubing? I have bucket fermenters with spigots (soo handy), so I was thinking of taking my empty fermenter, pour the wort in, hook up like 15' of tubing coiled through an ice bath, then transfer wort into another empty fermenter via tubing. Any comments? Thanks

 

[Joker]

Not sure you will get the same heat transfer from the vinyl as copper.

 

[McKBrew]

Two problems with this. Heat transfer through vinyl is going to be extremely poor. Secondly, with the exception of some specialty tubing, most plastic tubing is not rated to boiling temperature.

 

[noobrewer]

so whats the best, most convenient, and cheapest way to cool wort (I do not have a tub for an ice bath, and my large 8 gal fermenter barely fits in the sink (not enough ice would fit)).

 

[TheJadedDog]

Cheapest thing to do is make a copper immersion chiller yourself (this is my next project). Copper tubing is extremely easy to work with (and not that expensive imo) and the hardest part is getting the right fitting for your faucet.

 

[McKBrew]

I'm assuming you meant 8gal kettle instead of fermenter, because you should be cooling your wort in the kettle.

Get a rubbermaid container larger than the kettle and fill with ice and salt water. It's still going to use up alot of ice, but if you can make/store your own ice then it will still be fairly cheap. (Or if you happen to have snow where you live....?)

It's going to be a slow process if you are trying to cool down a whole 5 gallon batch, you'll want to be stirring the wort frequently to bring down the temp.

 

[weetodd]

+1 for keeping your wort moving when you are chilling. This is key, especially if you are submerging your bucket in ice/ice water.

 

[noobrewer]

good idea with the rubbermaid tub, got lots of those lying around. And no, all the snow here melted (Pullman, Wa), bahumbug! I kind of like the idea of an immersion chiller though, could be a good winter project.

 

[noobrewer]

does a immersion chiller have to attach to the faucet? My kitchen sink faucet has a flat face (its the wand type of faucet). Would it work to get a large funnel and attach it to the cold water intake tube, then just run cold water into the funnel?

 

[TheJadedDog]

does a immersion chiller have to attach to the faucet? My kitchen sink faucet has a flat face (its the wand type of faucet). Would it work to get a large funnel and attach it to the cold water intake tube, then just run cold water into the funnel?

I don't see why this wouldn't work.

 

[McKBrew]

My immersion chiller is designed to hook up to a garden hose outlet. On a really cold day, I just ran the hose into the house and had the outflow go down the kitchen sink on the other side. If you are in an apartment, you could disconnect the cold water line for your washing machine or put in a Y splitter.