Wort Chiller

[marcha14]

I’ve been using a home made wort chiller for the past 5 years, a copper tube immersion chiller, but am not satisfied with how long it takes to chill the wort. Looking for suggestions on best type of wort chiller as I’m looking to upgrade.

 

[Rob2010SS]

I’ve been using a home made wort chiller for the past 5 years, a copper tube immersion chiller, but am not satisfied with how long it takes to chill the wort. Looking for suggestions on best type of wort chiller as I’m looking to upgrade.

Depends on how much you're willing to spend. I will say i just got the JaDeD Hydra chiller and used it the first time yesterday. It got my wort from boiling to 70 in about 10 minutes.

The chiller actually doesn't fit in my Edelmetal kettle with the thermometer built in so even with about 1/5th of the chiller sticking up above the wort level, it still chilled it to 70 in 10 minutes. It went so fast you can physically watch the needle on the thermometer cruise!

If you have the cash, highly recommend that chiller. Chilling was the step that i dreaded every brew day because it used to take my chiller 30 minutes to chill to 70. Now, just drop it in for 10 minutes, no stirring needed, and done.

 

[mongoose33]

+1 on the Hydra. Amazingly fast, almost seems like it's a fraud when people claim it'll chill a boiling 5-gallon batch to 70 degrees in 4 minutes...except it can. I've done it.

 

[schematix]

hydra is legit. still waiting for a stainless steel version so i can trade up.

it's nearly as fast as my plate chiller was, but without the ridiculous amount of clean-up.

 

[teesherv]

Yep I have a Hydra too. They have a money back guarantee and their service dept will work with you if ya need something special. Well worth the money.

 

[bovine_OB]

I used a copper immersion chiller for a year or so. Then I took that, unrolled it, slid a garden hose over the outside a rigged up fittings to make a counterflow chiller. It works best with a pump, but you can rig it such that it would work without a pump. It works much more effectively than the immersion chiller alone.

 

[myndflyte]

Throw my vote in for the Hydra. I was impressed by the build quality when I took it out of the box and even more impressed the first time I used it. I make a little vortex using a 5 gallon paint stirrer attached to my power drill and it cools it down even faster.

 

[Tombstone0]

I’ve been using a home made wort chiller for the past 5 years, a copper tube immersion chiller, but am not satisfied with how long it takes to chill the wort. Looking for suggestions on best type of wort chiller as I’m looking to upgrade.

Are you stirring the wort while you’re chilling? If not, give it a try, your chilling time will drop significantly.

 

[petemoss]

Are you stirring the wort while you’re chilling? If not, give it a try, your chilling time will drop significantly.

Hydra for me. It is stupid faster than the regular one I had from NB.

 

[Brewers Hardware]

Another +1 for the Hydra. It works great. If you are interested in plate chillers, Duda Diesel makes some great ones that chill super fast.

 

[Manufacturedevolution]

I also recommend to try stirring if you have not. My homemade chiller cools to 70 from boiling in ~10-12 minutes while stirring.