Wort Chiller?

[Cam0110]

Making my own wort chiller. Suggested feet of copper tubing for 3 gallon pot and 5 gallon pot?

 

[TimSTi]

25' for 5 gallons seems to be the going number. I'm sure a search would net you better definitive answers

 

[BarleyWater]

I used 25' for mine. But for a 5 gallon batch, not 5 gallon pot.

 

[Cam0110]

Ok let's make it simple......5 gallon pot for 5 gallon batch.............

 

[BarleyWater]

Ok let's make it simple......5 gallon pot for 5 gallon batch.............

Well, how much are you actually boiling, because a 5 gallon pot isn't going to fit a full boil, which is usually along the lines of 6-7 gallons, sometimes more, and requires at lest another gallon or so of free space for the boil?

You may not really need a chiller if you are adding cool top off water.

 

[pirate504]

I made my 25' simply because that happens to be the length of tube they sell that fitted the need, but 25' of 3/8 will cool down a 5 gal batch in roughly 15 minutes depending on your ground water temperature

I just upgraded to using keggles and am starting to do 10 gal batches so I'm going to up my coil to 50' I haven't timed what it takes to chill 10 gal of wort with a 25' coil since the temperature outside on my last brew session was 15* w/ plenty of snow around , but I would estimate it to be around 20-25 minutes ...tooo f-ing long IMO to be running water into the ground on a regular basis

 

[Eves]

I got to ask this...

Where is a good place to buy the copper tubing? I've looked at Lowes last time I was in there and was disappointed to find they had only 20' copper tubing and it cost $40. Seems like for just a little bit more money I could just buy completed chiller from a LHBS.

 

[UnaBonger]

I got to ask this...

Where is a good place to buy the copper tubing? I've looked at Lowes last time I was in there and was disappointed to find they had only 20' copper tubing and it cost $40. Seems like for just a little bit more money I could just buy completed chiller from a LHBS.

I'm in the same boat... $40 for raw tubing or $50 completed from LHBS...

 

[Bobby_M]

CopperTubingSales.com :: ICS Indsutries ::

 

[Eves]

That site certainly has a better price but when shipping is considered all of a sudden a pre-made one from a LHBS is still only a little more. Of course you do get 50' so its good for those who need to cool more than a little.

 

[bull8042]

CopperTubingSales.com :: ICS Indsutries ::

Dang Bobby, you beat me to it.

 

[jldc]

There's a guy who sells stainless wort chillers on eBay - 25' model for about $75 as I recall. Is there any reason to think that stainless steel is better than copper?

Thanks

 

[Duckfoot]

I got to ask this...

Where is a good place to buy the copper tubing? I've looked at Lowes last time I was in there and was disappointed to find they had only 20' copper tubing and it cost $40. Seems like for just a little bit more money I could just buy completed chiller from a LHBS.

Check out local HVAC supply houses as well... Got 50' of 3/8" for around $35... And didn't pay shipping...

 

[bull8042]

There's a guy who sells stainless wort chillers on eBay - 25' model for about $75 as I recall. Is there any reason to think that stainless steel is better than copper?

Thanks

The stainless is purtier, but heat transfer is up to 30% less in stainless than copper.

 

[gwalt]

But with copper it will patina and is less durable than stainless. Copper prices should begin to drop over the next few months as commodities dip. That is if you can wait, I add ice to my wort and it works well.

The stainless is purtier, but heat transfer is up to 30% less in stainless than copper.