Wort chillers rock!

[phishfood]

I have been, literally, spending hours cooling the wort in tapwater baths. I have been in serious need of a wort chiller, but copper tubing is expensive, and I am cheap. The ingredients for multiple batchs would cost less than the tubing and fittings to manufacture one, says my stingy self

Last week, a friend gave me about 15 feet of grungy, nasty 1/4" tubing that he found in his backyard. It took a lot of work to clean it up, but after much work and frustration, I finally had an operational chiller last night.

Used it for the first time on today's brew, and it took 4 gallons from 210 to 78 in 37 minutes time. This has taken hours off of my brew day. I can only imagine how quickly one of these built with the standard 25' plus of 3/8" tubing would work.

I would encourage anyone who is considering buying or building one to do so, especially if you are about do full or nearly so boils.

 

[deckardd]

Yeah they are a god send, but there are even faster ways of cooling your wort, but inverting the process. Instead of immersing the wort chiller in the wort, you can push the wort through piping and into a cold bath, which can cut that time in half!

 

[mojotele]

Yeah I held off getting an immersion chiller for too long. Once I finally got one, I realized how dumb I was to put it off. Mine seems to cool 5 gallons from 210 to 80 in 15 minutes, maybe less. Never really timed it. All I know is that it is fast. If you didn't stir yours while it was chilling, do so. It'll cool it down even faster!

In the long run it saves me money as well as oodles of time. I always had to buy ice as the ice from my ice maker was never sufficient. Bags of ice are ludicrously overpriced, at least around here.

 

[phishfood]

Yeah they are a god send, but there are even faster ways of cooling your wort, but inverting the process. Instead of immersing the wort chiller in the wort, you can push the wort through piping and into a cold bath, which can cut that time in half!

Yeah, but then it seems to me that you need some type of pump, which adds more complexity and cost. Before that, I need some bigger pots, a better capper, maybe some kegs and related stuff, a grain mill and scale, storage for grains, a FoodSaver to vacuum seal hops, etc, etc, etc........

 

[osagedr]

Built a 50 footer about a month ago; used it for the first time yesterday. Works great. Boiling to 65 degrees in five minutes or so--mind you we have very, very cold tapwater here in winter. Took me wayyyyyy longer the other night with an ice bath just to cool the miniature batch for my 1.5 litre starter!

 

[TRainH2o]

I was able to cool 5 gallons of wort from boiling to 80˚ with a large rubbermaid tub filled with ice water in less time than that. I am not trying to brag but 37 minutes seems a bit too long to me. You might try stirring the wort while your chiller is running. This will disrupt the "heat barrier" and make your wort cool faster.

I made my chiller out of 50ft of 3/8 copper. It was about $40 for the copper. I used it for the first time a few days ago. It took 5 gallons of wort from 212˚ to 70˚ in about 8 minutes. What type of tubing was it that you used?

 

[osagedr]

I was able to cool 5 gallons of wort from boiling to 80˚ with a large rubbermaid tub filled with ice water in less time than that. I am not trying to brag but 37 minutes seems a bit too long to me. You might try stirring the wort while your chiller is running. This will disrupt the "heat barrier" and make your wort cool faster.

I made my chiller out of 50ft of 3/8 copper. It was about $40 for the copper. I used it for the first time a few days ago. It took 5 gallons of wort from 212˚ to 70˚ in about 8 minutes. What type of tubing was it that you used?

According to his post, he only had 15 feet of tubing to work with. And depending on the temperature of water being run through it, I can see it taking some time to cool.

 

[TRainH2o]

According to his post, he only had 15 feet of tubing to work with. And depending on the temperature of water being run through it, I can see it taking some time to cool.

I know. I was just trying to see what the OP was using and make a suggestion to make what he has work a bit faster. Like I said, not bragging. Just trying to help out.

I was surprised at how quickly the ice bath, while stirring, cooled my 5 gallons down.

 

[willynilly]

How does the math work here. Why would pumping the wort through cold water chill faster than pumping cold water through a chiller in the wort?

You are using the same calories of energy, crossing the same barrier (copper coil) Same temp. wort, same temp cooling water, exchanging heat over the same material and the same surface area.

I have done it both ways, and the chill time was no different. I am curious

 

[TRainH2o]

It's all about the chiller's ability to dissipate heat. A chiller sitting hot wort will not cool the wort as efficiently as a chiller that is in ice water. Many use both an immersion chiller and some type of pre chiller for the immersion chiller or, circulate the hot wort through a tub of ice water while using an immersion chiller. This also circulates the wort to reduce the heat barrier.

I do not use this type of system........yet. But I may depending on how much I brew this summer.

 

[goose1873]

I have been, literally, spending hours cooling the wort in tapwater baths. I have been in serious need of a wort chiller, but copper tubing is expensive, and I am cheap. The ingredients for multiple batchs would cost less than the tubing and fittings to manufacture one, says my stingy self

Last week, a friend gave me about 15 feet of grungy, nasty 1/4" tubing that he found in his backyard. It took a lot of work to clean it up, but after much work and frustration, I finally had an operational chiller last night.

Used it for the first time on today's brew, and it took 4 gallons from 210 to 78 in 37 minutes time. This has taken hours off of my brew day. I can only imagine how quickly one of these built with the standard 25' plus of 3/8" tubing would work.

I would encourage anyone who is considering buying or building one to do so, especially if you are about do full or nearly so boils.

home depot/lowes has 20 ft of 3/8 soft copper coil for <10 bucks get the rubber sink connector and some tubing and it will be clean and cool boiling to <80 in 5-10 min (5 gallon batch)

just be sure to stir and toss it in the wort a few minute before the end of boil to sterilize...if you ever go to 10 gallon boils, buy another 20 feet and connect the 2 with a compression fitting...

total cost <$20...

--cheers

 

[TRainH2o]

I guess I should add, this is how I understand how it works. Jamil has a section about this type of system on his site.

 

[willynilly]

It still makes no sense to me. Cold water, or hot wort, you are transferring heat over the same surface area, it shouldn't cool any faster. In my system it never did.

If you have mediums at 2 different temps. Move them through the same coil, at the same rate, with the same surface area, the cooling time should be the same. The only thing that matters is the temp. of the medium, the surface area and the flow rate.

 

[DmentD]

Yeah, but then it seems to me that you need some type of pump, which adds more complexity and cost.

THIS PUMP from Harbor Freight is only $13, and it works wonders. All you'll need is the pump, an ice chest (and ice, of course), a &#8540;" ID hose clamp, a male hose end with a ½" barb, and a short length of ½" ID vinyl tubing -- the latter three items to adapt the hose fitting on your existing chiller to the outlet on the pump, and are readily available from Home Depot... likely less than $20 all told, including the pump. Recirculate your water back into the ice chest, and you'll use 2 gallons of water or less from the faucet to submerge the pump at the start.

I use 30 pounds of ice ($3 total 'round these parts), and am left with some floating cubes by the end. Between stirring the wort, and giving the ice/water in the chest an occasional tumble, I can cool 4 gallons to 70° in well under 10 minutes. I get a beautiful cold break, too.

 

[osagedr]

It's all about the chiller's ability to dissipate heat. A chiller sitting hot wort will not cool the wort as efficiently as a chiller that is in ice water. Many use both an immersion chiller and some type of pre chiller for the immersion chiller or, circulate the hot wort through a tub of ice water while using an immersion chiller. This also circulates the wort to reduce the heat barrier.

I have to say that is one of the most confusing posts I have ever seen.

 

[gtpro]

I was looking at about $48 for 50ft of 3/8ths at lowes when I was trying to build mine, luckily my friend works for a plumbing company and 50ft of 3/8ths od fell right off his truck one day.

Needless to say, the results are thrilling.

 

[NorCalHB]

I dont really know what the big hype on chillers are... I just use a ice chest, fill it half way with ice (which if I bought at the store would cost me 3 bucks) and then add some water. I let the water and ice sit together for about 10 minutes to get it nice and cold, set my pot in, and in less then 10 minutes my wort was ready to go.

Why spend $50 on a chiller and have it cool your wort down in 15-20 minutes? Not only that but your wasting water for that whole 20 minutes your using the thing.. I'll pass on one.. but if it works for you and you like it, so be it.

 

[phishfood]

Setting the boil pot in the kitchen sink, filling it with tap water, removing it, draining the warm water, repeat 2 or 3 times, then the last time adding several trays of ice, got the 4 gallons to ~ 80 in 2 or 3 hours, depending on how much stirring I did. This did the same thing in just over half an hour.

Enough ice to mix with water in a chest or cut off barrel would cost me way north of 3 bucks. A small bag of ice costs 3 buck at the local store, a big bag costs about 2 bucks at the ice machine 8 miles away, and it would take at least 2 of those to make enough icewater to do the job, plus gas and time to drive there. And then I would either have to bring the large container into SWMBO's kitchen, or I would have to carry the 4-5 gallons of really hot stuff outside. Setting the copper coil in the kettle just before flameout, attaching a couple of lines and turning the water on and off is, for me, cheaper and easier.

I might try the big icewater bath thing one time just to see how well it works. But I can say that even a wimpy undersized chiller is a vast improvement from how I was doing things.

 

[KCBrewer]

You can get 20' of 3/8 od for $8.74 at Lowe's. This counterflow cost me around $45 and it will cool an entire batch in less than 5 minutes to 58* from boiling.

 

[phishfood]

That is an awesome looking chiller.


From the picture, I can see how you built it, and if I ever decide to build one, I now know how to do it. Thanks much for posting it.

 

[KCBrewer]

Thanks, glad you like it. Who knew years of hvac and remodeling would help brew beer? One thing I didn't account for in the cost is the "shark bite" tee's, as I had these already. You can use regular copper sweat tee's for a lot less money. These come in handy though, as it allows you to swivel the hose outlets side to side.

 

[phishfood]

Yeah, I was going to ask if those were sharkbites, but was afraid I would get a "Huh?" in response. Plumber here, but we use plastic pipe almost exclusively, so no cheap copper tubing for me.

 

[KCBrewer]

I rehab a lot of older dwellings, and am hvac certified, so copper is a lot more common for me. I've done some pex work. I have to say it is much easier & faster to work with, and withstands freezing temps better than copper without bursting. Plus the thieves don't come scrap out your vacants, since scrap yards don't pay for plastic! My only complaint is that I used it for piping my basement when finishing it off, and the ice in my icemaker tastes like bandaids now. I've flushed the lines a few times and it didn't help. Blehhh

 

[IceFisherChris]

I dont really know what the big hype on chillers are... I just use a ice chest, fill it half way with ice (which if I bought at the store would cost me 3 bucks) and then add some water. I let the water and ice sit together for about 10 minutes to get it nice and cold, set my pot in, and in less then 10 minutes my wort was ready to go.

Why spend $50 on a chiller and have it cool your wort down in 15-20 minutes? Not only that but your wasting water for that whole 20 minutes your using the thing.. I'll pass on one.. but if it works for you and you like it, so be it.

It takes me 5 minutes to cool down 4 gallons to 70 degrees. The water runs fast at first but I slow it down considerably once it gets cooler. I think I used 5 gallons for one of my last brews (cool it down most of the way and then use cold top off water to finish the job.) I use some of the hot water for sanitizing, and the rest to clean up dishes or throw it in my clothes washing machine. If you don't understand why people like wort chillers, it's because you don't have one
It may not be "cost effective" until you do about 20 batches but the amount of time saved is amazing. The thing that sucks about this hobby is all the waiting that you have to do. An hour to heat up water and steep your grains, then an hour for boiling, then cooling time, then a month to ferment and bottle... I'm totally willing to spend $60 to cut my brewing time down by over a half hour.

 

[BendBrewer]

I run my IC runoff water into a larger Action Packer with some Oxyclean in it.

It fill it almost completely.

Then I have a TUB to throw everything into as I finish with it.

Kettle, ladel, spoon, strainer, funnel, IC, whatever go right in for an overnight soak. It works great for me and I keep the mess out of the kitchen.

 

[NorCalHB]

It takes me 5 minutes to cool down 4 gallons to 70 degrees. The water runs fast at first but I slow it down considerably once it gets cooler. I think I used 5 gallons for one of my last brews (cool it down most of the way and then use cold top off water to finish the job.) I use some of the hot water for sanitizing, and the rest to clean up dishes or throw it in my clothes washing machine. If you don't understand why people like wort chillers, it's because you don't have one
It may not be "cost effective" until you do about 20 batches but the amount of time saved is amazing. The thing that sucks about this hobby is all the waiting that you have to do. An hour to heat up water and steep your grains, then an hour for boiling, then cooling time, then a month to ferment and bottle... I'm totally willing to spend $60 to cut my brewing time down by over a half hour.

I would never invest in a chiller for the simple fact that I can cool my wort faster then some people with a $60 IC... I already have an ice chest so all im paying for is ice, which is cheap. You might cool your wort 5 mintues faster then me but I dont spend 5 minutes sanatizing an IC like you do...so consider us even . Also, my wort chiller can carry ice cold beer.. can yours do the same??