Hello everyone. Quick question. I'm working on a DIY wort chiller. It's roughly 23' of 1/2" copper tubing with garden hose connections on the ends. All soldered connections. It fits perfectly in my 5 gallon brew pot.

It's pretty much done, except I have a few questions.

What kind of hose should I use to connect it to the sink? Would 6 foot washing machine hoses work?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. I'll post pics when it's all done.

MM

i would just use 1/2" high heat tubing and a fitting along with a faucet adapter. I've linked the three items below. Use the high temp because the other line seems to kink under heat and I got leaks. I have exactly what is listed below, just with a store bought chiller.

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/homebrewi...g-per-foot.html

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/homebrewi...h-1-2-barb.html

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/faucet-adapter.html

Thanks Cardinalsfan. I was actually thinking about ordering some stuff from Midwest anyway. Here is the final build photos. It's 11" high at the top of the coil and 10" across. It should work pretty well. Not too bad for my first attempt.

that looks very nice!! you will need two of the hose connectors I linked to, one to go to the faucet adapter and one to go to your chiller. You also need a couple hose clamps.

washing machine hoses MIGHT work or you could always use an outside faucet and hose but it may be too cold for that right now in CT

wow, that came out nice, much neater than my ghetto homebuild.

the only criticism I have is that you used 90* connecters just before where you will hook up the hoses. generally you want those ends angled down incase something leaks somewhere. if angled down it wont drip/run into you freshly brewed wort. something to keep an eye on.

Good point Sean. I plan to pressure test it before use and make sure the joints are solid. Thanks for the reminder.

Looks Beautiful!

Just wondering, if I had the skills to make one, which I don't, what's the cost comparison to makin ur own vs buying one?

Oh yeah, looks Awesome!!

not sure why you would need high temp hoses on a chiller.....lol even if you are just rinsing it out you are not running hot water very long...or don't need too...unless of course you plan to use it in a herms system or something...


Looks real pretty mike!

I can't speak to mike's...as he has def put a lot more work into it than I did, but I would say about half...

Stink, the hose that came with mine leaks because of the heat when it's sitting in the boil. I bought some high temp tubing hoping it will help make a better seal since it seems to be more rigid.

It was about the same as if I bought one online and had it shipped to me. But I think it's pretty cool to use something I built myself. I also bought the copper tubing at Home Depot, so it cost a bit more there. But I also bought the tools I would need to make more. I have a friend that works for a plumbing supply company, so I'll be able to buy the tubing cheaper from now on. I have a friend that's a homebrewer that's going to be using a half-barrel keg as a brew kettle, so I might be building one for him. We're thinking that his will be about 50 feet in a dual coil ribcage design. That should cool 10+ gallons pretty quickly. Thanks for the compliments.

Damn, looks great! MILES better than anything I could ever do.

Be sure to let us know how it works out!

Do you have hose clamps? I have just regular tubing and have not had a problem...and one of my hoses diameters is way too big but the hose clamp has been working for over a year?

yeah, I have a hose clamp on it. the tubing is about 4" down on the pipe too. hoping the high temp tubing will fix this issue for me, i'll find out when i get it.

I know its a PITA but I dont connect my hoses until my boil is over. When I was still brewing inside on the stove one of the hoses got too close to the flame and went on fire. Now I brew on a turkey fryer outside but I still dont connect the hoses until after the boil.

isn't the chiller really hot? lol

It is, But I use gloves...no problem.

I can't wait to hear the report of it's inaugural brew.

That is one sweet build ! Nice work !

Very nice work!