Wort cooling

[Freon12]

I made one with just copper and fittings found at the hardware store. I used one 20ft roll of refrigeration copper tubing 20' X 5/8" and one 25' roll of 3/8". Unrolled the tubing on the ground and slid the 3/8" inside the 5/8 leaving a few inches of 3/8 at each end. Rolled it back up around a corni keg. Two 5/8" tee's one at each end, a short stub of 5/8" and then a 1/2" X 1/4" bell reducer(plumbing size that equals 5/8 X 3/8 OD)at each end. I had to sand out the stop inside the bell so it would slide past the 3/8 to the tee. Sweat A brass hose fitting that had a 5/8" ID at each tee branch and bingo. I cooled 5 gal. of boiling wort to 68f in 15 min. with tap water by adjusting the beer flow by monitoring the exiting temp. Cost= $32.00 us, 1 hour of time. I saw a picture that would help at Morebeer.com. They go for $100.00 but look much better than mine.

[andytv]

Check out the CF chiller at stpats.com, made with convoluted copper tubing, really sharp!!

[dartedplus]

I know the one you are talking about. What would I need to use to keep the inside of the 3/8 clean after use. I probably won't be making one in the near future, but will probably want to do it at some point. Right now I have an immersion chiller that I made and it takes about the same amount of time to get it cilled, but I hate having to clean the coils as much as I do, which probably wont change, but I will be able to keep the beer covered and away from the little nasties a little better with a CF chiller. Thanks again, Ed.

[dartedplus]

I did see that chiller...is that stuff readily available ??

[Freon12]

I run some tap water through it right after. I guess you can sanitize it also, but keep wort from drying in it by flushing it out right away and maybe a little co2 to remove the water for storage.