Building Homebrew Equipment (2 page)

You can buy an immersion chiller like this one for about $30, or you can make one yourself.

Note:
Lengths of copper tubing greater than 20’ usually come in a large coil. Most hardware stores will want to sell you a full box containing 50’ to 60’ of tubing. Shop with a friend and build two wort chillers if your hardware store will not sell you a cut length (or maybe find a new hardware store!). You could also build two chillers and use the double-coil chiller method that we describe on page 8.

Note:
Before you begin, you should know that you can easily crimp your copper tubing and ruin that section of it. Once it’s crimped, cut out the crimped section and attach a coupler by soldering (lead-free, please). If you don’t have a spring tubing bender, buy one when you buy your copper tubing. It will help make the 90-degree bends without crimping the tubing.

One other point: You should plan to leave enough copper tubing on the ends so that they stick out over the sides of the pot (see illustration on page 7). Once in a while you may get leaks from loose hose clamps; if the tubing–hose connection is outside the pot and it does leak, the water will not drip into the wort.

1. Turn the copper tubing into a coil. If the copper tubing came in a coil, you can wind it into a tighter coil by hand. This is done by holding one end and turning the coils into ever-smaller coils. You can coil the copper tubing for your immersion chiller by wrapping it carefully around a soda keg if you have a soda keg handy. The final diameter must be small enough that there is at least 2” between the interior sides of the brewpot and the coil. Leave about 18” to 24” on one end.

2. Bend the short end of the tube at the top of the coil 90 degrees out from the coil.

3. Bend the longer end 90 degrees so that the length of the tube goes back up toward the top of the coil.

4. Bend the top part of the long length out from the coil.

5. Cut the garden hose so that each length is at least 5’ or 6’ long.

6. Slide a clamp over each cut end of the hose.

7. Slip one hose length over one end of the coil. Repeat with the other hose at the other end of the coil.

8. Tighten the clamps to hold the hose lengths firmly to the coil.

Use a soda keg to bend your tubing.

That’s it! Your immersion chiller is ready to use, and it should have cost you less than $25.

We recommend testing the chiller before brewing a batch of beer, just to convince yourself that everything works and to satisfy yourself that there will be no surprises when the time comes to use the chiller. We tested our chiller by boiling a brewpot full of water, to which we had added ½ gallon of white vinegar, and seeing how long it would take to cool it. The vinegar is important because it will clean the outside of the chiller and prepare it for use in the wort.

In addition to the chiller, you will need a hose that’s long enough to run from your faucet to the chiller. If you’re using the chiller in your kitchen, as most people do, you may need to twist off the end of your faucet to reveal the threads. These threads should accept a standard hose fitting, but many kitchen faucets need a threaded
adapter to accept a hose connection. These are available at most hardware stores for $1 to $2. Some homebrew supply shops also sell the adapters. If you can’t get the end of your faucet off, or if you just don’t want to mess with it, you can buy a rubber adapter that will fit over the end of the faucet, avoiding the need to unscrew the faucet sprayer.

When you are ready to use your immersion chiller, sanitize it by putting it into the boil for 15 to 20 minutes. When the boil is done, attach the hoses — and chill out.

When you’re ready to use the chiller, sanitize it by setting it down into your brewpot 15 to 20 minutes before the end of the boil. The heat will destroy any bacteria and other microorganisms on its surfaces. Then when the boil is done, simply attach the hose to your faucet, set the other end of the hose in the sink, and turn on the faucet. Five gallons of wort should cool from boiling to below 80?F in about 15 to 20 minutes. The time will depend on the flow rate and temperature of the water.

If you had no choice but to buy a 50’ or 60’ length of copper tubing, or if you are worried about wasting water, want faster cooling times, or have a cold-water supply that just isn’t cold enough, you can build a chiller with two coils that are connected by a length of hose (see illustration below). Set one coil in a bath of ice water, the other coil in the hot wort, and then run water through the chiller. This is more efficient both because you are cooling the water before it gets to the brewpot and because you are using a single coil with a greater difference in temperature between the cooling fluid and the wort. Thus the heat-exchange process works more efficiently.

Double-coil chiller. This one calls for two coils: the first to lower the temperature of the cold water, the second to chill the wort.

If you want to run wort through your chiller, instead of running the chiller through your wort, a counterflow chiller is the best way to go. We’ll describe several you can build yourself.

The PVC pipe counterflow chiller is one of the more popular counterflow chiller designs to emerge over the last several years. It is fairly simple to build and use, and it works faster than most immersion setups. However, as with all counterflow chillers, the inside of the copper tubing needs to be cleaned carefully before and after use because any trace of beer left behind can lead to infection.

The PVC pipe chiller involves taking a 2’ length of a large-diameter PVC pipe; inserting a copper coil inside; drilling two holes, one for bringing in cold water and another for expelling hot water; attaching fittings for water hoses; and then sealing the ends. To use: Pump hot wort through the coil while simultaneously pumping cold water through the pipe.

The PVC counterflow chiller (cutaway view) allows cold water to flow through a section of large-diameter plastic pipe, while hot wort circulates through the small-diameter copper coil installed inside the plastic pipe.

1. Drill a ½″-diameter hole in each end-cap.

2. Insert the compression end of a
⅜
″ compression ×
⅜
″ MPT adapter into each end-cap and seal with epoxy.

3. Drill a ½″-diameter hole 2” from both ends of the PVC pipe.

4. Coil the copper tubing and insert it into the PVC pipe.

5. Place a compression nut and ferrule on each end of the coil.

6. Insert the compression end of a
⅜
″ compression ×
⅜
″ MPT adapter into each hole in the PVC pipe.

7. Thread the compression nuts onto the adapters and tighten. Seal the adapters with epoxy cement.

8. Coat the inside rim of an end-cap and the outside of one end of the PVC pipe with PVC cement. Place end-cap on pipe and repeat for other end. Be sure all sealing surfaces are evenly coated with the PVC cement to avoid leaks.

9. Wrap a couple of turns of Teflon tape around each
⅜
″ MPT, thread on the hose barbs, and lightly tighten. Do not overtighten.

10. Add the hoses and you’re done! The key to success, however, is making sure you sanitize the inside of the copper tubing.

You may want to build a small stand for the chiller using strips of wood. Otherwise the pipe has a tendency to move around. You can either cut a rounded curve in two end pieces, or you can build a four-sided rack — whatever works for you.

Another method for “controlling” your chiller is to wrap a length of 16-gauge wire around the pipe just below one end-cap and twist the ends into a double wire. Bend the end lengths 90 degrees up past the end-cap, make a hook, and hang it from the brewpot handle. Remember: the simpler, the better.

In the hose counterflow chiller, a copper tube is inserted inside a standard garden hose and the wort is pumped, or siphoned, so that it runs in a direction opposite to the water flow.

Before we delve into a description of making a chiller from scratch, we need to mention that the tube fittings can be bought already made. These fittings are produced by Listermann Manufacturing and are sold under the name Phil’s Phittings. This fitting kit sells for about $15 and really makes building a chiller easy work.