Brews and Blues Beer and Smokin’ Blues

Building an Immersion Chiller

An immersion chiller is a relatively inexpensive piece of equipment to build, and it's a great way to cool your hot wort down to pitching temperature in a hurry. Here's the list of equipment I used to build this chiller:

50' of 1/2" copper refrigeration tubing ($58)
(4) 1/2" 90 degree copper elbows (less than $1.00 each)
10' of plastic hose (less than $10)
Brass female hose connector (about $4)
2 hose clamps (about $2)
Some lead free solder
Some acid paste flux

In total, this build costs less than $80, and the copper tubing can be purchased for a good bit less from http://www.coppertubingsales.com if you want to order it online. As of this writing, they sell a 50' roll of 1/2 inch tubing for $31 plus shipping, which I think to my address is about $13, so there is a rather significant savings there that would knock $14 off this build and bring it down to about $65 in total.

To get started on this build, I got out my brew kettle to find out how long my vertical pieces needed to be to clear the top of the pot.  I cut one piece long enough to reach the bottom of the pot and clear the top by 4 or 5 inches.  I cut another piece about the same length to make the second vertical piece and the two turn-out pieces. 

The next step is to coil the copper tubing around something round like a corny keg, paint cans, or something else relatively close to that size.  I used an old plastic dish washing powder bucket that I found in the basement.  With 1/2" copper tubing, you will need an extra set of hands to help you form this coil.

Once the coil is formed, you will need to solder on the copper elbows and the vertical pieces of the tubing.  You will also need to solder on the turn-out tubes at the top.  Once those connections are made, use hose clamps to attach your plastic hose. 

For my input hose, I used a shorter piece (about 14" or so) and used a hose clamp to fasten my female hose fitting for connection to the garden hose.   Attach the second piece of hose to the output tube.  My output hose is about 10' long so I can position it to drain wherever I want it to without any trouble.

After everything is put together, test the chiller for leaks by hooking up a garden hose and letting water flow through it.  You should have no leaks at any of the soldered or hose clamp joints.  If you have no leaks, put a crimp in the output hose to build up some pressure inside the chiller and make sure you have no leaks under pressure.  If you have no leaks, you are ready to go!  If you have any leaks, you might need to tighten your hose clamps or re-work the soldered joints. 

HERE is a great video on YouTube that shows the process of making a chiller...  I used this concept for building mine...