Need a wort chiller recommendation

[Scoper50]

After doing my last 5 gallon batch I realized I could benefit from a wort chiller. I think I spent 45 minutes trying to cool it down to 70 degrees last time and I don't want to do that again. I've seen what is offered on Northern Brewers website but they seem a little pricey and I'm not even sure what difference is or what I actually need. I'm basically just trying to cool 3.5-4 gallons of liquid quickly. What would you recommend?

[Scoper50]

Also, what is the difference between the stainless steel and the copper models?

[rodneyaylward]

Also, what is the difference between the stainless steel and the copper models?

They're about the same. Copper is a little more efficient but the difference is negligible. I bought mine on Amazon through the New York brew supply vendor. I bought a copper 50ft one and the price was a good one.

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[Inkleg]

I live in Georgia so for 9 months out of the year wort chilling can be challenging. I've made my own (not using any more) and have purchased. Right now if I was to do it all over again I'd bite the bullet and buy a Jaded Hydra and never look back. I have a 50ft 3/8 chiller at the moment and I have a friend who has the Hydra. We did a side by side with a Y splitter coming off a spigot. In a nut shell my wort is still chilling and he is drinking beer. Had I of know that I was going as deep into this hobby as I have I'd had made the one time buy and be smiling.

[Beer-lord]

+1 for the Jaded Hydra. In my pot the whole thing isn't even immersed all the way and we have warm water down south and what it can do in a short amount of time is amazing! Read the reviews and you'll see what I'm talking about.

[Scoper50]

Yeah, $160 is a little steep for me. I was wondering if there's anything decent in the $50 range. Do I need 25 or 50 feet for a 4 gallon pot of wort?

[RayF]

The size and length you need is dependent on quite a few factors. The size of the batches, How fast you want to chill, temperature of the water used to chill. The larger the surface area of the chiller the faster it will chill. The larger the diameter of the tubing and the longer it is in length is best.

Now, I went with a 25' 3/8" copper tubing Emersion chiller when I first started brewing(because it was cheap) At that time I was doing mr beer 2 gallon batches, the chiller worked just fine for those batches. I then started 5 gallon extract batches and soon 5 gallon all grain. Those took way too long to chill for me. I then used a pump to circulate ice water to compensate for the larger batches and or the water temperature. The ice water pump thing worked great but was a pain in the ass. I also had to purchase the pump to do all of this, which made the price of my cheap wort chiller not so cheap. If I could've predicted the future of how much I would get into brewing. I would have went with a more expensive chiller up front instead of trying to make a cheap one work and eventually costing me more. I eventually stopped using that chiller as my brewing techniques advanced and bought a better chiller which cost me even more on top of the original 25' chiller.

[LouieMacGoo]

IMHO anything you use as far as an immersion chiller is going to work better then what you're doing now. Whether you get something from Amazon or build your own from Lowes or Home Depot. The larger the diameter of the tubing the more efficient it will be and the longer the over all length the better, so a 50' 1/2 inch chiller will be better than a 50' 3/8 inch chiller which would be better than a 25' 1/2 inch chiller.

The ones on Amazon from New York brew seem to be a pretty decent and look like they would be a good choice. Building your own (copper) chiller may save you a little money but it might not be worth the difference in cost. If I were in the market for a new chiller I would most likely go with this one.

With that said I built my own chiller and made the mistake of using straight copper and trying to bend it and ended up using a bunch of elbows and welding it all together when the bending didn't work out for me so It wasn't the cheapest way to go but I never have to worry about anyone mistaking it for theirs.

[RayF]

Note about copper immersion wort chillers. If your neighbor is nosy and watches a lot of moonshiners on discovery channel and you leave your wort chiller on the window sill of the basement. You may get a knock on the door from your local police department. Idiot!

[Beer-lord]

Note about copper immersion wort chillers. If your neighbor is nosy and watches a lot of moonshiners on discovery channel and you leave your wort chiller on the window sill of the basement. You may get a knock on the door from your local police department. Idiot!

Really? Did that happen? What a hole he must be!

[RayF]

It really happened! Told them I had a worm. Old nosy people with nothing better to do.

[HerbMeowing]

All else equal ... I'd look for a design where the upper coils were offset toward the center of the kettle v. models with coils straight up the side.

Hot wort 'collects' in the middle at the top of the kettle.
A good chiller has coils in the middle at the top of the kettle.

[TonyKZ1]

If looking to save more money vs the Jaded chillers, you could look on eBay as there's usually some deals on chillers there. I've read a lot of good reviews on the Hydra chillers over on the HomeBrewTalk forum, I believe the owner is also over there, link. As for eBay, that's where I bought mine, a copper 3/8 25' model. It was advertised with a nice picture of a factory made one but turned out to be a home made one that while it works okay doesn't look anywhere as good as one made with the proper tools. Most people seem to like the Hydra model quite a bit.

[Inkleg]

Just some information on using an immersion chiller regardless of what you get. I usually put mine in during the last 5-10 minutes of the boil. I'll lower it in slow and adjust the heat up so it won't kill the boil and then adjust the heat back down as it equalizes. I'll catch the first heated runnings in a 5 gallon bucket to use for cleaning up after brew day. My chiller fits my bucket so when I'm done I just dunk and slosh it in the hot water, knock of any hop bits, turn it upside down to drain the water in it and call it done. While the chiller is in wort you will get quicker chilling by having the wort moving either by swirling the wort around the chiller using a large spoon or paddle or moving the chiller around in the wort (warning the outlet side out the chiller will be hot, yes I've grabbed mine more than once ).

[MrBandGuy]

I bought a 25’ 3/8” to start and it was fine. Then I borrowed my neighbors homemade 50’ and realized how much faster it was. Then I built my own hydra, which I currently use. I’d recommend the 50’ if you are just starting out.


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