philm63
Grandmaster Brewer
Some of you may already know about this so please forgive me if I am repeating, but I’d like to let our readers know of a good resource for kits to build your own immersion chiller, ICS Industries (aka coppertubingsales.com) and here’s my disclaimer: I don’t have any affiliation with this store but I was impressed with their prices on copper tubing, and building my own IC was actually pretty simple.
One of the big home stores wants $62 for a 50-foot roll of 3/8 copper. This is a little cheaper than a completed IC from the homebrew sites, sure, but with a little trolling I found this site www.coppertubingsales.com. For under $49; you get that same 50-foot roll AND the clamps (or compression fittings) and hoses if you choose the clamp-style or compression-style kit. For $5 more you get the soldering-type kit!
All you need is a paint can or similar cylindrical object to wrap the tubing around, and I’d recommend a simple spring-type tubing bender to make the risers (they sell one for around $2) – make your bends, attach the hoses and clamps and you’re ready to chill. I made mine in about half an hour (see photo).
As I have a squat 8.5 gallon pot, 50 feet with one diameter would’ve been too tall – it’d stick out the top of my wort – so I opted for a "dual-coil" design (a smaller coil within a larger coil) to get all 50 feet into the wort and soldered the risers for rigidity. I used two pieces of PVC pipe at different diameters but you don’t have to do all that; a single coil around a paint can would work just fine if your pot’s tall enough. So for less than $50 (plus shipping) you can build your own 50-foot IC.
Enjoy!
One of the big home stores wants $62 for a 50-foot roll of 3/8 copper. This is a little cheaper than a completed IC from the homebrew sites, sure, but with a little trolling I found this site www.coppertubingsales.com. For under $49; you get that same 50-foot roll AND the clamps (or compression fittings) and hoses if you choose the clamp-style or compression-style kit. For $5 more you get the soldering-type kit!
All you need is a paint can or similar cylindrical object to wrap the tubing around, and I’d recommend a simple spring-type tubing bender to make the risers (they sell one for around $2) – make your bends, attach the hoses and clamps and you’re ready to chill. I made mine in about half an hour (see photo).
As I have a squat 8.5 gallon pot, 50 feet with one diameter would’ve been too tall – it’d stick out the top of my wort – so I opted for a "dual-coil" design (a smaller coil within a larger coil) to get all 50 feet into the wort and soldered the risers for rigidity. I used two pieces of PVC pipe at different diameters but you don’t have to do all that; a single coil around a paint can would work just fine if your pot’s tall enough. So for less than $50 (plus shipping) you can build your own 50-foot IC.
Enjoy!
