Materials for a (big) wort chiller

[Brutal]

I need a big wort chiller able to be used effectively on the barrel size mashes I make from time to time. I ferment on the grain and don't pump anything anywhere, so I think the immersion type chiller is going to work best for me. Most of the ones I see around are made to work on 5-10 gallon batches so for a 40 gallon batch I figure I could just scale everything up.

A member here mentioned having one made from 1/2" x 100 feet of copper tube. So I just priced out a 100 foot coil of 1/2" copper tube. After that I picked myself up off the floor and have been considering a different material.

The other options that come to mind are stainless or maybe aluminum. Stainless is a proven material and should save some scratch over copper. Aluminum is a great conductor of heat and cheap too. I know we don't generally recommend distilling in aluminum, but it might make a good material for a wort chiller.

Stainless or Aluminum? What do y'all think? Let's talk about it and post links if you got 'em.

[bearriver]

Stainless, for the same reason we discourage aluminum boilers. Aluminum will pit in hot acidic environments. Once the pitting gets bad enough, there will be a mechanical failure.

Look at the dimensions of the coil used in the "Electric Brewery" plans for a 50 gallon setup. I'd use that.

Edit: It looks like 50 feet long will work just fine for that size vessel. Forget using 100'. However, your going to drop a hundred bucks if you want to go with 50' of stainless... I'd just bite the bullet and buy it. It's only a 1 time purchase. If your not going to ever use it for making beer, maybe reconsider the copper. You can get 50' x 1/2" for $60 here, which is almost half the price of SS: http://www.midlandhardware.com/231688.h ... UjuiJN5cdU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow


Stainless: http://www.grainger.com/product/GRAINGE ... bing-3ADD2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow $100

or

Stainless prefab: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/custom-herms-coil" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow $220

[Brutal]

@Bear, that's a good deal on some copper. If 50 feet will be ok then I could just do that. I had it in my head that I needed 100, and the lowest price I found for 50 was 80-90 bucks. That is the .5" OD tubing, as opposed to the .625" pipe, so fittings won't work on it. With a couple 90 degree bends it won't need any fitting though.

I know aluminum will corrode when used as a boiler, but I think as a wort chiller it will hold up considerably better. Unfermented mash will have quite a few less chemicals in it (no ethanol for example,) and should be less acidic. It's also not as hot as a boiler on a still. Also with a large enough chiller I hope to only use it for a hour at a time. Considering I only do this a few times a year we're talking 5-6 hours of actual use per year. I don't have a source for aluminum tube but I think it would work quite well for this.

[shadylane]

Just a thought
A small wort chiller with a stirrer is as effective as a big chiller without.

[carbohydratesn]

Corrugated stainless steel tubing would probably be a good material for this. Tons of turbulence. I think you'll be able to find it cheaper than other kinds of stainless tubing, too. 1/2'' x 20 meters (65ft) is $135 on ebay.

It'd be a little harder to clean by hand than a smooth tube would be, but rinsing it off should be no problem.

[MichiganCornhusker]

Hard to beat the thermal transfer of copper.
Check out the bad ass huge chiller Windy made for Jimbo, it would put a smackdown on a 100# batch.
Go big or go home, eh brutal?

[carbohydratesn]

Hard to beat the expense, too.

[White_Lightning_Rod]

dont know if youve seen this yet. 50' 3/8 od copper. 19.26 shipped hell for that price order 2. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002JBMWK ... ref=plSrch" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[Brutal]

dont know if youve seen this yet. 50' 3/8 od copper. 19.26 shipped hell for that price order 2. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002JBMWK ... ref=plSrch" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Yea I was just looking at that. Looks too good to be true. In the picture it looks more like 10-12 feet and it is priced like it too. The only review is from 2011.

Looking around a found a couple more copper rolls in the price range Bear linked. The stainless options don't save any money so there's no reason to go that way. I am going to keep looking a little bit more to see if I can come up with something equivalent in aluminum. If I don't find something in the next day or two I'll just go with copper.

1/2" x 50' will have to do. I can stir the whole thing up good with the mixer I have so I think it will work.

[White_Lightning_Rod]

Im sketical as well but I ordered one this morning. If you wanna wait a week Ill report back when I receive it.

[Jimbo]

Hard to beat the thermal transfer of copper.
Check out the bad ass huge chiller Windy made for Jimbo, it would put a smackdown on a 100# batch.
Go big or go home, eh brutal?

Here's a couple shots of ChillerZilla, this is a 55 gal barrel with the chiller in there and a paint stirrer keeping things moving. It cools 75 lbs of grain and 28 gal water down pretty damn fast.
http://homedistiller.org/forum/download ... &mode=view

Here's a pic of the beast. 100' of 1/2" copper

[Due51]

I'm just wondering if a Garden Hose coiled around the OUTSIDE of the barrel will work?

[carbohydratesn]

The stainless options don't save any money so there's no reason to go that way.

Concerned about ethyl carbamate formation at all? A stainless wort chiller would form none, unlike copper.

There are some reasons to go that way.

[Brutal]

Im sketical as well but I ordered one this morning. If you wanna wait a week Ill report back when I receive it.

I can wait a week. I'd appreciate it man.

[Brutal]

The stainless options don't save any money so there's no reason to go that way.

Concerned about ethyl carbamate formation at all? A stainless wort chiller would form none, unlike copper.

There are some reasons to go that way.

On my wort chiller? No.

[Danespirit]

One can't beat the termal conductivity of copper.
I would in no way use aluminium...you would also have a hard time bending it, without heating it.
It will crack if you don't.
Stainless would be super too, even if it hasn't the properties of copper.
Have you considered a "counterflow chiller"..??
Might be a idea..you could make one with copper and a PVC hose with couplings over it, where the water flows.
Compact,easy to fabricate and cools like a champ.
Just a idea that came up..

[heartcut]

I use a 20' 1/2" over 3/8 x 0.035" ss counterflow chiller for beer and it'll chill fresh boiled wort down to near water temperature with gravity feed at a 1' drop.

[Brutal]

One can't beat the termal conductivity of copper.

True. I thought they were pretty close but according to engineeringtoolbox.com, copper is roughly twice as thermally conductive. Nice.

I would in no way use aluminium...you would also have a hard time bending it, without heating it.
It will crack if you don't.

They make dead soft aluminum that I think would be similar to bending copper if not easier. http://amzn.com/B006K8JJN0

Stainless would be super too, even if it hasn't the properties of copper.
Have you considered a "counterflow chiller"..??
Might be a idea..you could make one with copper and a PVC hose with couplings over it, where the water flows.
Compact,easy to fabricate and cools like a champ.
Just a idea that came up..

I really want to keep my mash in the barrel. I mash in a barrel and get the whole thing hot enough to be sure everything is sterile. Pumping mash through one of those would be good, but I don't currently have a pump and I don't need one otherwise. Dunking an immersion unit and agitating sounds like the way to go at the moment.

I use a 20' 1/2" over 3/8 x 0.035" ss counterflow chiller for beer and it'll chill fresh boiled wort down to near water temperature with gravity feed at a 1' drop.

So is that unit straight? Kind of like a liebig? One could temporarily re purpose a liebig. Putting 40 gallons of mash through it on the grain might prove a challenge though.

[Danespirit]

Yes that's what i meant Brutal...unless it's softened (heattreated), aluminium is prone to cracking when bend or pressed.
Anyway, here is a snapshot of a chiller:

As a temporary solution a Liebig would also be fine.
However, i can see why you prefer a barrel.