The wort chiller is a basic heat exchanger that can be purchased from most home brewing shops for between $60 and $100+ shipping. No thanks. After doing some basic research, I decided to build my own and see how it works. This is what you need:
20 feet of 3/8" copper refrigerator line (make sure to NOT purchase the L size)
20 feet of 3/8" Inner Diameter Vinyl hose
6 screw clamps that will fit 3/8"
1 Barbed 3/8" to garden hose fitting
With most heat exchangers, the longer the better. Most designs are 50' of line but in my mind that is overkill. Maybe if i was doing all-grain or full batch boiling it would be something to consider, but for my purposes 20' is more than enough. Take the copper line (which should be already coiled) and bend it around a cylindrical object. Be sure to make sure it will fit inside the boil kettle. I used a paint can to bend my line. Also make sure not to crimp the line shut. Once that is done, cut 2 5 feet long sections of the vinyl hose. Attach one to the exit of the cooler and clamp it down with 2 screw clamps. Take the other section and stick the garden hose fitting in it. Clamp this down with 2 screw clamps. Take the other end of that section and attach it to the enterance of the chiller and also clamp with 2 screw clamps. Ta Da!!!! you are done the hard part. The last thing to do is to check for leaks. Attach to the garden hose and let it run for about 2 minutes.Total cost for me was about $38 and it only took about 30 minutes to build, it took me more time to track down the parts at my local Lowes.
I hope to use it soon in my next batch of beer, what ever that ends u being.
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