Homemade Wort Chiller

So since I'm close to all-grain brewing, I needed a wort chiller.  The cheapest ones you can order online are $32.99, but the one I envisioned was $44.99.  That sounded like a lot so I decided to build one.  Here's how it went down.

First I needed some copper.  Luckily (by God's provision I think) there happened to be about 40 feet of 3/8" copper pipe coiled up in the garage of the house we're renting.  After a quick call to the landlord, it was up for the taking, so I took it.  It still needs a good deep cleaning, but that will come later this week.

The tool to properly coil copper was about $12.50, so instead I coiled it around a paint can I found in the garage and it turned out pretty sweet.  The only tricky part was turning the bottom of the coil back up to the top which I may need to tighten up a bit, but for now it's working.

The incoming water attachment was simply a garden hose to 1/2" male thread.  I screwed that part onto the female to tool-free copper attachment.  That part was sweet.  It's called a "sharkbite" I think.  Check out Home Depot for details.  Super easy.  The outgoing water was simply a 1/2" hose clamped onto the copper.

Outgoing water attachment.  Copper pipe to 1/2"clear tubing with a hose clamp holding it on tight.  Pretty simple really.

Here's the incoming water attachment.  Garden hose to 1/2" to sharkbite 3/8" attachment.  

         Total cost was right about $20 since I got the copper for free in my garage.  I hope to get this into action this week.  I think I'm all ready for all grain now.


If you would rather order one, here are some options (ordering through these links helps me out!):


















Update: Tried the Wort Chiller out and it works great.  Chilled boiling water down to 70 degrees in about 10 minutes.  Now, to just find some time to brew again...