How to Make an Immersion Chiller: A DIY Project

[@elvin00005]

Thank you for your tips 👍!

[@Danmarsh916]

Brilliant as ever

[@quandavioushibbletonthe3rd612]

Nice great vid

[@boatbuilder1954]

Cool Video Larry! I just bought a new SS Kettle myself and am wondering how do you season a new Stainless Steel Kettle? Thanks

[@calmahoney5959]

i am a Old man and I didn't know of the pipe bending tool Makes the saying " you can't teach an old dog new tricks " kinda obsolete doesn't it ?

[@frankmcpolin2635]

I bought some 10mm copper tubing here in the UK, and either Larry has super-human strength or I am totally feeble because the casual ease with which he is popping that coil round his pot at around 4mins is absolutely not my experience! Maybe those American pipes are a bit thinner :-)

[@chancekiki8488]

Instead of using a wort chiller couldn’t you leave it over night to cool?

[@darkknightx11]

I have used immersion chillers and they work well. I recently got a DudaDiesel plate chiller, and it chills so efficiently that I have to worry about over chilling the wort. Last time I used it my wort got chilled down to 58 F :/

[@billstanton5306]

Nice job Larry! You explained things very well and did a great job of filming. I now think that even I can get this done!

[@vincentehret1491]

Hi Larry, I noticed you have a thermometer with a bent probe in your kettle, did you get it like that, or did you bend it yourself? I'm wondering if I should try to bend the probe of my thermometer, a bit too long for brewing with a bag. Thanks.

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

The temp probe is not bent. It is straight. You night be mistaking the 90 deg pickup tubes.

[@danielroman3383]

Great video Larry! I just finished making one after watching this video. Not as pretty as yours but not bad for my first time. That pipe bending sleeve was a must for me. Thanks for the how-to, keep them coming!

[@Myproitsolution2007]

You have the most descriptive videos. Other people might have other ideas that I incorporate, but your how to videos are extremely descriptive and helpful. You show how it all comes together in a way that others don't. I appreciate you showing how to use some of the tools you use. Other people just talked about using them. I already made my mash tun based on your instructions, I had to incorporate some changes for my specific build though. Keep up the great work. I'll keep using you as my go-to.

[@unsaltedlife5998]

Nice work, I just watched a different video and the guy bent and folded the copper tube nice to someone use the spring method to bend the tubing, I come from the boating and auto repair side of things and I thought about using a bilge pump in ice water as a chiller I can use a 12 voltage converter to plug it into the wall outlet to run.

[@knacrr]

Do you remember the size of the copper wire u end up using?

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

No. It's not important. It was just some bare wire small enough to easily bend and twist.

[@RolandRodriguezEsparza]

Thanks for the video Larry. It seems it would be easier to weave the copper wire between the coils if it was suspended on its side. For example, one could set a couple of 5 gallon buckets upside down on a table about 4 feet apart and then use a 4 foot section of 2x4 to suspend the coil on its side with the ends of the 2x4 resting on the buckets.

[@ryanbelby4670]

Wow hadn’t even crossed my mind that I could make one.. thanks for the inspiration!

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

It’s very easy, but as some people point out, it’s not that much more money to just buy one.

[@jimendo45qf]

Great Job Larry, thanks for the video! I always watch your stuff with great interest. I am looking forward to seeing what you come up with regards to a pump. Cheers

[@12ernie]

Great video!

[@paulywill]

What gauge of wire do you figure you were using?

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

Not sure. Not really important. Smaller sizes are easier to snake and twist but require more twisting to space out the coils. Larger sizes require fewer twists to space out coils but are harder to snake and twist.

[@ganeshaugustolozada]

Thanks for your video. It is very descriptive and the chiller looks easy to built. I will also like to emigrate from a 5 gallon kettle to a bigger one. Could I get your 20 gal. kettle brand?

[@TheOlah]

Nice work on the wort chiller. Just recently added some fittings onto mine to change from using flexible tubing on the ends to just garden hose fittings. Glad to see you went with a Spike kettle. I have had my 15 gallon for almost a year and a half now and love it.

[@neilsheldon8355]

Hi Larry, ... What wire gauge did you end up using for the weaving wires?

[@LailandiAdventures]

I came for the baked beans I subscribed for the home brew videos! Great work man!

[@LailandiAdventures]

@@BEERNBBQBYLARRY No thank you, although I think my girlfriend won't be happy when she finds out what's on the way! Hahahahaha! She has a clothes room so it's fair I have a brew room!

[@matthiasliew7059]

Awesome video Larry! Simple and easy to understand. Regarding the copper tubing, is there a specific kind of copper tubing you're using ? There is Type K Copper Pipe, Type L Copper Pipe, Type M Copper Pipe, Copper DWV Piping. My main concern is will heat release harmful chemical or any sort of iron/metal parts ? Other then keeping the immersion chiller clean and dry not letting green-blue toxic oxide called Verdigris (i.e. the natural patina on the Statue of Liberty) if not stored in a dry environment. Verdigris is water soluble and can contaminate your brew if left on your chiller before immersing it (easily cleaned with an acidic solution like StarSan or Vinegar). I appreciate your help Larry!

[@alfonsoramirez6911]

I like the new brew pot can't wait to see a video using it, by the way I like the chiller I made one using CO2 tank also I brewed yesterday the Focal Banger by the Alchemist using a hop shot and Cryo citra & mosaic hops with a Vermont yeast Cheers!!!

[@trevorstandiford3890]

Vid inspired me to look into making a chiller but when i looked the tubing was only like 10 dollars cheaper than i could get a completed one on amazon. Am I missing something?

[@oliverdjurle711]

Very nicely done Larry! I'd like to contribute with some tips as well. Me and my friend just finished building one of these as well. Brew kettle is 50L, the wort chiller was double coil made out of 15mm 25m copper tubing. This type of chiller is the absolutely easiest one to make. Counterflow is theoretically much more efficient but more difficult to make and requires more equipment around if you won't rely on PE for the flow. IMPORTANT NOTES; immersion chillers takes up space in the kettle! Simple maths tells us that the volume of our chiller is 17L, around 1/3 of the kettle! If we would've chose 18mm tubing instead the volume would've been 25L, half of the kettle!! This is the only reason I would consider hassling around with counterflow chillers. Important note as well; the heat conduction coefficient for copper is just over 400 W/m*K, compared to stainless which is 200 W/m*K. Copper conducts heat twice as good as stainless steel. The only reason why stainless are so widely commercially availible is because you have to treat your copper chiller with care so it won't turn green of oxidation. First brew with our chiller showed us that it cooled about 33L of boiling wort to 20C in just over 10 mins with waterflow of 10L/min at 10C. Faster cooling than 10 minutes is just ridiculous!! Picture is availible at our FB page, "2Kings Brewery". We'd also love to send you some merch and a care package from Sweden, please DM us on Facebook! Cheers and best wishes!!

[@drpepper3726]

Isn't there lead and other chemicals inside the wire you used where you stripped the insulation? I'd be worried it's not food safe.

[@redballs]

So that's how you bend the pipe without kinking it. Thanks!

[@Javaman92]

Great job! This is my next project. Thanks!

[@jdmlong]

Looks great. I think I'm going to steal your idea and space out the loops on mine with some copper wire "acquired" from work. Looking forward to see how this works with your fountain pump and all that additional length.

[@erich851]

Would galvanized steel wire be safe for the wort instead of the copper? Thanks

[@grwood15]

Man that's a sweet kettle! Did you consider getting a plate chiller? I know you mentioned having pumps in the new system which would be ideal with a plate chiller

[@OriginalPoopMaster5000]

OK, that copper tubing at home depot costs $95.35, fittings are probably an extra $5 and the copper strand is $14.38. Materials cost $127.35 minus the cost of labor. A Wort chiller is $81.99 at Northern Brewer. This would make sense if the materials were $25, best to just buy one pre-made in my opinion.

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

According to HD by me, that 50' coil is $62 today. The equivalent 50' wort chiller from NB is $157 plus shipping if they charge for it, and scrap/spare copper thin gauge wire is free if you happen to have some lying around after a home remodeling project. Makes a difference in those cost calcs and deciding what to do. I agree the cost savings isn't much, but it's there. Each to their own.

[@natester1064]

Great job Larry.!

[@robmetzger9955]

Great job Larry! Don’t get rid of that old chiller! Use it a a pre-chiller. Submerge it in ice water & recirculate through it to increase your chilling efficiency.

[@jasont5838]

The wire is a fantastic idea! Is it hard to clean with the wire in there? Looks like a lot of holes for junk to get in...

[@allencooke2356]

Wosh he had show how it works

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

I’m sure you’ll see it in action in last a couple of the videos in this playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PLJGQZwp3xofsQgICY3FvrJSJdbeDTa_RC

[@natester1064]

Larry, I like your chiller, I was thinking you could add some couplers instead of twist, to easily couple and uncouple your hoses.

[@simonbaker4834]

Great tutorial! Can't wait to get started. Thanks for sharing!

[@BrothaSubjek]

Another great build. I built the recirculating wort chiller and it works great. When I get some free time, I’m gonna build one of these as well.

[@ryanholland9348]

Thanks for the tips Larry. I just bent mine up tonight for brew day tomorrow.

[@TodorAdventures]

is it must have chiller ? can i just leave it to chill ?

[@januszkszczotek8587]

Thanks for the inspiration. I'm currently building my own immersion chiller, customized for my 5 to 6 gal setup. Unfortunately Jaded's chillers are not that accessible here in Europe with huge shipping costs and additional taxes...

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

Check with David Heath. The company he works for in Norway supplies JaDeD chillers.

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

Also, some homebrew clubs in Europe have ordered large batches of chillers from JaDeD to lower shipping costs.

[@browniesbear]

0:50 hehehe

[@ElKataplun]

Nice job Larry! I cannot wait to see you use that new Spike kettle, I see that you mentioned a pump will be added to your new 10 gallon setup, will you be whirlpooling/hop bursting the next IPA's you will be brewing trying to make NE/Vermont inspired IPA's? How will you be using your pump? I use a pump in my setup for re-circulation of my mash once it's done converting so I don't have to vourlaf, I get really crystal clear wort going into my kettle when I runoff. It's like they say, clean beer going into fermenting equals clear beer going into packaging. :) Keep those video's coming!

[@ElKataplun]

That is awesome! I cant wait to see you put this all to use. I tried using the pump to transfer hot water from the kettle to the MLT and HLT but I got irritated with the cavitation issues from the pump. I saw that Blichman has a new pump out with a purge valve and a built-in valve control knob. I'll be adding that to my brewing setup. It has great reviews, If you haven't bought a pump yet, I highly recommend you check it out. :)

[@jsnshnmn]

Thank you for your videos. Very informative

[@samuelmiller9544]

This is awesome, only thing I would change is to cool the top of the wart this will cause a natural convection flow. What I don't know is if the cooler is closer to the edge is better or tighter in the center to help get the natural circulation started.

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

If you plan to rely on natural convection for cooling wort, you be waiting a very long time for it to cool.

[@joelswift5940]

My research suggests the Everbilt copper coil pictured in the vid only withstands temps up to 150 F; can you confirm or deny?

[@joelswift5940]

Good enough for me, appreciate the response!

[@m.superflyjohnson3963]

Dude ... what’s with all the wire ... a a spot of solder onthe 1st ring and a spot on the last to the in or out and done !

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

I wanted separation between the coils for max chilling.

[@Falney]

I am wondering, would it be better to make the chiller so it sits mid way up the pot? Since heat rises. I would say top but you may not fully submerge with it up there. I would also fill all the gaps in the wire with solder. Make it a little more sanitary.

[@Falney]

@@BEERNBBQBYLARRY OK,thanks.

[@mshilko]

What was the copper wire guage you used?

[@reddogales9029]

Nice job on the chiller. I built a double one myself with 50ft cooper. Cheers

[@martinturner7437]

Just attempting to make my own chiller using this video as a guide. Is there any problems with slight gaps between the pipe and wire were the twists meets? I can't seem to twist the wire tight enough resulting in a small gap.

[@martinturner7437]

@@BEERNBBQBYLARRY Okay that's great. I was just a bit worried about contamination between the gaps but I suppose a good cleaning between use should help. Is it okay to use Starsan to sanitise or is the boiling worry good enough?

[@mattj6510]

Really great video, many thanks! Just built an immersion chiller following this video and am really happy with the way it came out. I also agree with the other commenter below that the wire is (slightly) easier to wrap/twist through the coils if you lay the chiller on its side. For some reason Home Depot stores its 50-foot coils of copper wire up on a super high shelf so I had to get help from an employee to drag over one of those movable staircases. It was smooth sailing from there though!

[@dk40001]

Do you think this would work well for a 10 gallon batch? I'm sticking with 5 until the summer...

[@dk40001]

Thanks! You have some great videos and this as well as the 10 gallon Igloo water tank are on my to do list.

[@tamassisak4733]

Great video Larry! Thank you. I have been using this type of immersion chiller to cool the woth for 5 years. It works good. But few weeks ago I brewed a gose with pH 3.4. After the cooling I realised that the copper chiller was much more shiny. Im afraid of that the lower pH wort solved a copper ions. What do you mean? Can this beer poisoning? Which pH level do you recommend the copper chiller? Thanks a lot.

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

Some people say their chillers usually appear shiny after a brew day. Mine always acquire an oxide later over time and don’t lose it, but I’ve never done something so acidic like that. At least any additional copper in the wort will help fermentation.

[@tamassisak4733]

Thank you very much.

[@brianlabahn3753]

Nice Spike Kettle. Can't wait to see what you do with it.

[@deanmn1001]

Another great video! Thanks for sharing all your info.

[@daddynutz024]

Great video Larry. Looks like a good project to build. Thanks

[@rpwallace33]

Nicer than some that I've bought from reputable on-line retailers. Well done!

[@martinthibert]

Just made my first wort chiller. Thanks Larry for the tutorial! Priceless!!!!

[@cgwill]

I would say to maybe lay the coil on its side with a towel behind it so it doesn’t roll, should make weaving the wire much easier!

[@curthenry348]

I love the video and your dedication to a teadious task....swagelock sells tubing support clips that would save you a ton of time from having to weave your wires into that tubing! More time for brewing or sipping!

[@gregpeyton2754]

I've pondered this issue before but didn't have a solution. I'm still looking but I found this on the Swagelok page. Is this what you're referring to or is there some other doodad? www.swagelok.com/en/catalog/Product/Detail?part=MS-IG-600

[@slipknot73745]

You remind me exactly of an old friend...makes the presentations that much more enjoyable! Enjoy your videos and engineering perspectives, cheers!

[@jalentrent5863]

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[@maxtontrevor6094]

@Jalen Trent Instablaster =)

[@jalentrent5863]

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[@jalentrent5863]

@Maxton Trevor It worked and I now got access to my account again. I'm so happy:D Thank you so much you really help me out!

[@maxtontrevor6094]

@Jalen Trent No problem xD

[@bdiamond6199]

Nice work Larry.

[@Kevin_lvlcCoy]

Great channel!

[@ShortCircuitedBrewers]

Nice video Larry. Why not build a counter-flow chiller? Way more efficient at chilling. Cheers!🍻

[@ShortCircuitedBrewers]

BEER-N-BBQ by Larry yeah, he sites his experience with a plate chiller in the article which is different than my counterflow chiller. Bottom line like everything else in brewing, if it works for you and you are happy with it, RDWHAHB!! Cheers! 🍻

[@ShortCircuitedBrewers]

What are you waiting for?!? Get brewing!! lol Cheers! That kettle is sweet BTW!

[@99Keek]

Great job! Why did you decide for a wide and short chiller instead of a thin and tall chiller? What are the pros and cons of both types?!

[@99Keek]

BEER-N-BBQ by Larry thanks for your reply. Makes sense ;). Cheers from Europe!