Home made cooler

[Talheedin]

I’m sure I’ve read about this somewhere here but can’t find it now so sorry if I’m repeating things.

I’m looking at making my own cooler and want some advice. I can make an immersion cooler with 10m of 10mm microbore copper a couple of connectors, clamps and a bit of hose which will probably cost me around £20 or I can make a counter flow cooler like the one on this site for £5 to £10 pounds (I’ve got loads of old hose and tap connectors around). But which one is best? As far as I understand it the counter flow chills the wort very quickly but does this make any difference to the beer and how long does it take for 5 gallons of wort to pass through the pipe? Also, is any benefit outweighed by the trouble with cleaning the wort tube?

Finally, how long should the pipe work be for either an immersion or counter flow cooler?



Thanks

Talheedin

[steve_flack]

10m of 10mm copper will cost you a lot more than £20.

[Andy]

£31 !! Wow, copper prices really have gone up

This is for 25m of 10mm copper from my BES order at the start of 2006:-

25M X 10MM £16.88 (NET) £2.95 (VAT) £19.83 (GROSS)

[Talheedin]

Thanks everyone.

From the Immersion vs Counterflow thead it looks like an immersion cooler with some stirring is best.

My plan for the IC was to have two 10mm x 5m coils fed from the same source one at the top and one at the bottom of the boiler. However, since stirring might be a good idea then I may try an inner and outer coil arrangement allowing room for a spoon (or machanical device if I ever get round to it).

Thanks

Talheedin

[Talheedin]

Oh and 10m of 10mm microbore is around £17 at B&Q so should be a few quid cheaper at a builders merchant.

Thanks

Talheedin

[ColinKeb]

i was going to make my own but then saw that an imersion chiller is only £24 from leyland homebrew ready made ! it would cost more to make once youve bought the fittings and the pipe.