Easy Way to Drain Wort Chiller?

[andy6026]

I recently had to build a new copper immersion wort chiller because, stupid me, I was storing my old one outside in the winter in below freezing temperatures (amazingly it didn't break sooner in 3 years of brewing). The water inside froze and ripped right through the copper. So I built a new one: 50', 1/2" OD.

Is there a simple way to drain it so that I don't have to store it indoors during the winter? I've tried blowing through it and it takes a lot of lung capacity to get a little water out of. I've also tried turning it round and round and this seemed quite ineffective.

There's certainly some very inventive people on this board and I've seen a lot of imaginative solutions to various problems.

Has anyone come up with anything good for this?

 

[lumpher]

I hang mine upside down and let it drain.

 

[mcgimpkins]

If you have an air compressor this works pretty well: Camco 36143 Blow Out Plug with Brass Quick Connect

 

[ChrisRyan]

I blow really hard into the garden hose side until air comes out the other tube.

 

[unviewtiful]

I flip mine up side down and shake it back and forth a bit to drain. If you have the means to hang it upside down, definitely do that.

 

[PADave]

Air would be your best bet. Even if you don't have a regular air compressor, any tire pump would work.

 

[TheHopfather]

I just hold mine upside down up in the air. Drains itself pretty quickly, never worried about any residual water left in it.

 

[ArthurDigbySellers]

If you have an air compressor this works pretty well: Camco 36143 Blow Out Plug with Brass Quick Connect

Thanks for this link! I think I will be ordering one of these soon. Just like the OP, I had a 50 foot coil burst on me last year after storing it in my shed over the winter. That was a serious bummer.

 

[andy6026]

Some great ideas here! Thanks everyone.

Next brew day I'll try the hanging upside down method and see how much water come out! If I'm not satisfied I'll consider the thing-a-ma-jiggy suggested in the link.