Worth DIYing a chiller?

[altenmuenster]

I've been perusing the DIY wort chillers tutorials (immersion for now) -- I realize that cost is not always the only reason to DIY, but copper seems MUCH more expensive these days than in the two or three year old tutorials I am reading.

Should I DIY or just buy an immersion chilller @ $60-100 or go another route like save my money for a plate chiller or counterflow chiller and keep on with ice baths?

 

[motobrewer]

yeah i donno. i made my own immersion. works great, but i'm not sure i saved any money.

 

[brrman]

I made 2 immersion chillers for the price that a homebrew store charges for one. I find that a counterflow chiller (I made the one I use now as well) is really only effective with a pump

 

[Ichthy]

My home depot has 50' of copper for $30.

 

[Mirage]

Eh, prob costs less but you have to figure your time into it. I just bought a 1/2" ID chiller off ebay. Was real close to same price as making it (at the time) and all i had to do was wash it in vinegar.

 

[Dr_Deathweed]

Although I felt like I was saving money at first with DIY, it always turned out that I needed ONE more part, or ONE more tool, or ONE more.... You get the point. After awhile I decided to stick with DIY because of the pride that comes with drinking a beer that you made using equipment that you made as well. Plus, with making your own, you can customize your set up and improve upon designs in order to fit your brewing style and ease your brew day along.

 

[TheMan]

+1 to the home depot copper, works fine. The benefit to making one yourself is you can make it exactly the right fit for your pot. The pre-made ones would have stuck out too much for my pot. I made one that fits fifty feet of copper submersed in my pot.

 

[pnj]

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Super-Effic...599?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item439a3b0757

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300499673634

https://coppertubingsales.com/store...ucts_id=946&osCsid=tvdsf2snelv9l0u3uo89bco3j6
this one needs to be assembled...

https://coppertubingsales.com/store...ucts_id=755&osCsid=tvdsf2snelv9l0u3uo89bco3j6

my local HD sells 50 feet x 1/2 for 79.99 and they don't have the 3/8 elbows that many people use.

for me, it's cheaper to order pre-made but I wanna brew Now (now now now now now!)

 

[altenmuenster]

I'm all about the pride of having hewn my own tools out of raw materials (or something to that effect) but I'm not all that confident in my soldering skills at this point need to practice. I'll let you know what end up going with...

 

[Jeremym19]

I made mine with 50' of 3/8" copper and just used compression fittings to fit to a hose thread... cost about $65 where my local homebrew store was charging about $70 for a 25' chiller. I feel like I came out a little ahead

 

[PBHBeer]

This is what I've gone with. The heat transfer might not be as good as copper but it is ery durable and a good price.

http://nybrewsupply.com/products/wort-chiller-stainless-steel-immersion.php

 

[Mirage]

That NYbrew place is where I bought mine. I am EXTREMELY happy with the quality of the unit.

 

[jtkratzer]

I bought mine used here for under $40 shipped. When I saw rolls of copper were around $50 at two hardware stores, I said eff it and bought one.

 

[tomije87]

I've got about 40 feet of 3/8 copper coil if you are interested in DIY. PM me if interested.

 

[AnchorBock]

I just built a chiller with garden hose fittings, 40' 3/8" ID. I'm sure I didn't save much, but it was a fun project. I had never soldered before and it was way easier than I imagined.

 

[Daybis]

Although I felt like I was saving money at first with DIY, it always turned out that I needed ONE more part, or ONE more tool, or ONE more.... You get the point. After awhile I decided to stick with DIY because of the pride that comes with drinking a beer that you made using equipment that you made as well. Plus, with making your own, you can customize your set up and improve upon designs in order to fit your brewing style and ease your brew day along.

That's how I feel now, never having the right tools. However, I don't mind buying tools because once I own them, I won't have to buy them again (assuming I don't trash them), so I also feel that buying tools for DIY projects is also worth the investment.

 

[EarthBound]

I always DIY when I can. It's always worth it, unless time is an issue (which it should never be). It's hands-on and creative. You gain precious experience and satisfaction. DIY costs less and completely custom to suit your needs. Usually, it's pretty easy, so it's not like it sucks to do. A real man tries to DIY as much as he can.

 

[MrMeans]

I did the same thing as Jeremym19 but I left myself a little wiggle room so that one day when I am looking for something to do I can easily convert it to a counterflow chiller for about another $20. Plus there really is a certain amount of pride that comes along with making something out of your own two hands. There is just not enough of that in the modern world so you must grab it and hold onto it while you still can.

 

[HOP-HEAD]

It really depends what you want... for me, I'm in this hobby to keep me pre-occupied from work and other everyday annoyances... and so, building a chiller, while not a cost savings measure, was fun and occupied my time. If I wanted a chiller quick and cheap... I'd have bought one... but, then again, if I wanted a beer quick and cheap, I'd have bought another miller lite. :cross:

Plus... I now have a chiller with a notch in the bottom to straddle the filter that fits on my spigot... did I need a notch, no... but I was building it, so I built it my way.

 

[rtrevino]

Dont forget that just the other day copper reached it highest value in history. I am sure this is going to effect all homebrewers on some scale. I made a counterflow a few months back and I cant really say that I saved a whole lot. I am sure with todays prices you may not even break even.

 

[lumpher]

I did the same thing as Jeremym19 but I left myself a little wiggle room so that one day when I am looking for something to do I can easily convert it to a counterflow chiller for about another $20. Plus there really is a certain amount of pride that comes along with making something out of your own two hands. There is just not enough of that in the modern world so you must grab it and hold onto it while you still can.

same kick a lot of us get out of the hobby, too i learned to solder copper pipe due to this hobby

 

[Strongbad52]

I just built 2 of the counter flow chillers from Bobby M's tutorial and while it may have not been any cheaper, it was a hell of a lot of fun. I find it is more fun and satisfying to create it on your own, than to buy it and then modify it to fit your system. And since i built 2 of them i can recoup most of the cost of materials if I want to sell one of them. In this case I am going to give the second one to the guy who got me into brewing as a "thanks for 3 years of free homebrew" gift.

 

[Strongbad52]

same kick a lot of us get out of the hobby, too i learned to solder copper pipe due to this hobby

Me too. I had seen my dad do it during when we remodeled our house, but this was the first time I had done it on my own. And if I can solder copper with a creme brulee torch from my kitchen, anybody can solder.

 

[mrgreen4242]

You also don't need to go with 50' of expensive copper with DIY. I did mine with 20'(!) and it works fine, albeit slower, for about $20. As for the time, it takes almost none. Buy a high temp washing machine hose with your copper, cut it in half (actually, I did a 1/3 and 2/3 piece so I could easily tell where the in side was and would only need a single hose) then clamp it on to the pipes. Takes maybe 15-20minutes if you don't have a bending tool, less if you do.

 

[Bobby_M]

Obviously look at the tube diameter and length so that you can compare apples to apples. I'm seeing 1/2" x 50' pre made chillers going for up near $100 shipped. You can buy the raw copper for about $70 and add about $12 in fittings. Of course if you have no need for soldering materials or don't care about learning anything, just drop the $100.