I posted this question in the AlEiens forum last month and received a lot of excellent feedback. Here is my original question:
I’m thinking of getting an Igloo cooler and fitting it with 50 feet of 1/2 copper pipe, dump ice in it and run my tap water through it before it goes into my wort chiller (another 50 feet of copper pipe)
I’ve been reading alot of complaints from people that unless you’re using a counterflow chiller, whirlpool chiller or a Therminator type of chiller it will take along time to cool down 5-10 gal batches.
Since I’m putting my first all grain setup I’m thinking what would be the best way to cool my wort and maybe an iced pre-chiller could be an affordable alternative to the above solutions.
My other concern is sanitizing of a counterflow chiller. I think it is too much of a headache to make sure it is in fact clean in all the bends and that it is fully dried before next use. With a standard wort chiller cleaning the inside of it is not an issue. I’d rather be brewing than spending my time cleaning inside of a chiller!
So after getting feedback from couple experienced homebrewers I decided to go with a pre-chiller. I found a great deal on a 1/2 inch heavy duty pre-chiller on… Ebay! It is sold by a guy in New York.
I emailed the seller (Jeff) and asked if he could make a custom 66 ft pre-chiller and a 50 ft chiller for me. The 66 ft one would fit in my Rubbermaid 10 gallon cooler and the 55 footer would go in the boil pot. Sure enough he was able to make a custom chiller for me within a weekend. I paid for it on Friday, he shipped it on Monday and I had it in my hands on Tuesday. How is that for a quick turnaround time.
The chillers are of excellent quality, they’re made from 1/2 copper tubing and both of them contained heavy duty garden hose adapters welded directly into the copper pipe. Everything looks solid like a rock. I highly recommend these chillers. I believe Jeff is about to open an online shop for homebrewers called NY Brew Supply. There is a web site located here nybrewsupply.com (currently under construction but his Ebay store is fully operational).
I’ve used the chiller and pre-chiller combination during both of my brewing sessions. The 2nd time I used this combination I chilled my wort to 65 degrees in under 30 minutes. The pre-chiller itself was submerged in 45 pounds of ice which melted in about 25 minutes. I realize getting ice is an additional expense but it gives me a peace of mind knowing that my wort is exposed to bacteria for the shortest possible time.
In the end I would highly recommend a chiller and pre-chiller type of setup or some sort of combination similar to it. To me one of the most important factors is what I mentioned earlier; the cleanup. There is no need to clean the inside of the piping since no worth goes through it.
Pictures of the chillers to follow shortly…
