So I'll admit, I'm not the first to write about making your own immersion chiller. But considering that I managed to build one for cheaper than even I thought possible, I figured it was probably blog-worthy. This recent bargain is the result of a $20 price tag on 50 feet of copper tubing. With recent copper prices, I managed to get the coil for less than scrap value, so I was a happy homebrewer.

Once home, it didn't take me long to form the coil into the proper shape using one of my corny kegs. This process has been described many times elsewhere, but I will say that the process is much easier with two sets of hands.

For the upward sections of the chiller, I was careful to bend the pipe slowly and at wide angles to prevent kinks. The intake side of the chiller required a compression fitting and a brass adapter. For the exhaust side of the chiller, I cut a piece of garden hose and used a hose clamp to secure.

The chiller has been used for two brews so far, and it has worked quite well on each occasion. In the future I may wire the coils together to keep the chiller more rigid. My hope is that this will make the chiller easier to remove from the kettle -- it is quite heavy when filled with water! Despite a few drawbacks, I'm pleased with the rate at which it cools my 10 gallon batches. It outperforms my previous chilling setup. For anyone interested in replicating my chiller, the parts list is below. Cheers!