Home Brewing Coil Cooler

I mentioned awhile ago that there is a quick way to cool your wort before allowing it to ferment. It's actually a very simple concept. I have given some vague description of how to make a coil cooler. But, I'll go into greater detail.

List of equipment:

• Pipe bender

• Copper Coil (preferably ¼" x 20')

• Low Gauge Copper Wire

• Vinyl Tubing (preferably ¼" x 10')

• Adjustable Clamps

• Female Hose Repair

There are some really expensive pipe-bending tools. And I realize that when I originally wrote about the coil cooler, that I had a professional pipe bender make my coil for me. That means that he had everything he needed to give me a coil that doubled down a foot so that the intake and output were side by side.

That's not easy to do with an inexpensive pipe bender. So, I've decided to put my mind to work and come up with a plan that a person with an inexpensive pipe bender could perform. A handheld pipe bender normally can handle a pipe that's about a half an inch and runs for less than twenty bucks.

But, the copper coil is going to make things easy for us. All we need to do is bend the end of the copper coil so that it bends over the top of the boiling pot. We'll get to that in a minute. First, step on the inner coil of the copper coil and then pull it upward about two feet. We over compensate so that the coil snaps back into shape with distance between coil layers.

Start using the low gauge copper wire to create separators for the various coil layers. You only need the coil to stand about a foot high, so separate each coil layer about an inch or two. It's not rocket science. To use the copper wire as separators, take a length of the copper wire and twist it around itself to create an inch to two inch column. Tie about three of these separators at each coil layer, spaced evenly apart so that they each do their part.

That's the hard part. You've just about got it beat. Using the pipe bender, bend the intake and so that it's side by side with the output. Then, bend both the intake and the output down so that they serve as a hang and give you ample space for your vinyl tubing.

Fit a length of the vinyl tubing over the outtake and clamp. Fit the rest of the vinyl tubing over the intake and clamp. Fit the female hose repair over the other end of the intake and clamp. Voila! You are finished.

Projects like these don't require massive brain power. I do believe there would have to be some kind of patent on this design because you can buy one already made. But, it's by far cheaper to make it yourself. With less than thirty dollars, you can purchase everything you need from the local hardware store and you're in business.