W3850-CV Super Efficient 3/8 x 50' Copper Wort Chiller

I am really happy with this. Novice brewer, have only used it once, that being yesterday. For an assembled apparatus, it cost about what 50' of copper tubing would have cost me. Here are some details: No, it really has no packaging to speak of, but arrived in perfect condition. The stems (inlet and outlet) may be short, but if you are worried about leaking over your wort, gently bend the whole neck so they are nowhere near the edge of the pot. Furthermore, if you are worried about leaks, get a couple more hose clamps - use two per connection (alternate their orientation) and importantly, heat the hose gently before sliding it on the copper, so when you tighten the clamps, they rally crush it down.In use, I found it cooled faster with a more moderate flow of water (which saves water) and also agitating the wort with the cooler helps tremendously. Up and down, side to side ... in fact .. if I let it sit still, the outflow would be cooler, yet if I moved it around, the outflow tube would get hot quickly. That is the heat from the wort going away! I didn't time it, as I was too busy doing it ... but it felt like 5, maybe 10 minutes at most to cool below 80 F with a full 20qt. kettle.One other thing ... I sanitized my cooler with Star-San prior to use, rather than putting it into the boil 10-15 minutes before the end. Reason I did this was that I had my cooler rigged in the basement sink (where I had plumbing that would work) and was doing the boil upstairs in the kitchen. Eliminating dangling hoses and complication during the carrying of a full kettle down stairs seemed like a wise move. Other than the use of some Star-San, I don't see what the big deal is with that, and it actually seemed to make my life easier (and avoid preheating the copper, which is just more mass to cool)I'd buy this again in a heartbeat, and am sure it would cool larger batches quickly too, if I move up in size. I don't think I'll have to though!

Makes cooling the wort easy.

This chiller is well-made and great value for the price, compared to similar models available at higher prices. I have always used a counterflow chiller, but needed an immersion chiller to be able to the control the wort temperature for hop additions and steeps at specific temperatures. It works perfectly for that as intended. Everyone's equipment is different, but I was surprised to find that chilling with this is faster and significantly more efficient than my counterflow chiller. I wish I'd bought this years ago!The fitting and hose that ships with this are of good quality, and the amount of hose is appropriate for most possible set-ups I can imagine, unless you have a long way to go to connect things.I wash this carefully between uses, and sanitize by submersing in the kettle for the last part of the boil. Please be careful- even though I blow the water out after each use, there is always some residual water in it, and the first shot of water through it will be insanely hot, and can create a jet effect enough to blow the outgoing hose out of whatever sink or bucket you run it into. I learned this the hard way when it rocketed out of my sink and blasted me from head to toe with a shot of boiling water. Secure the hose well, or let the first flow of water through it carefully! This is not a fault of the chiller- just my failure in managing some basic physics, so please learn from my mistake.

Very happy with this wort chiller, especially considering price vs other similar options. Cooled wort from boiling (203F here) to 82F in under 20 min w/o ice, saving lots of time on brew day. Just make sure your kettle is skinny enough such that your wort is deep enough to contact all the coils.

Just received, assembled and tested this wort chiller. It works really well... cooling 3.5 gallons of wort to 65 degrees in under 15 minutes. This will be perfect for my 5 gallon and less setup I have... would probably work great for larger batches too, but I never brew anymore than 5 gallons and usually 2-3 gallon batches. As others have mentioned tighten down the clamps with a socket to make sure you don't have any leaks, especially on the inlet side, I had to tighten it quite a bit to get it to stop leaking. Overall great product and def worth the investment for home brewing.Update: I got rid of the hose clamps and small tubing. I upgraded to 3/8 dishwasher fittings on both sides and no use a garden hose on my basement sink. The hose clamps just leaked to much, so I couldn't crank up the water flow, but with the dishwasher fittings I can have it full blast with little to no leaks and cool the wort much faster.

This product is above and beyond the rest.I have used the stainless steel and both 25 ft and now 50 ft coils and this is by far the best wort chiller I've come across. The height of the coils is perfect for a 5 gallon batch as the coils reach from bottom to just the top of the wort in a 30 quart pot. The height of the copper piping for the input and output of the cooling water is great for ease of use and the 3 inches of extension from the rise of the piping makes a significant difference when trying to connect the vinyl tubing. Soak the vinyl tubing in near boiling water when connecting the vinyl tubing to the copper tubing connections and you should be able to connect it by a full 1 1/2 - 2 inches. I found that I barely needed the clamps by doing this which is VERY different from other wort chillers. (I did put them on either way for extra security.) Also, the difference between a 25 ft and 50 ft chiller is, in my opinion, quite extreme. 30 qt pot, 5 gallons of wort, went from 200 degrees to 80 degrees in about 13 minutes. It is very much worth the extra $20-30 to get the 50 ft chiller. Highly suggested product for everyone from the new brewer to the experienced brewer. If you are still cooling your wort in a bathtub full of ice, you are missing out... and I hope you haven't ruined too many batches leaving your brew open for that 60-70 minutes.GET THIS WORT CHILLER.

The brass connector sucks, but plastic connectors are your local store will work better.