My counterflow wort chiller was made from 25' of 3/8" ID soft copper tubing slid inside an appropriate length of 3/4" ID vinyl tubing. A 3/4" plastic barb fitting was slid over each end of the copper tube and inserted into the vinyl tube. Another short length of vinyl tube was fit onto the opposite side of the barb fitting. A 1/2" NPT 3/8" compression fitting was drilled out so that the copper tube could pass completely through yet still allow the compression nut to work. This compression fitting is inserted and clamped into the end of the short piece of vinyl tubing. Here's a picture that might better explain how it was put together.
One of the challenges of living up here in the northland is brewing outdoors. Using a counterflow wort chiller at sub-zero temperatures is bordering on being foolish. Trying to keep the water hoses thawed is more work than it's worth. Rather than give up brewing on the really cold days, I decided to work with what I had. Snow is usually a plentiful commodity. I disconnected my counterflow wort chiller from my system and connected a coil of 25' of 3/8" copper tubing (shaped into a coil by wrapping around a 3lb coffee can). This coil was placed in a 5 gallon pail and the pail was packed with snow and a little water. As the wort was pumped through the coil the snow/water slurry was stirred vigorously. For a 10 gallon batch, the resulting warm water in the bucket was dumped out 4 times and replaced with more snow. The only temperature control I had while doing this was to control the flow rate of the wort through the coil and how vigorously I stirred the snow/water slurry. The end result was 70F wort suitable for yeast pitching. Here is a simple drawing of this arrangement.
This winter I found another way to chill my wort without relying on the garden hose spigot on the back of my house. I made a 40' long coil of ½" OD copper tubing. I hook one end of the coil to a Simer (brand) Mini-Vac pump. The pump is a flexible impeller or "paddle" type pump. The pump takes a suction from a 5 gallon pail filled with snow and water. The outlet of the coil returns to the pail. The tubing for the water to and from the coil is hardware store variety vinyl tubing. This "snow chiller" also needs about 4 refills of snow to chill a 10 gallon batch to pitching temp (just like the bucket wort chiller above). As you might guess, this immersion chiller can be used in a more conventional fashion by connecting it to a garden hose supply during the warmer months. Here is a simple drawing of this chilling arrangement and a couple photos of the pump and the coil..
 |
 |
 |
 |
My grain mill is a Valley Mill. It is driven by a 3/8" variable speed electric drill. They are both mounted to a piece of 3/4" plywood. Since the drill is mounted in a drill stand (many home improvement/hardware stores sell stands like this to use a hand drill as a bench grinder), I had to elevate the mounting of the mill to the correct height by making a small pine box. Both the mill and the drill mount were fastened to the plywood with 1/4" carriage bolts and wing nuts. A rectangular hole was cut in the plywood and the rubber buttons that came with the mill are in place to hold the mounting board on a 6 gallon pail. Since I got this mill, I've milled literally hundreds of pounds of grain (mostly barley malt but also some wheat malt) and think this is the greatest thing since sliced bread. This mill is adjustable but, as of yet, I haven't had any need to change from the original settings. This mill comes with a great set of instructions making it easier to build whatever type of mounting base you need. I asked the folks at Valley Mill about how fast I can run the mill. They said there is no problem running a hand drill at full speed but they did caution that it should be allowed to cool after 400 pounds(!) of continuous milling. Here are some pictures.
 |
 |
 |
 |