Bräu Supply vs Spike Wort Chiller: Stainless vs Copper
Two coil-in-coil counterflow chillers: ours is stainless end to end with about 20 ft of tubing; Spike's has a 16 ft copper inner tube. Specs, prices and which to buy.
In this post
Both are coil-in-coil counterflow chillers: hot wort runs through the inner tube while cold water runs the other way through the outer shell. Ours has about 20 ft of tubing on a 12" coil; Spike's has 16 ft. The bigger difference is what your wort touches. Spike's inner tube is copper. Ours is stainless steel, so the whole wort path is the same metal as your kettle, pump and fermenter.
At a glance
| Bräu SupplyCounterflow chiller | Spike BrewingWort Chiller | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ||
| Price | $349 with water connection kit | Tri-clamp US$426 · NPT US$396 · tri-clamp with mounting bracket US$594 |
| Build | ||
| Length | About 20 ft (7 turns on a 12" coil) | 16 ft total (product page); "each tube … is 17 feet long" (help centre) |
| Inner tube (wort) | Stainless steel | Convoluted copper: 1/2" on the product page, 3/8" ID in the help centre |
| Outer shell (water) | Stainless steel | 304 stainless: 3/4" on the product page, 5/8" ID in the help centre |
| Coil size | 12" coil | 10.5" wide × 6.3" tall |
| Finish | Electropolished, with wort and water flow directions etched on the unit | Not stated |
| Connections and mounting | ||
| Wort in and out | 1.5" tri-clamp | 1.5" tri-clamp (TC version) or NPT |
| Water in and out | Tri-clamp ports; water connection kit included | Garden-hose fitting in, 1.5" tri-clamp out |
| Mounting | Welded base, drilled to bolt onto the Bräu Supply brew table | Bracket sold separately (US$39.60) or with the chiller |
| Care | ||
| Cleaning | Same caustic and acid cleaners as your kettle and fermenter; recirculate boiling wort or hot cleaner to sanitize | Spike recommends brewery wash (PBW), a rinse and a sanitizer such as Star San |
Spike prices and specs as listed on spikebrewing.com and Spike's help centre on October 7, 2026, in US dollars. Spike's product page and help centre give different tube sizes; we show both. Bräu Supply prices show in your currency.
Length vs metal
Copper moves heat far better than stainless steel. Length helps too: the longer the tube, the longer the wort spends next to cold water. Ours is about a quarter longer than Spike's; Spike's is copper. In a counterflow chiller most of the resistance to heat flow sits in the thin layers of liquid on each side of the tube wall, not in the wall itself, so the copper advantage is smaller than the metal numbers suggest. Expect the two to chill about the same at the same flow. We won't claim ours is faster.
So the real question is which metal you want your wort running through on every brew day. We compared the two materials in more depth in copper vs stainless counterflow chillers.
Why ours is stainless all the way through
One metal for the whole hot side. Your wort goes from a stainless kettle, through a stainless pump, into a stainless fermenter. A stainless chiller keeps it that way, so you clean it with the same caustic and acid products as everything else. Copper reacts with acids and darkens over time, so it needs more care with cleaners.
Tri-clamp throughout. The wort and water ports are tri-clamp, so the chiller clamps into the same fittings as the rest of your system, with nothing threaded on the wort side.
Built to sit on the brew table. The mounting base is welded across the bottom and drilled to match the Bräu Supply brew table, so it bolts on next to the pump instead of hanging off a hose.
Electropolished, with the flow marked on it. The wort and water directions are etched on the unit, so you hook it up the right way round every time.
Getting to pitching temperature
No single-pass chiller can cool wort below the temperature of the water going through it. With 50°F (10°C) winter tap water, either chiller gets an ale to pitching temperature in one pass if you slow the flow. With 75–80°F summer water, expect wort-out several degrees above your water temperature; the slower the flow, the closer it gets. From there, recirculate back into the kettle until it drops further, add an ice-water pre-chiller on the water line, or transfer and finish in a jacketed fermenter.
Which should you buy?
Choose the Spike chiller if you want a copper inner tube, a garden-hose water inlet, or you're building out a Spike system with Spike's bracket.
Choose the Bräu Supply chiller if you want an all-stainless wort path you can clean like your kettle, tri-clamp throughout, and a chiller that bolts straight onto the Bräu Supply brew table, from $349.
FAQ
Is about 20 ft of chiller enough for my batch?
For 5 to 10 gallon batches, yes. Flow rate matters more than batch size: the slower the wort moves, the closer it comes out to your water temperature.
Will it fit my system if it isn't a Bräu Supply system?
Yes. The wort ports are standard 1.5" tri-clamp, so it connects to any tri-clamp pump or kettle valve. If your system uses threaded fittings, a tri-clamp to NPT adapter does the job.
Do I need a pump?
A pump gives you steady, controllable flow, which is what makes a counterflow chiller work well. Gravity draining also works if your kettle sits higher than the fermenter.
How do you compare with Spike on brewing systems?
Sources, checked October 7, 2026: Spike Wort Chiller; Spike Wort Chiller + Bracket; Spike help centre: wort chillers; Spike help centre: cleaning your wort chiller. Spike Brewing is a trademark of its owner. Bräu Supply is not affiliated with Spike Brewing.