Chilling Wort with ice?

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spudhauler

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I plan to make my my first brew this week. I have done a lot of research about the whole process but will admit I likely have a ton to learn yet. I don't have a wort chiller so can I add 8lbs of ice (app. a gallon of H2O to start cooling the wort quickly? Perhaps more specifically can I use a 8lb bag of commercial ice (likely filtered I would think) or do I need to boil a gallon at home and then freeze it in a sanitized tupperware type container?

Thanks for the feed back. I am planning my first brew on the 4th of July, a good Patriotic activity no doubt!
 
I personally never chill with my lid on, as it hold in a significant amount of heat. OP, ice is fine, but dunk the pot in ice water - it will cool faster than just ice will (which will actually insulate the pot). Don't add ice directly to the wort, though.
 
+1 on the ice bath. I've used an oil drain pan for ice baths and they work well, something like this one:

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&rh=i:aps,k:Plastic Oil Drain Pan 5 Gallon Capacity - Green&page=1

Fill it with some water and add ice. When the ice melts you can drain some of the water and add more ice. I brew in the garage so draining this way works well. Also if you stick the water you are adding to the brew post-boil in the freezer to get it nice and cold that helps too. Usually cold water and about two bags of ice for the ice bath does the trick.

Thanks to HBT member thisbuds4u for the oil drain pan idea. :rockin:
 
You can add directly to the wort. I've done it a number of times, and never had bad luck with it. Just make sure you make your own ice, rather then buying a bag. I've done that in the past, too, and never had a problem, but since you can't really trust the water source, it's probably not a good idea. You'd probably be okay, especially of you already use tap water anyway, but it always seems risky to me.

What I usually do is fill a pot with a gallon of water and put it in the freezer before I get started. Then, when I've finished my boil, I put the ice in my primary, then pour the wort on top of it. It works pretty well, and still not as quick as actively chilling, but a lot faster for me than an ice bath.
 
I made 14 pounds of ice from boiled water. Added directly to my wort. Had it down to 68 within ten or fifteen minutes. I dont have an easy way to drain. First batch is at day 12 in primary.
 
I use frozen 1gal jugs of distilled water. Stick them in the freezer 6hrs before I need them, sanitize the outside, cut them open (because they're too frozen to pour out) and dump the slush into the wort. I also have it sitting in an ice bath.
 
While potable, most commercially produced ice has not been santized/boiled before being frozen; the plastic bag it is in when you buy it has not been sanitized. I'd just use an ice bath.
Regards, GF.
 
Consider using just cold tap water for your ice bath to start, then when the wort drops down into the 140 range or so add your ice to help get the rest of the way to pitching temps. Of you start with ice, the ultra hot wort will melt it too quickly too provide much help. Even 70 degree tap water will help bring down the temp of 200 degree wort. It's when your wort temp starts approaching your tap water temp that it becomes less effective and needs assistance from the ice.
 
I have only done a few brews now but what I do is freeze a few 2L bottles with water, once I get the wort down to around 150-130 I sanitize the outside of the bottle and use them to stir the wort, once that bottle of ice melts I get a different one. Works pretty effectively.
 
gallowjc said:
I have only done a few brews now but what I do is freeze a few 2L bottles with water, once I get the wort down to around 150-130 I sanitize the outside of the bottle and use them to stir the wort, once that bottle of ice melts I get a different one. Works pretty effectively.

Even though you're sanitizing the bottles, I would be afraid of chemicals from the plastic leeching into your beer. 2L bottles are not rated for high temps. Is that why you wait until 150 degrees... Do you know something about them that I don't?
 
Even though you're sanitizing the bottles, I would be afraid of chemicals from the plastic leeching into your beer. 2L bottles are not rated for high temps. Is that why you wait until 150 degrees... Do you know something about them that I don't?

I just figure that the plastic is never actually getting to 150. With Ice on the inside and hot wort on the outside the plastic averages somewhere between these temperatures. When the Ice is pretty much melted from the first bottle the temp of the wort is below 120. Bottles left sitting out in Texas get hotter then that.
 
I fill up the bathtub with cold water and put the pot right in. Ill put some ice in once in a while. 6 gallons of 190 degree cools pretty fast this way ive found. I don't put ice in the wort though. Seems like a good idea, but I don't see how to do this when already doing a full boil. Anyway, bathtub works for me :eek:
 

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