New wort chiller - can't close the pot lid

So, I made a wort chiller from free stainless 1/2" tube.

Is it an issue that I can't cover the pot while cooling? My first batch cooled nice and quick, in 15 minutes, but I'm not able to put the pot lid on due to the design.

Redesign time, or no problem??

Unless you notch out a portion of your lid I don't think you can close your pot lid. My chiller prevents my lid from closing.

that wasn't the question.

Do I need the lid to make good beer?

If it's chilled fast enough and you follow proper sanitize procedures, I don't see it as an issue. I think you should be good to roll.

My lid stays off once boil is achieved and never goes back on. Beer seems ok and is pretty good by my lhbs standards apparently since they liked it there. It would have to be some mighty microbes to beat down the millions of yeast you have working for you.

You are fine The chance of something nasty falling in your wort and setting up shop while you chill are very small. My lid comes off at 5 min left in boil and does not go back on.

heckler73 said:

that wasn't the question.

Do I need the lid to make good beer?

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For the most part you need it OFF to make good beer. That's during the boil though, and I see your concern. But you don't really need a lid unless you're in the middle of the woods or something and stuff is constantly dropping from trees. Even then, you'd usually be fine, but that's just one of MANY reasons I've elected to brew indoors and build an electric brewery.

Lids are optional. I've even heard of some old-timers fermenting with just a towel over their vessel. It's all good.

I chill my wort in a sink full of water and ice surrounded by kitchen bacteria without a lid for 40+ minutes. Thought I had an infection once...I didn't. Besides, it'll cool faster without the lid. RDWHAHB!

emjay said:

unless you're in the middle of the woods or something and stuff is constantly dropping from trees.

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THIS is a great idea!

If you're concerned about it (I was for my last/first batch), you can cover the pot with foil while it's cooling.

Chris1272 said:

You are fine The chance of something nasty falling in your wort and setting up shop while you chill are very small. My lid comes off at 5 min left in boil and does not go back on.

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So, wait... You boil your wort with the lid on?

dfc said:

So, wait... You boil your wort with the lid on?

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Hah, good catch. If he's an extract brewer it's not as big a deal, though it's still a bad idea. But if he's an AG brewer I wouldn't even want to try HIS DMS cabbage beer... ick.

Don't boil with your freaking lid on!

emjay said:

Hah, good catch. If he's an extract brewer it's not as big a deal, though it's still a bad idea. But if he's an AG brewer I wouldn't even want to try HIS DMS cabbage beer... ick.

Don't boil with your freaking lid on!

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Yeah, I can't say I'd want to try it either.

Maybe he's making a Rolling Rock clone.

Unless you notch out a portion of your lid I don't think you can close your pot lid. My chiller prevents my lid from closing.

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heckler73 said:

that wasn't the question.

Do I need the lid to make good beer?

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Actually, he did answer your original question.

Is it an issue that I can't cover the pot while cooling? . . .
Redesign time, or no problem?

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After he answered, you kind of castigated him. I don't mean to be the courtesy police, but when someone answers the question you asked . . .

Good luck with your beer.

scurry64 said:

Actually, he did answer your original question.



After he answered, you kind of castigated him. I don't mean to be the courtesy police, but when someone answers the question you asked . . .

Good luck with your beer.

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I was kinda thinking the same thing. It went from, "Redesign time, or no problem?" to "Do i need the lid to make good beer?"
Then he has the nerve to tell the other poster "that wasn't my question."

If you are concerned about stuff falling in, have the lid on as much as possible with the chiller in. I throw the lid on part way right as I pull from heat. I end up covering about 80% of the pot with the chiller sticking out.

I think its important to cover that wort in the danger zone of the chilling process. No matter where you are boiling, outside or in, there's stuff everywhere and you want to limit exposure as much as is practical.

One practical way is to take a towel, soak in star san, wring it out, and drape it over the kettle and the chiller. I would do this once the beer goes below 150 or 140. Covering too early gives a pretty noticeable stinky effect.

RiffMagnum said:

I was kinda thinking the same thing. It went from, "Redesign time, or no problem?" to "Do i need the lid to make good beer?"
Then he has the nerve to tell the other poster "that wasn't my question."

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FWIW, the point of his question appeared to me to be pretty clearly, "do I need to cover my wort while it's chilling?" He already knows that the lid won't fit without a notch in it (which, if it's a glass lid like mine, isn't exactly feasible); he was trying to determine if that was a problem. Or, at least, that's how I read it.

thank you danb. I was just trying to clarify my question, which has now been answered. thanks all!

Budzu said:

I think its important to cover that wort in the danger zone of the chilling process. No matter where you are boiling, outside or in, there's stuff everywhere and you want to limit exposure as much as is practical.

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Unless your cooling takes a very long time, I think that a star-san soaked towel may be overkill. Also, I would be concerned about the towel falling into the wort. I think if you chill quickly, you won't need to cover it at all and if you are really concerned about it, it seems like a slice of foil would suffice.

Doing a partial boil, I can get the wort into the 80's very quickly with a chiller. I'm not accurately measuring the wort temperature at this point, but going by the hand feel temperature difference between the chiller input and output hoses.

That's cool enough to pour over a gallon of cold water in the carboy. I do cover it with foil after topping off.

Should I wear a hair net and a surgeon's mask?

I put a piece of sanitized foil over my kettle and poke a thermometer thru the middle that reaches down into the wort. I brew and chill outside, and we often have wind when I brew. I don't want anything blowing in, which is why I use the foil. It took me 25 minutes to chill down to 65F yesterday, since it was 105F outside. That was with ice and a pond pump.

I was more thinking about chemical reactions that should or should not be taking place during a given period of the process. i.e. don't cover your boil, because it needs to release gases. I'm not really questioning it for sanitary reasons. Most of my brews get one or two cat hairs in them that I pick out when I find them anyway.

I stir the whole time it is cooling. It cuts cooling time down by a third. Once cool I put the lid back on.

heckler73 said:

I was more thinking about chemical reactions that should or should not be taking place during a given period of the process. i.e. don't cover your boil, because it needs to release gases. I'm not really questioning it for sanitary reasons. Most of my brews get one or two cat hairs in them that I pick out when I find them anyway.

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A vigorous 60 to 90 minute boil should take care of any problems with DMS or anything else. Once the boil stops so does dissipation of said chemicals I would think. The lid (or foil) can indeed slow the chilling process, though. For this reason I just lay a piece of foil over without crimping it around the kettle. There are tons of flies around here aside from wind, so I feel I have to cover it some how. I also slightly lift the foil every few minutes to stir the wort with the chiller to speed up the process...

heckler73 said:

that wasn't the question.

Do I need the lid to make good beer?

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A) No.
B) I'm projecting, but I think you could've been a bit nicer to a poster who responded to your post first in an honest attempt to help.

When there's a cross breeze, and/or I see pollen/debris in the air (I brew at the front of my garage with the door open in the back and in the front of the garage) I put the lid on best I can to keep stuff out of the wort. If no crossbreeze, I just leave it off like many of the other responders do. Stoked for you to get free 1/2 SS tubing!

I just cleaned a fermenter that had four dead flies in it.
I am sure they got into the wort while it was chilling, uncovered.

dzlater said:

I just cleaned a fermenter that had four dead flies in it.
I am sure they got into the wort while it was chilling, uncovered.

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I don't boil outside but I have seen flies drop like a rock when they fly over the BBQ and get hit by the heat. Seems like that would happen during a boil as well.

WARNING ***OFF-TOPIC RANT***


It's funny how when I post (what I believe to be) a clear, concise question, I get a couple a responses that sometimes gets answered after a couple of back-and-forths. This OP gets two pages of responses after jumping down my neck for trying to answer his (poorly asked) question.

Thanks to those who responded with some etiquette advice...