Chilling my first wort..

Ok.. so..

I've placed my initial order and my equipment should be shipped out anytime now..

here is what is on it's way... fwiw...

# 6.5 gallon glass "Carboy" fermenter
# Two Stoppers (one solid, one with hole)
# Siphon assembly for liquid transfers including the Carboytap, R500
# Carboy cleaning brush
# 19" stirring spoon
# 8" funnel
# 6 gallon bottling bucket with spigot
# 3 piece airlock
# Triple scale testing hydrometer with test tube
# Bottle filler & 4’ of transfer tubing
# Hand-lever bottle capper and 50 bottle caps
# Bottle cleaning brush
# BTF Iodophor Sanitizer for sanitizing equipment (4oz)
# Reusable nylon steeping bag
# Popular reference book - Home Beermaking III
# Our MoreManual! How to Brew Great Beer

Carboy Drainer
Nut Brown Ale Kit
Safale S-04
German Hefeweizen (Extract) Kit
White Labs Yeast (Hefeweizen)
Sanitizer Injector

(no wort chiller yet)

I also already have a Turkey frying rig complete with once used 36qt Aluminum pot that I plan on using for now..

I was up last night reading lots of info online re: wort chillers and cooling to pitch temp and noticed that my pot probably won't be fitting in my sink with any room to speak of for water/ice around it to help bring the temp down.. not to mention that it isn't quite deep enough to do much good If I do a full boil.

sooo..

i was wondering if I would be more likely to get better results doing a full boil and chilling in a big tub of ice or doing a partial and using steril ice and refridgerated top off water to help get the wort down to temp..

I have this plastic construction bucket that will likely allow me to get the pot covered in ice water up to at least the top of the wort so I can't imagine it taking too too long to cool

thoughts?
is a full boil and longer slower cooling better than partial boil and quicker cooling with slightly elevated risk of contamination? ( i guess that is what this long post boils down to..)

many thanks!
will

waskelton4 said:

i was wondering if I would be more likely to get better results doing a full boil and chilling in a big tub of ice or doing a partial and using steril ice and refridgerated top off water to help get the wort down to temp..

Click to expand...

IMHO, you won't be able to cool 5+ gallons of wort quickly enough by sitting it in a tub...you can do three gallons that way, but any more than that is going to take too long to cool.

If you're going to do a full wort boil, you'll need a wort chiller.

waskelton4 said:

is a full boil and longer slower cooling better than partial boil and quicker cooling with slightly elevated risk of contamination? ( i guess that is what this long post boils down to..)

Click to expand...

The anwer is no. A fast chill is always good:
1) Less chance of infection
B) Better cold break (precipitation of matter that could haze your beer later on)

It doesn't matter whether it's 2g or 5g, you should chill as fast as possible. There are advantages to a full-boil, but you need a wort chiller as El P indicates.

FWIW, an immersion chiller is one of the easiest pieces of homebrew gear to build yourself, if you are the least bit handy.

Thanks everyone..

I've found a hand full of DIY Immersion chiller links already and am reading through them..

I don't think I'll have to prove myself first before I get back online order anything else.. but I do see a trip to Home Depot in my near future..

Thanks again for not letting me hang out around a cooling pot all day

ws

I went with the ice method for my 1st and 2nd batch and I can recomend this for your first batches too. This eliminates the hassle of dealing with the wort chiller when you have lots of other things that are new to you.

I even used store bought ice for my first batch, though many raise concerns regarding the level of sanitation for this, and I was just fine.

Kai

Ok.. so..

Turns out I didn't brew last saturday.. but I'll likely be doing it this saturday.

I had to come find this thread again because after waiting and reading for an extra week, cooling my wort is still the thing i'm most unsure about.

I'll probably do a 3 - 4 gallon boil so I'll have some space to add ice to help in the cooling.

My question is.. how do i go about making or getting this ice and keeping it sanitary.

I know you mentioned using store bought with success and I may go that route.. but I was hoping to get some good ways to create good sanitary ice.

freezing a gallon of drinking water from the store and then cutting the carton away from it before using?

or.. what about freezing 2-liter soda bottles of water and then sanatizing them and puting them (container and all) into your cooling wort?

bad idea? brilliant idea? old idea?

any help is greatly appreciated!

and fwiw.. this is the german hefeweisen kit from B3

Thanks!
Will

I find this works great for a 3 gallon boil, 10 minutes before end of boil put three bags of ice in the bath tub with some water not deeper than your boil pot is tall. After boil cover pot and put the pot in the ice bath check it after 30 mins by touching the sides OF THE POT once THE POT is just warm to the touch its ready. Pour wort into your fermenter and add water till you have 5 gallons check temp & pitch yeast place air lock and WAIT!
If you are using bottled water you can refrigerate them to help cool wort when you add them this also helps your measure how much to add. Good Luck!

One of the best decisions I've made in this hobby was the purchase of a wort cooler. I've used it off and on for the past 6 years. First, with brewing with extracts and now with all grain brewing. You can buy one from Morebeer for about $35 or you can make one youself for the cost of 25 feet 3/8 inch copper tubing' some phastic tubing,hose clamps and something to connect the tubing to a sink or garden hose.
I can cool 5 gals boiling wort to 70 F in 15 to 20 minutes. This saves me hours of fooling with the brew.

Thanks for the replies..
I think I'll likely go Ice bathing this time around.

I also think that a wort chiller will be part of my next order. I'd like to prove to myself and the wife that this is a hobby that will stick around long enough and produce good enough beer that I can justify dumping some more money into it...

plus there isn't a LHBS here so it'll help me get above the free shipping threashold at morebeer.com

thanks again group.

Cheers
Will