def. getting a wort chiller

fretsforlife · Feb 15, 2009

I have a question.. I am brewing a honey oatmeal stout tonight. I gave my worth the ice bath and all,, cooled it to about 90 and added it to the other 2.5 gallons of cold water. The thing is, its been almost an hour now and it wont drop below 84 degrees.. should I pitch the yeast early and cover it, or should I continue to keep it exposed to the air and wait until its below the 75-80 mark?

thanks,

JMSetzler · Feb 15, 2009

It's a little difficult to sort out why your temperature is still that high... i would cover the fermenter and let the temperature fall a bit lower before you pitch the yeast.

fretsforlife · Feb 15, 2009

thanks, I decided to go that route. it is pretty friggin hot in here tonight so that might be it.

JMSetzler · Feb 15, 2009

With a wort chiller you can get the temperature down pretty reasonably depending on the temperature of the water you are feeding it. There isn't much need to cool the wort below the ambient temperature of the room you plan to ferment in though...

zanemoseley · Feb 15, 2009

I bought 20ft of 3/8" copper and use it with a cheap aquarium pump which pumps ice water through the chiller. With this I can chill a full 5 gallon boil to room temp in 20 minutes or so. This will only cost you about $50. Last brew I saw my first good cold break, makes you really appreciate why you want to cool quickly.

vespa2t · Feb 16, 2009

In my opinion, wort chillers that run water from the faucet that dump to the drain are a waste of water, and dont chill it down any better than other methods. The one above works great and doesnt use much water. I just put my brew pot in the sink with a bag of ice, cold water, and salt. The Salt lets the water get colder than it would by itself. I can cool down from 210 deg to 90 or so in 15 min. My tap water is pretty cold, so when I mix my final 3 gal to the 90 deg wort I have a perfect 65-70 temp.

McGarnigle · Feb 16, 2009

You added the "other 2.5 gallons" when it was at 90 degrees and it's still at 80+ degrees? That can't be right. Or did you add the top-off water in order for it to get to 90 degrees?

double_e5 · Feb 16, 2009

vespa2t said:
In my opinion, wort chillers that run water from the faucet that dump to the drain are a waste of water, and dont chill it down any better than other methods. The one above works great and doesnt use much water. I just put my brew pot in the sink with a bag of ice, cold water, and salt. The Salt lets the water get colder than it would by itself. I can cool down from 210 deg to 90 or so in 15 min. My tap water is pretty cold, so when I mix my final 3 gal to the 90 deg wort I have a perfect 65-70 temp.

This is fine for smaller boils, but you will never get 5 gallons to cool quickly enough using your method. Some type of chiller is necassary.

craigd · Feb 16, 2009

I get a full 5.5 gal down to 80deg in under an hour with an ice water bath so you can do it that way. It's still a PITA and a chiller is in my not-too-distant future though...

Runyanka · Feb 16, 2009

Are you putting your top off water in the fridge prior to adding? I put mine in the fridge over-night, then two hours before brew time I put them in the freezer. I took mine from 90 to around 65 just by adding the water.

Boerderij_Kabouter · Feb 16, 2009

Getting a good cold break will have an effect on your beer. It is highly recommended to get a good chilling technique so you can drop your temps rapidly (~20m is good).

Cooling times depend greatly on ground water temp and if you are in a warm climate you may need a ice recirc. system as mentioned above.

Notnice · Feb 16, 2009

I used the frozen boiled water method as well worked great. I put it in the sink with a little Ice and water stirred(with out splashing) in some of the almost frozen water, about a gallon and a half slowly, then placed the other half gallon in the primary.

fretsforlife · Feb 16, 2009

McGarnigle said:
You added the "other 2.5 gallons" when it was at 90 degrees and it's still at 80+ degrees? That can't be right. Or did you add the top-off water in order for it to get to 90 degrees?

you're right.. must have been after the top-off..

also, im gonna start putting my water in the fridge as mentioned in this thread as well. great ideas! thanks everybody...

sparkyaber · Feb 16, 2009

vespa2t said:
In my opinion, wort chillers that run water from the faucet that dump to the drain are a waste of water, and dont chill it down any better than other methods. The one above works great and doesnt use much water. I just put my brew pot in the sink with a bag of ice, cold water, and salt. The Salt lets the water get colder than it would by itself. I can cool down from 210 deg to 90 or so in 15 min. My tap water is pretty cold, so when I mix my final 3 gal to the 90 deg wort I have a perfect 65-70 temp.

Dude, don't run the water down the drain, do it next to the washer so you can do a load of laundry right after brewing. I can chill a full 5 gallons in about 7 min with my home made immersion chiller. 50' half in copper soft drawn, couple of hoses, three hose clamps and one garden hose fitting. Oh, a few solder spots for good measure.

jldc · Feb 16, 2009

craigd said:
I get a full 5.5 gal down to 80deg in under an hour with an ice water bath so you can do it that way. It's still a PITA and a chiller is in my not-too-distant future though...

Using an IC, a pump and water from my swimming pool (currently 57 degrees), I can cool 5.5 gallons to 75 degrees in under 15 minutes, and I don't need to get any ice. This summer, when the pool is 95 degrees, I will need an ice water bath.

An hour seems like a long time.

Edit: of course the latest issue of BYO talked about sealing the boiling wort up in an airtight container and pitching the yeast the next day.

Duster72 · Feb 16, 2009

You don't want to pitch at 84.

You would be better off to seal it up, put it in the fridge for a few hours, and then pitch.

Of course, you should be using a starter to ensure you're pitching enough yeast and don't end up with a long lag time.

vespa2t · Feb 17, 2009

sparkyaber said:
Dude, don't run the water down the drain, do it next to the washer so you can do a load of laundry right after brewing. .

thats a great idea. Now I can use a chiller without feeling guilty about the 40-50 gallons of clean water going down the drain!

And yes, it takes alot longer to chill down 5 gallons with ice water...but I dont usually do full batches anyway, most of my stuff is experimental small batches...

luvmy40 · Feb 17, 2009

Make 2 immersion chillers, Run them in series. Place the first one in an ice/brine bath the other in your wort. Collect the run off for cleaning, Laundry or what ever.

double_e5 · Feb 17, 2009

vespa2t said:
thats a great idea. Now I can use a chiller without feeling guilty about the 40-50 gallons of clean water going down the drain!

And yes, it takes alot longer to chill down 5 gallons with ice water...but I dont usually do full batches anyway, most of my stuff is experimental small batches...

40-50 gallons! Are you running a fire hose through it?

If I was doing small batches I wouldn't us a chiller either. An ice bath and stirring works well enough.

BrianTheBrewer · Feb 17, 2009

double_e5 said:
40-50 gallons! Are you running a fire hose through it?

If I was doing small batches I wouldn't us a chiller either. An ice bath and stirring works well enough.

I agree that sometimes with a smaller batch a nice ice bath/snow bath works better then draining all that water from the chiller.

Homercidal · Feb 18, 2009

I love my Homemade CFC an don't worry about the excess water too much. I only brew a few times each year. Although I may consider running a garden hose to the washer next time if I can remember. But doesn't the water go back to the source? Either a well or city supply, where it is used again?

def. getting a wort chiller

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