Adding Ice to cool - BeerSmith

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fardy

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Hi guys,

I really have a tough time cooling my wort rapidly and I'll try to add about a gallon of ice to help the process. I was wondering how do I implement that change into BeerSmith so I do not end up with a diluted wort.

Do I simply leave the Batch Size to 5.5G (my usual batch size) and reduce the Boil Volume by 1g ?

Thanks,
 
You can do this rather easily actually... Lets say that you normally add 5lbs of ice to your wort after you have completed your boil... Find out exactly how much water 5lbs of Ice is and you can then calculate that into your final boil volume... this will then offset your gravity to most likely your target you are trying to reach.

I must say though that adding ice directly to your wort is ill advised. This is a way that you could introduce bacteria into your wort causing an infection. I would suggest that you either purchase a immersible chiller, a counter-flow chiller or you place your wort in a tub surrounded by ice and water while stirring it... Or... others have just placed their wort in the refrigerator over night and in the morning is usually around the correct pitching temperature...
 
You can do this rather easily actually... Lets say that you normally add 5lbs of ice to your wort after you have completed your boil... Find out exactly how much water 5lbs of Ice is and you can then calculate that into your final boil volume... this will then offset your gravity to most likely your target you are trying to reach.

I must say though that adding ice directly to your wort is ill advised. This is a way that you could introduce bacteria into your wort causing an infection. I would suggest that you either purchase a immersible chiller, a counter-flow chiller or you place your wort in a tub surrounded by ice and water while stirring it... Or... others have just placed their wort in the refrigerator over night and in the morning is usually around the correct pitching temperature...

I've read about it. But is it safe if I boil the water, starsan my containers and freeze it the night before ? I know that freezing it for a couple of month is bad but for 1 night... ?
 
In my mind I say its safe, but a few other guys who are much smarter and experienced than I, have even said its almost impossible to have sanitary Ice because the ice is still exposed to the freezer, which can and usually is a breeding ground for bacteria that loves to survive in the cold... imagine what it could do to your Beer...
I have of course countered with the idea, well couldnt you put saranwrap over the ice trays? Some said yes and some said

I would say its a hell of a lot of work for some ice that could or could not infect your wort... I would look into taking that time and save it for somethinge else... get a nice IC or counter flow chiller and be done with it.
 
I've read about it. But is it safe if I boil the water, starsan my containers and freeze it the night before ? I know that freezing it for a couple of month is bad but for 1 night... ?

If you are freezing it in containers any bigger than a half gallon or so, it is going to take a couple of days or more to freeze.
 
My homebrew shop recommends using 10 pounds of ice. It's a gallon of water. I guess you should trust that your ice is clean and filtered. I do that with my beer and it's down to pitching temp.

What bacteria are we talking about living on ice?

As for BeerSmith, I don't think you need to adjust volumes at all. You aren't boiling your batch size of 5.5, so you top off anyway. I use beersmith and know that the ~2 gallons i'm adding are ice/half frozen bottled water to get to my final volume of 5.5.
 
My homebrew shop recommends using 10 pounds of ice. It's a gallon of water. I guess you should trust that your ice is clean and filtered. I do that with my beer and it's down to pitching temp.
Your homebrew shop is wrong, a US gallon of water weighs about 8.35 pounds, not 10. An Imperial gallon (UK) weighs 10 pounds. But it doesn't matter, and you don't have to guess about anything. You can literally just measure out the correct volume of water and freeze it. If you plan to pitch 5 gallons and you do a partial boil with 2.5 gallons, freeze 2.5 gallons of water...


What bacteria are we talking about living on ice?

There's PLENTY of stuff that can survive in that environment, and the typical freezer is one of the most germ-laden places in your house. Use sanitized containers, sanitized water, and seal them before freezing.


As for BeerSmith, I don't think you need to adjust volumes at all. You aren't boiling your batch size of 5.5, so you top off anyway. I use beersmith and know that the ~2 gallons i'm adding are ice/half frozen bottled water to get to my final volume of 5.5.

This I agree with. Use beersmith as you normally would for a partial boil.
 
I usually add 1 gal. frozen bottled water and 1 gal. cold from the fridge bottled water to 3gal. of boiled wort and never have had a problem. 1 gal. bottled water freezes over night.
 
I usually do full boils. That's why I was asking about it.

OK sorry I missed this before. But basically in Beersmith it comes down to setting up your equipment. If you are using a 3 gallon pot to boil your stuff in, set that as your equipment for the recipe.
 
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