Is a war chiller better than a sink of ice and salt water?

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somecallmetex

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I just put my second batch of beer in the primary. To cool the wart this time I put a bag of ice in the singe, put my pot on top of the ice, then poured a second bag of ice around the pot. I then filled the sink with water and added salt to chill it faster. I came back after 15 minutes and it was already chilled, so I was wondering if a wart chiller would have any advantage over this, especially since this method allows me to put a sanitized lid over it while it cools.
 
I just put my second batch of beer in the primary. To cool the wart this time I put a bag of ice in the singe, put my pot on top of the ice, then poured a second bag of ice around the pot. I then filled the sink with water and added salt to chill it faster. I came back after 15 minutes and it was already chilled, so I was wondering if a wart chiller would have any advantage over this, especially since this method allows me to put a sanitized lid over it while it cools.


How big of boils are you doing? wort chillers are usually used for large/full boils.
 
Wow- what kind of pot? And how cool are you getting it in 15 minutes?

For me, a wort chiller is easier and cheaper, since I don't have to buy ice.
 
I find it really hard to believe that your able to get a full 5 gallons of 200+ degree wart down to below 70 in 15 minutes. Are you sure your gettin an accurate temperature reading. I know sometimes you will get a much lower temperature reading at the bottom or near the sides of the pot when you use the submersion method. With that being said, if you can indeed get that large of a volume down to pitching temp in 15 minutes then theres no need for a submersion chiller.
 
I've done a whole six batches (meaning I'm not an expert) and my first ice/water-sink try was like 50mins. I then started being more aggressive with the ice additions and stirring the cooling wort, which brought it down to about 30min. If the salt makes that much of a difference, please let me know how much you add.
 
I'll tell you right now salt helps drop temp of ice water mix a good amount and is worth adding, don't know about the ratio, but I just add some mix and add some more, until I feel I have enough.
 
Isn't it a little risky to be stirring cooling wort? Guess I've just been under the impression the less you interfere after the boil, the less chance of contamination? That's not to say you're not sanitizing the spoon though.
 
I dont believe the issue with stirring hot wort is about contamination as it is oxidation. Once the wort is cooled you can stir it. You'll actually hear of alot of people using a whirlpool technique once they achieved pitching temp. This is basically stirring the wort creating a whirlpool which sucks the hot/cold break and any sediment into a cone in the bottom of your pot. This allows transferring without picking up alot of sediment.
 
Actually you are supposed to aerate the wort beforre you pitch yeast and THEN not get any air in it. I stir vigorously once it is cool.

Also, yes, a wort chiller is awesome. I actually want to buy another one if I can find a good deal, so I can use it in an igloo cooler with ice water instead of using tap water to chill the wort.
 
Tex, fellow-newb here. I too put my second batch in primary yesterday. FWIW, first batch in the sink/ice took me 45 minutes to hit mid 70's. (I did not use salt, just ice/water.)

Last weekend built a chiller & small pre-chiller. Yesterday used the chiller on my second batch: same volume of wort was 58 deg in 6 minutes. I'm sold.
 
Damn... I haven't been cooling my wort. I usually just make sure the water I am mixing with my wort is cold. I'll be sure to cool it down in the sink this time around.
 
Quick question: Are you making a 5 gallon batch but actually cooling 2-3 gallons of hot wort? That might explain part of how it's cooling so fast.

I've been doing ice (or snow) but am about to make a wort chiller because I'm going to start brewing outside and won't be next to a sink.

But the important thing is to get the wort cold, so it sounds like your system is working great. I don't see a reason to change it.
 
Quote: Quick question: Are you making a 5 gallon batch but actually cooling 2-3 gallons of hot wort?

Right now I'm doing full boil 1/2 batches (3 gallon boil - 2.5 gallon to the fermenter.) So same volume of wort (2.5 gallon) for both the ice bath (45 min) and the chiller (6 minutes.)
 
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