After a 1year, i'm taking the plunge.

ok so after a year or so of seeing if i have the time and space. i am taking the plunge . i do have one question that i cant seem to find an answer for.

im doing a kit from aih, it comes with grain and extract. with that being said, i am confused with the 5 gallon issue and what way is best to get there. if i boil the whole 5g then i should only have to top off what evaporated. if i do a 2.5 then add another 2.5g, wouldnt this cool the wort down to much to pitch the yeast? to my noob perspective, this is the most critical part of the whole thing.

also in my garage, which is where i will be storing this, gets cold at night but warms up somewhat in the day, N.E penn climate. is this a big factor?
thanks in advance.

You can either do a full boil which would usually be starting with something like 6.5 gallons to end up with 5 gallons. I think you should follow the directions which are probably for 2.5 gallons then top up. The use of the hops is probably calculated on this method.

As to cooling with top up water, you will probably have to cool the 2.5 gallons or wort first then add the cold water to get to pitching temperature. Get the temperature to the mid sixties before pitching.

If you ferment in your garage set up a swamp cooler to control the fermentation temperature. That is a container filled with water to about 1/2 - 3/4 the way up you fermenter. Do not immerse your stick on thermostrip if you have one. Change out ice bottles to control the temperature of the wort. You want to keep the wort temperature in the low to mid sixties if possible.
You also don't want the temperature fluctuating too much.

Depends on what size pot you have. Many people feel that a full boil will give you better hop utilization and color. A full boil would be starting off with 6.5 gallons of water which will boil down to 5 once you're finished. The only problem with this is that if you don't have a wort chiller it can take quite some time to bring the temp down to pitch your yeast.

If you do a 2.5-3.5 gallon boil you can just top off to 5 gallons and no this will def not cool the wort down too much. Even topping off 2.5 gallons of room temp water you will still have to cool down your wort. Basically cool down your 2.5 gallons before you even add the other 2.5.

Yes temp control is a huge factor. I live in Eastern PA so I know we are looking at 80-90+ degree weather in the next 5 days....as the previous poster said make a swamp cooler, you don't want your beer getting above 70.

This is your first brew and all I can say is don't worry about much, you'll probably end up with pretty good beer. If you want exact numbers you'll need much more information like your boil off rate and equipment capacities. What I recommend is that you start off with 6 gallons of water on the kettle and when you finish up you'll probably be a little under 5 gal but my thought is you're better off with a slightly higher SG the than not being able to fit all of your wort into the fermenter. If you don't have a full size kettle to boil in, no worries, you can do it the partial boil way and add the cool water later on. Just make sure the water you add to top off has already been boiled, cooled and covered. Even if you added 2.5gal room temperature water to 2.5gal boiling water you wouldn't get down low enough to pitch the yeast yet. you should generally be around 70°F before pitching, and yes, it is a critical part to not pitch at to high a temperature. Near 80°F plus could kill the yeast. Fermentation control is something you will worry about more later on. My first year of brewing we didn't bother with it at all and still had good results. That being said, you really want to store it in a location that has a stable temperature around 60-70F. One easy way to keep more consistent fermentation temperatures is to put the fermenter in a "swamp cooler". basically just submerge about 3/4 of it in a large gardening bucket or tub or whatever filled with water. The water acts as a thermal mass helping to keep temps consistent when the ambient temperature swings.

If you want more solid numbers I'm sure I, or someone else will be happy to help but we need more specific info; boil kettle volume, heating method, recipe details, and probable something else I'm forgetting right now

You spent a year trying to figure out if you had time to brew jk

Relax, try to find a way to keep the temp swings in control, and to keep the temps in the range for the yeast that you choose. Also it is better to pitch your yeast cold than to pitch you yeast too warm.

Good luck!

Since you got a kit and this is your first batch, just follow the instructions that came with the kit. As kh54s10 said, the hop schedule has been formulated for either a partial boil (2.5 gal boil and 2.5 gal top-off) or full boil and not following the directions will make it either way under or over bitter. With the temps forecast to start going up this weekend you'll definitely want to use a swamp cooler to help keep that temperature down during the fermentation or you'll get off flavors. In addition to using frozen water bottles, but a t-shirt or towel over the bucket (making sure you don't block the blow-off tube or bubbler) and make sure it dips into the water. Then have a fan pointed at the cooler - that will help get it down a few more degrees.

Good luck and welcome the obsession!

Congrats on taking the HB plunge! The reward can be amazing. This board is one of the best resources available. Reading John Palmer's How to Brew will give you a very solid understanding of the brew process and how the plethora of ingredients influence your beer, from simple, straight forward extract brews to total control over your beer with All Grain brewing.

Strange enough, the temperature at which you ferment has probably the largest influence on the flavor of your final beer. This detail is too often overlooked, and even Palmer doesn't go into much depth on that topic.

+1 on everything said before.

You want to place your fermentor in an area where the temperature remains fairly constant and the low to mid-60s are perfect temperatures for fermenting ales.

Using a swamp cooler in such an area helps in keeping temp. fluctuations to a minimum. The swamp cooler also helps in draining off heat generated by the fermentation process.

A cellar or basement is ideal.

Your garage may be suitable if the temps in there don't go up too high during the daytime, when the sun blazes on the roof.

The size of your boiling pot determines how much wort you can boil, although you could boil in 2 large pots, which is easier on a kitchen stove.

Add about 1/3 of your malt extract (or even less) at the beginning of the boil, and the balance at flameout. It makes for a better tasting, more attenuated, and lighter colored beer than boiling it all up for an hour.

Just one correction to make here. Yeast won't be killed at 80F. more like 120F. I do 2.5-3.5 gallon partial boil/partial mash biab beers in the same 5 gallon SS kettle I've been using. I also do late extract additions for the reasons mentioned. Besides the fact that most of my PM beers have the fresh wort as 50% of the fermentables. So I just use that for the 1 hour boil.
This equals 4-6 pounds of grains.
Def use some sort of temp control. I've even used just a very damp tee shirt with a small turbo fan pointed at it. This will cool the fermenter down 2-3 degrees.

+1 to every thing said here!

a few more tricks that I have done when using kits are:

start the boil with 3 gallons and about 40% of the extract giving in the recipe. I added the second half of the extract at the end of the boil and let it sit for 10 minutes before cooling.

I would also put 3 gallons of water in the freezer before I started my brew day. That way you will have zero issues reaching pitching temps!

Here was my brewing process if it helps any. My first two batches were meh until I developed this system... ( I only have a 5g brew kettle btw)

1) put 3 gallons of "top up water" in freezer
2) steeped grains with 1.5 gallons for whatever the recipy called.
3) added another 1.5 gallons and ~ 30 percent of extract to start boil
4) fallow directions regarding hopping
5) after boil time added remaining extract and let sit for 10 minutes
6) put BK in sink and filled with ice and water carefully stirring the wort until it reached ~100*
7)I pored the wort and now very cold top off water into my botteling bucket.. let the sediment fall out as the temp dropped to ~ 70 and then opened the spigot and let that splash/ poor into the fermenter to aerate.
8)pitch yeast and ferment!

unionrdr said:

Just one correction to make here. Yeast won't be killed at 80F. more like 120F. .

Click to expand...

Thanks for the correction. I was being way to general and just pointing out what we shoot for temperature wise. I did not recall the actual temperature, and actually killing the yeast will indeed take more than 80°.

bxtzd3 said:

im doing a kit from aih, it comes with grain and extract. with that being said, i am confused with the 5 gallon issue and what way is best to get there.

Click to expand...

Do you have a pot big enough for boiling the 5 gallons. If not the question is answered for you.

This isn't a question where one way has significant advantages but also significant costs and you stand at a cross-roads and must make a lifetime decision. Basically you need to cook up 5 gallons of wort and whichever way you do it, although having a few little coincidental tricks and advantages, really doesn't make much difference.

There are coincidental advantages to either way. Smaller boils are quicker to cool (see below). Bigger boils are simply closer to the natural concentrate and will feel more natural. But the choice you make will really be a matter of convenience and whatever works for you. I'd suggest boiling as close to a full boil (and over if possible) as you can. But if you can't no-one's going to ever notice.

if i do a 2.5 then add another 2.5g, wouldnt this cool the wort down to much to pitch the yeast?

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Quite the opposite. It'll cool down the wort fast enough that you *can* pitch the yeast sooner.

You are cooling from 212 (very hot) to 70 and that takes time. If you are mixing with with a lot of top of water its a lot faster but it still takes time. Even if you boil away to a gallon and add 4 gallons of top-off water it will still take fifteen minutes or so to get down to 70.

Either way the concern is getting it down to 70 fast. It's almost *never* a concern that you'll get it down to cold.

And the top off water itself isn't too cold to pitch. although it is better to pitch the yeast in the correct range, pitching the yeast too cold isn't a big deal. It'll be a slow start but when it warms up it'll go in ernest. There are other issues that I don't really understand but none of them are capital offenses. And pitching at 60 is *great*. Pitching when the yeast is too hot is another story. Then you can (but it's not a certainty; nothing in brewing is a certainty) and probably will get off-flavors.

also in my garage, which is where i will be storing this, gets cold at night but warms up somewhat in the day, N.E penn climate. is this a big factor?
thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

It can be. Especially the warming up during the day. How big a fluctuation? Temp control is a really simple way to fine tune. And way out there bad temps seems to be the thing (maybe the only thing) that can actually make otherwise good beer become bad beer. But beer brewing is supposed to be fun. My first few beers with poor temp control and pitch to high were all "pretty good" and "hey, not bad!" but my beers *with* very casual temp control are noticeably better. (Probably because of temp control; maybe I'm just getting better--- but probably the temp control).

I've *really* bought into the ice bath camp for my last four batches or so. (Fill a tub. Chill with ice bottles. Swap out roughly once a day.) A little goes a long way.

wow, i only got 2 replies through email, i had no idea you all answered. thanks in advance. i will try the cooler in the garage, i have a igloo one from walmart the one with the wheels on the bottom. i dont plan to start until next week but i will do as advised. i will keep ya posted. oh and i got a 5 gallon pot,

bxtzd3 said:

wow, i only got 2 replies through email, i had no idea you all answered. thanks in advance. i will try the cooler in the garage, i have a igloo one from walmart the one with the wheels on the bottom. i dont plan to start until next week but i will do as advised. i will keep ya posted. oh and i got a 5 gallon pot,

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Google or youtube "Swamp cooler"

So with a 5 gallon pot you are going to have to do a steep, then probably about 2.5 gallon (see the directions) boil and top up.
Just relax, pay attention to the details, sanitize well, watch your temperatures and don't try to rush things. If the instruction say 5-10 days for a step go for the 10 days or more in a lot of cases. You can do more harm, again in most cases, by going too quick than too long.

Most of all have fun!

If you are unsure of any steps, ask the question here. You will get answers. Sometimes there are more than one way to accomplish the same thing so you will have to gather information and decide what will work best for you. An example is; you can ferment until you reach final gravity. Then you have several choices. 1) do a secondary to clear the beer more. 2) leave it in primary longer which some think will clean off flavors and clear the beer. or 3)bottle the beer.

After bottling prepare to wait at least 2 weeks (more likely 3+) at about 70 degrees then chill for a day or 2 before they will be properly carbonated.

Again, most of all have fun with your new hobby.

My only advise is to not shoot for the moon your first time ... give your self something to improve on. With anything, try and get the basics down first, times, procedure, temperature, that way they carry with you as time goes on and you only get better. And the feeling of having your first beer that you brewed will be close to the best feeling you've ever had

I do boils up to 3.5 gallons in my 5G SS kettle, It allows for some boil off during the 1 hour boil. Keep a couple gallons of water in the fridge to top off with after getting the wort chilled down to 75F or a lil lower. I can get the wort down to 60-64F in the fermenter.

sumone said:

+1 to every thing said here!

a few more tricks that I have done when using kits are:

start the boil with 3 gallons and about 40% of the extract giving in the recipe. I added the second half of the extract at the end of the boil and let it sit for 10 minutes before cooling.

I would also put 3 gallons of water in the freezer before I started my brew day. That way you will have zero issues reaching pitching temps!

Here was my brewing process if it helps any. My first two batches were meh until I developed this system... ( I only have a 5g brew kettle btw)

1) put 3 gallons of "top up water" in freezer
2) steeped grains with 1.5 gallons for whatever the recipy called.
3) added another 1.5 gallons and ~ 30 percent of extract to start boil
4) fallow directions regarding hopping
5) after boil time added remaining extract and let sit for 10 minutes
6) put BK in sink and filled with ice and water carefully stirring the wort until it reached ~100*
7)I pored the wort and now very cold top off water into my botteling bucket.. let the sediment fall out as the temp dropped to ~ 70 and then opened the spigot and let that splash/ poor into the fermenter to aerate.
8)pitch yeast and ferment!

Click to expand...

This is exactly the process I've been using, it has worked very well for me.

Good luck,

sumone said:

+1 to every thing said here!

a few more tricks that I have done when using kits are:

start the boil with 3 gallons and about 40% of the extract giving in the recipe. I added the second half of the extract at the end of the boil and let it sit for 10 minutes before cooling.

I would also put 3 gallons of water in the freezer before I started my brew day. That way you will have zero issues reaching pitching temps!

Here was my brewing process if it helps any. My first two batches were meh until I developed this system... ( I only have a 5g brew kettle btw)

1) put 3 gallons of "top up water" in freezer
2) steeped grains with 1.5 gallons for whatever the recipy called.
3) added another 1.5 gallons and ~ 30 percent of extract to start boil
4) fallow directions regarding hopping
5) after boil time added remaining extract and let sit for 10 minutes
6) put BK in sink and filled with ice and water carefully stirring the wort until it reached ~100*
7)I pored the wort and now very cold top off water into my botteling bucket.. let the sediment fall out as the temp dropped to ~ 70 and then opened the spigot and let that splash/ poor into the fermenter to aerate.
8)pitch yeast and ferment!

Click to expand...

this is what i was thinking, if you have to get the temp to below 70, why wouldnt you just add ice cold water to drop it? fastest way i know.

Many people do exactly that. Want to make sure the ice is sanitary though. I make it from boiling water in sealed containers. I actually like making the ice in metal bowls and covering with Satan wrap. Although it does occur to me if I drop the ice quickly into hot, near boiling wort fast enough and the ice is the wort will sanitize the suffice of the ice. In theory.

Many people advise against commercial ice which might not have sanitary surfaces.

Some worry tap water and the source water of ice isn't sanitary but I don't.

BREW DAY! i will be hitting the pots after work and some set up in the garage for the expectant fermentation vessel. wish me luck. I'm going in lads!

bxtzd3 said:

this is what i was thinking, if you have to get the temp to below 70, why wouldnt you just add ice cold water to drop it? fastest way i know.

Click to expand...

You can add ice water- the thing is, you still have to chill the wort a bit first to about 100, then add the ice water. If you just add ice water to 200+ degree wort, you'll just have more too-warm wort to chill, as it won't bring it down to 70 degrees that way. But if you chill the wort to 100 degrees or less, and then add cold water you should be right in the 60s which is perfect for adding the yeast!

bxtzd3 said:

BREW DAY! i will be hitting the pots after work and some set up in the garage for the expectant fermentation vessel. wish me luck. I'm going in lads!

Click to expand...

Good luck- let us know if you have any problems or questions as they come up. Normally, we're very quick to answer.

forgot this,
WHOOHOO!!!!!!!

Yooper said:

You can add ice water- the thing is, you still have to chill the wort a bit first to about 100, then add the ice water. If you just add ice water to 200+ degree wort, you'll just have more too-warm wort to chill, as it won't bring it down to 70 degrees that way. But if you chill the wort to 100 degrees or less, and then add cold water you should be right in the 60s which is perfect for adding the yeast!

Click to expand...

hmm, I never thought of that. And I admit that it's the last bit, getting down to 60s that's the hardest so I have the very bad habit of watching it creep through the nineties muttering "c'mon, c'mon" and when it gets to the 80 saying "oh close enough". So if I still had the ice on hand instead of using it all up to get the wort down to 140...

And then there are those who instruct to put the ice into the fermentor and pour the cooled wort (in eighties or nineties) or so onto the ice.

*BUT* logically and physically I'm not sure your argument actually makes any sense. Getting gallons of boiling wort + several quarts of ice combined to a uniform room temperature should take the same amount of time, logically, regardless as to when you combine the two.

However you are right. What good is it to add the ice early and rushing through 212- 180 in five minutes when it's the rushing from 90 to 60 that one is more likely to cut short?

woozy said:

*BUT* logically and physically I'm not sure your argument actually makes any sense. Getting gallons of boiling wort + several quarts of ice combined to a uniform room temperature should take the same amount of time, logically, regardless as to when you combine the two.

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It's simple science. If you cool, say, 2 gallons to 100 degrees in an ice bath it will be quicker than trying to cool 5 gallons.

Cooling 2 gallons to under 100 degrees in an ice bath in the sink takes about 15 minutes, more or less. Stirring the wort (and the ice bath) with a sanitized spoon speeds the process remarkably.

Once the wort is 100 degrees, adding 3 gallons of ice water to it will cool it down to pitching temperatures.

Otherwise, if you have 2 gallons of boiling wort and add 3 gallons of ice and water, you'll have 90+ degree wort that will take a very very long time to cool.

Try it if you don't believe me!

When I started, I would buy 2, 1 gallon water jugs from the store (so the the water is sanitary) and freeze them. Then when it's time to cool, cut the plastic off the jugs so I have 2, 1 gallon ice blocks. I placed them in my fermenting bucket and poured hot wort over them. This always seemed to get me down to my temps, and even once I couldn't get one of them to melt for a long time. Just my piece of experience. Have fun!

Yooper said:

It's simple science. If you cool, say, 2 gallons to 100 degrees in an ice bath it will be quicker than trying to cool 5 gallons.

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True. but you are trying to cool 2 gallons from 212 to 114.5 (at which point the average temperature of 2 gallons of 114.5 wort and 3 gallons of 32 degree ice is 5 gallons of 65 degree wort). That's 97.5 degrees. I'm trying to cool 5 gallons, true. But I'm starting at 100 (the average of 3 gallons at 32 and 2 gallons at 212) and cooling to 65. That's only 35 degrees.

You're cooling 197 degree-gallons and I'm cooling 175 degree-gallons. I'm not sure that it's determinable which is faster. I think it depends on surface area and maybe on the temp of the medium (air/ice bath) we are cooling within. I still suspect, though I can't claim I know, that it'd be a wash.

But I admit yours is probably a lot less nerve wracking.

I will do it your way in the future 'cause I have to admit those last get through the 90s phase are killin' me.

woozy said:

True. but you are trying to cool 2 gallons from 212 to 114.5 (at which point the average temperature of 2 gallons of 114.5 wort and 3 gallons of 32 degree ice is 5 gallons of 65 degree wort). That's 97.5 degrees. I'm trying to cool 5 gallons, true. But I'm starting at 100 (the average of 3 gallons at 32 and 2 gallons at 212) and cooling to 65. That's only 35 degrees.

Click to expand...

Yes...........but- you've got volume to think about once you are at 5 gallons. It takes a LONG time for 5 gallons of 100 to cool in an ice bath.

I can boil 2.5 gallons, cool it to 100, add 2.5 gallons of ice cold water and be at 62 degrees in less than 20 minutes flat. The volume is critical! In an ice bath, the smaller the volume the faster it will cool.

Yooper said:

Yes...........but- you've got volume to think about once you are at 5 gallons. It takes a LONG time for 5 gallons of 100 to cool in an ice bath.

I can boil 2.5 gallons, cool it to 100, add 2.5 gallons of ice cold water and be at 62 degrees in less than 20 minutes flat. The volume is critical! In an ice bath, the smaller the volume the faster it will cool.

Click to expand...

welllll....... okay.

But I'm not convinced. I mean it seems like we're both trying to achieve the same thing (turn two gallons of hot wort into five gallons of cool wort) with the same tools (an ice bath and 3 gallons of ice) and it seems that as long as neither of us do anything *indirect* to our goal it's gotta be that whatever order we do everything it's a zero-sum gain. I mean if one's less efficient than the other then one is losing energy and where is the lost energy going?

At any rate. I've never been able to cool as quickly as you have so you might be right... but I'm sure not wrapping my head around it.

{*mumble... smaller volume... surface area... hrmmmm... volume is proportional to depth as the kettle is cylanderical but surface area is proportional to sides which is proportional to depth *PLUS* the base surface area which is the same for both so ... smaller volume => lesser depth => *more* surface area per volume than the larger volumes ... so smaller volume *does* cool faster because it has more square inches per gallon... and... hmm, maybe...}

Lets not forget about latent heat of melting. It's a very important key here! I can assure you that 32f water can't cool nearly as well as 32f ice.

And Yooper is right. Probably the biggest effect is the heat flow from two media with disparate temperatures. It is very easy to cool from 212 to 200. Just turn off the burner. But cooling from 77 to 65, the "same" 12 degrees are suddenly very different.

Also, because you are stirring, surface area is almost irrelevant.

Yeah, but we're both using the same ice... and we're both going "through" the same disparate temperatures. Okay, there's volume but... Well, this really seems like expecting a six inch extension to tip to reach further than adding it to its base. I'm willing to be wrong but what exactly is the model.

I mean, thought experiment. 8 oz. of 200 degree tea. + 4 oz ice, no stirring measure time to reach room temperature. 8 oz. of 200-degree tea. wait to 120 degree + 4 oz ice, meaure time to room temperature. Different? Really? Maybe, but why? Would it be different if we measure to a different temp, say 100? Maybe I'll try that. I only have one thermometer though.

I'm dubious. I could be wrong. But I'm dubious.
===
inconclusive results. Need another thermometer... The mug without ice seemed to stay consistantly at 12 degrees higher than the mug with ice. Adding ice when the mug was 120 *seemed* like it'd do a lot more than the same ice did to the first cup at 170 but they both dropped to 97 at about the same time. Switching thermometer between mugs was ineffective because minutes would go by while I waited for thermometer to stabilize.

well i have my fermenter in the pantry, ac is on so its better then the garage. how long should i expect bubbles? very cool learning day.

You're *likely* to get bubbles tomorrow. But if you don't it doesn't really mean anything.

The bubbles are cool but what *I* really love are seeing (if you have a carboy flashlight penetrable container) the yeast particles swirling around in a turbulent storm.

no bubbles yet, but i will be patient. its funny how munks made ale in the 1700's or so where being sterilization meant a guy getting his, you know, but we stress over it. i wonder ho different the beer was. i need to get a better bucket thermometer, the one on min dont seem to work. also i tried a hydrometer reading and could not understand how to read it. next lesson i guess.

It's easy to read. 1.000 is water at like 66F. some others say 60F,Fermtap says 68F. So read where you're particular one is calibrated. The longer lines on the scale read 10,20,30,40,etc. The smaller lines in between those read 2,4,6,8. So one small line below the "10" would be 1.012. Simple.
And those stick on thermometers are fine,as long as you don't submerge them in water. Then they go bad. I stick mine on where the middle of the liquid column would be in a 5 gallon batch. If it looks like it's not working,you either soaked it in water,or the temp is out of range of that particular thermometer. In other words,it's reading too cold or too hot,worse case scenario.

woozy said:

Yeah, but we're both using the same ice... and we're both going "through" the same disparate temperatures. Okay, there's volume but... Well, this really seems like expecting a six inch extension to tip to reach further than adding it to its base. I'm willing to be wrong but what exactly is the model.

I mean, thought experiment. 8 oz. of 200 degree tea. + 4 oz ice, no stirring measure time to reach room temperature. 8 oz. of 200-degree tea. wait to 120 degree + 4 oz ice, meaure time to room temperature. Different? Really? Maybe, but why? Would it be different if we measure to a different temp, say 100? Maybe I'll try that. I only have one thermometer though.

I'm dubious. I could be wrong. But I'm dubious.
===
inconclusive results. Need another thermometer... The mug without ice seemed to stay consistantly at 12 degrees higher than the mug with ice. Adding ice when the mug was 120 *seemed* like it'd do a lot more than the same ice did to the first cup at 170 but they both dropped to 97 at about the same time. Switching thermometer between mugs was ineffective because minutes would go by while I waited for thermometer to stabilize.

Click to expand...

Alright...last post on this from me because it is off-topic.

Heat flow is based on temperature disparity. So 3gallons at 212 is going to lose heat to the environment at a certain rate (say x), based on the temp of the environment. The same 3gallons loses heat at a lower rate (x') when it is cooler because the difference in temperature is smaller. I'll assume we agree on this.

Also, larger volumes of water require longer times to change temperature. So 5 gallons at 125 will cool at a lower rate than 2.5 gallons (call it x'').

For the next part, I am going to assume you add 32f WATER (no ice so we can ignore latent heat of melting. It would cause a larger effect, but not a different effect.)

Mixing in the water changes the temp very rapidly, let's say instantaneously. In theory, 2.5 gallons of 50f water plus 2.5 gallons of 100f water equals 5 gallons of 75f water.

Now, do you want to replace your fast heat transfer (x') with your instantaneous temperature change (water addition) and be left with a slow heat transfer (x'') or do you want to keep the fast heat transfer (x') and replace the slow heat transfer (x'') with the instantaneous temperature change?

The best way to cool the wort is to rely on the temperature disparity early and the water addition later.

ok, still no physical signs of fermentation. so in the event it doesn't show anything soon, what steps should i take and yeast to use to get it going.

freisste said:

Now, do you want to replace your fast heat transfer (x') with your instantaneous temperature change (water addition) and be left with a slow heat transfer (x'') or do you want to keep the fast heat transfer (x') and replace the slow heat transfer (x'') with the instantaneous temperature change?

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you're right. It is off topic.

But the answer to that actually depends on what the values actually are.

Suppose you were driving a car and were a 100 miles from your destination. Suppose I told you I could instantly transport you so that you were only 25 miles from your destination but your speed would slow way down. Should you do it?

Well, you obviously don't have enough information to answer that. And I don't have enough information to answer yours.

bxtzd3 said:

ok, still no physical signs of fermentation. so in the event it doesn't show anything soon, what steps should i take and yeast to use to get it going.

Click to expand...

Wait. It's only been a day. It might take 36 to 72 hours as the title of the sticky says.

And you could also miss it while you aren't looking.

Just wait.

woozy said:

you're right. It is off topic.

But the answer to that actually depends on what the values actually are.

Suppose you were driving a car and were a 100 miles from your destination. Suppose I told you I could instantly transport you so that you were only 25 miles from your destination but your speed would slow way down. Should you do it?

Well, you obviously don't have enough information to answer that. And I don't have enough information to answer yours.

Click to expand...

We have lots and lots of engineers on this forum who would be happy to show you the actual calculations of thermal transfer. It really is just science and math. Please start a new thread in the "Brew Science" forum if you really don't understand why thermal transfer and cooling is a scientific fact and need it explained. It doesn't have a thing to do with cars or speed or anything.

Let's get back to the original topic for the OP. Thanks.