Wort chiller vs. Ice Bath

I saw the other thread and it seems everyone recommends the wort chiller. I still haven't bought one and wonder what you guys think about the ice batch method. I have the ability to make as much ice as I need (I have a walk in freezer), so cost should not weigh into this as a factor.

I have had extremely good luck with this 55 gallon drum that is cut in half. I put a bottling spigot on the bottom, so I can drain water, add ice, add water etc... if needed. I'm doing a full 6 gallon boil, in this 32 quart aluminum cookpot. It cooled my wort to about 70 degrees in about 20 minutes.

The fact that you got it down to 70 in 20 minutes tells me you don't need a wort chiller. That is awesome.

The only reason you would want a wort chiller would probably be convenience. I assume that it takes you a while to fill and drain that bucket. Wort chiller maintenance doesn't take long at all.

I ice bath in my sink. only done two brews got it down in about 20 minutes as well,I just plug the sink fill with ice water,unplug it and refill ect until the wort temp is down,takes about 20 minutes also. my LHBS sells wort chillers for like 60$ and since the two brews I have done ,the ice bath method worked I doubt I'll drop that,or at the very most ,make a wort chiller myself.

In Houston, our groundwater is generally pretty warm, so I would have to get a plate chiller in addition to an immersion chiller, and, frankly, the idea of just dropping the kettle in a bucket of ice, as you have done here, seems simple and refreshing. Definitely good work on your setup - 20 minute cool down is solid!

With a thick ice bath like that, there's no need for a chiller. If it works, do it!

With a setup like that, the only reason I can think to switch to a chiller is to avoid picking up a pot of near boiling wort. I try to avoid that as much as possible unless I'm dealing with small scale stove top stuff.

A wort chiller sounds like a great , albeit costly, idea. However, I prefer the sink ice batch method myself. I wouldn't want to worry about dropping in a coiled chiller into my nice, fresh sanitized wort. Also, who the heck would want to clean it and store it when your done????

Can anyone comment on the impact of an ice bath on a stainless steel pot? My brew kettle is a fairly nice stainless steel one with an aluminum insert in the bottom and it warns not to suddenly expose it to cold temps. I'm concerned that the rapid cycling may cause it to distort. My stove is an electric one, so it's fairly important that the bottom stay flat to get good contact on the burner element.

Anyone have thoughts or experience? I suspect I'm going to get a chiller one of these days, but I'm curious about this anyway.

NJtarheel said:

A wort chiller sounds like a great , albeit costly, idea. However, I prefer the sink ice batch method myself. I wouldn't want to worry about dropping in a coiled chiller into my nice, fresh sanitized wort. Also, who the heck would want to clean it and store it when your done????

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I dont use a chiller myself, but from what I gather, the trick is to submerge it in the wort close to the end of your boil thus taking care of the sanitizing issue.

I think my next major purchase will be a chiller. Getting a little tired of buying and storing bags of ice every brew day.

I've used an ice bath in my sink for my first two batches and it cooled my wort down in about 20-25 minutes which is not bad at all. Out of convenience I bought a chiller, mostly because hauling 2-3 bags of ice up 3 flights of stairs to my apartment is a PITA, but I used my chiller now on my most recent batch and it chilled it down in a whopping 8 minutes! Granted I'm doing extract brewing and chilling about 3 gallons of wort, so a larger batch would probably take a bit longer, but so far I'm very happy with my purchase.

I am just starting this adventure of brewing beer. Brewed my first batch ever 4 days ago, and I was considering buying a wort chiller but with the first batch just decided to go with the ice bath method. After placing the brew kettle in the sink I realized how little space I had to place the ice, and I had a lot of ice left over, so I started adding it to the brew kettle because I was going to have to add water to the wort later anyway. About 8 Lbs of ice later which took me around 3 minutes to add and stir, my wort was only 64* F. Since I am new to this I am not sure if this is a bad method or not, but everything I have read says you want to chill the wort as quickly as possible. I think in total I spent about 5 minutes from stove to fermentation vessel with the yeast pitched at 64* F. Seems better than letting the wort sit open for 15 to 20 minutes with a standard ice bath or wort chiller and as an added bonus no expensive equipment to buy. At this point I am just waiting to see what happens, but I would love to hear opinions about this method from someone with more experience.

My buddy and I actually use both ice (when we remember) and the wort chiller. We just fill a cooler with about 20 pounds of ice and water and then drop the pot in that and then the chiller in the pot. Shaves off a few minutes.

I cant do an ice bath with my 15 gallon kettle, because its way too big. I used to do ice baths with 5gal extract batches. When I do a 10 gallon batch, I dont want to move 10 gal of hot wort to cool down, and then move it again to drain into the carboys.

Plus, with how well my wort chiller works, I have no desire to go make a ton of ice before brew day (no ice maker in freezer), or buy ice...

Ive only had the chance to brew in ~40-60deg weather, but Ive been getting my 10 gal batches down to 70F in 20 min max. I grab my wort chiller and stir it pretty vigorously creating a whirlpool the entire time and could not be more pleased with the results.

For anybody looking to do an ice bath in the sink, A buddy and I came up with a good system at his house.

He can remove the spray nozzle on his sink so it just shoots a jet of water. WE put his kettle in the sink with some snow and ice, started running the water, and stirring the wort in the opposite direction of the water flow. As soon as the water level gets too high, we started a syphon into a 5 gallon bucket. Stopping/starting the syphon will keep the water level high and the spray nozzle keeps the water around the kettle moving in one direction while you stir in the other. Worked really well with his equipment.

If I could have done this back when I was doing stovetop batches I would have, but my kettle has always been too wide for the sink. Way better than ice baths imo.

I did a couple of batches without one, then bought a wort chiller. I'll never go back. Best $60 I have spent on brewing. FWIW, I get a second pot of water boiling while the wort is in it's last few minutes of boil, then hook up the wort chiller to the faucet, then put it in the separate pot of water for a few minutes. I figure that should sanitize it. Then I pull it out and put it into the wort, and while it's chilling the wort, I dump the pot of boiling water in the fermentation bucket. Swirl it around and pour it out. I figure that one last cleaning of the FV can't hurt and I've killed two birds with one stone.

I brewed up a stout yesterday. Wort chiller took my wort from about 210 degrees down to 74 in less than 15 minutes (with regular stirring). I love the thing. Completely changes the brewing experience.

smellslike said:

I am just starting this adventure of brewing beer. Brewed my first batch ever 4 days ago, and I was considering buying a wort chiller but with the first batch just decided to go with the ice bath method. After placing the brew kettle in the sink I realized how little space I had to place the ice, and I had a lot of ice left over, so I started adding it to the brew kettle because I was going to have to add water to the wort later anyway. About 8 Lbs of ice later which took me around 3 minutes to add and stir, my wort was only 64* F. Since I am new to this I am not sure if this is a bad method or not, but everything I have read says you want to chill the wort as quickly as possible. I think in total I spent about 5 minutes from stove to fermentation vessel with the yeast pitched at 64* F. Seems better than letting the wort sit open for 15 to 20 minutes with a standard ice bath or wort chiller and as an added bonus no expensive equipment to buy. At this point I am just waiting to see what happens, but I would love to hear opinions about this method from someone with more experience.

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The concern with that method is the possibility of infection or potential off-flavors. You can't be certain that the water they used for that ice was sufficiently filtered or that some other material wasn't in the ice that might lead to funky flavors down the road.

I almost hesitate to mention infections, though, as infections are a rather over blown issue on these boards. But I'm generally very careful about the quality and taste of water that I use to brew with. If there is any strange flavor going on in your ice, it will likely stick out like a sore thumb in your beer.

thinking about getting a wort chiller and shopping around. still pretty new to this. does this one seem like a good one for the price?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Immersion-Wort-Chiller-3-8-Wort-Chiller-Brew-Chiller-Beer-Cooler-/250954648982?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6e100d96#ht_500wt_921

I made a wort chiller from home depot for about $30 and I'm really glad I did. I was doing sink ice baths, even snow baths when I was lucky, but it wasn't about how long it took, but how much of a PIA it was to lug the wort into the sink and refill when the water got warm. The wort chiller got it down to 70° in less than 20 min and even lower... I was so used to it taking a while that I chilled it a little too much. An external thermometer is on my shopping list. I would suggest a wort chiller because of the convenience and ease and if you choose to go with one, I definitely suggest you make one; it will save you a whole lot of cash.

If you have to buy ice, a wort chiller will pay itself off in just a few batches. Or at least that's how I justified buying one to my swmbo.

gotta get a wort chiller and then an aquarium pump then just put a small amount of icewater in the sink and recycle the icewater. http://www.nybrewsupply.com/ at the prices th is place has them, it really is a no brainer and for those of you getting excited because he got his cooled down in 20 minutes, my 50 foot wort chiller got me down to 70* in 11 minutes yesterday using nyc tap water which is pretty cold. wort chiller all the way. as for sanitation, drop it in 15 minutes before the end of the boil and your good.

If I had a walk-in freezer, I'd probably fill that half-drum with water and freeze it. Then top up with more ice when it comes to chill. You wouldn't even need to drain it.

I'm jelly of you. Boiling to 70 in 20 minutes is amazing for an icebath. Takes me a solid hour. Make sure you cover in between stirring though to prevent bacteria growth in your beer.

What up i'm new to brewing aswell and I have about 6 or 7 batches under my belt thus far. I had no wort chiller so I relied on sink water and ice but couldn't bring my temp down properly so what I did was place a two gallon soup pot that I already had fliped it upside down in a plastic tub. Stuck my garden hose in and turned it on full blast.. Being that I Brew at night with the cold water constantly flowing I can bring my temp down to 60 within 20 mins easy..bucket was free hose was free and water is included in my utilities! Works great for me plus my plants get waterd!

CPFITNESS said:

gotta get a wort chiller and then an aquarium pump then just put a small amount of icewater in the sink and recycle the icewater. http://www.nybrewsupply.com/ at the prices th is place has them, it really is a no brainer and for those of you getting excited because he got his cooled down in 20 minutes, my 50 foot wort chiller got me down to 70* in 11 minutes yesterday using nyc tap water which is pretty cold. wort chiller all the way. as for sanitation, drop it in 15 minutes before the end of the boil and your good.

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That's where I got mine.

malevolent said:

I'm jelly of you. Boiling to 70 in 20 minutes is amazing for an icebath. Takes me a solid hour. Make sure you cover in between stirring though to prevent bacteria growth in your beer.

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What kind of ice are you using?!?

Yes, I do cover it in between stirs. I've found 5 gallons cools quickly as long as you keep the ice up to the wort level. It probably helped too, that the air temp was around 30 the last time I did this.

Naptown said:

What kind of ice are you using?!?

Yes, I do cover it in between stirs. I've found 5 gallons cools quickly as long as you keep the ice up to the wort level. It probably helped too, that the air temp was around 30 the last time I did this.

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I'm brewing 10 gallon batches and doing it with just 45 degree water in a sink until I get under 100 then adding ice. Never gotten any infections. I can't use a wort chiller atm because we purge the outdoor plumbing for the winter.

I use an ice bath in addition to an immersion chiller. In South Florida the ground water only gets so cold. With just the chiller it would take a long time to drop the temp to pitchable levels.

A) the coil chiller gets sanitized by throwing it into the pot 5 minutes before you flame out.

B) it's east to clean at the same time you clean your boil pot. Just soak it in the pot with some PBW and hot water along with anything else you want cleaned.

C) Store it in your empty boil pot when not in use.

I own a plate chiller and have used it twice. Both times it failed to cool my wort enough and required either a second pass (I hate the idea of transferring the wort a second time) or other measures like an ice bath in the sink.

In the end...I have at most 6 gallons of wort, so I just sanitize the chiller and start running a cold water bath in the sink. I then carry the pot to the sink, bathe it and run the water through the coil chiller while stirring the wort gently in the oppposite direction of the water going through the coil. After about 5 minutes I drain the water in the sink, and refill it with ICE water. In 10-15 minutes max I can chill 6 gallons of wort to pitch temperature. It's easy, and compared to the octopus of hoses running into/out of the plate chiller it's far simpler. The plate chiller also requires more work to sanitize and clean both before and after usage.

BTW...my coil chiller is the cheapest possible of the 25' variety.

For me its ice bath all the way. I purchased a large plastic bucket from Wallmart (the kind you would use for holding a regular keg in and filling with ice to keep it cool), and fill it with water. I lower my 30 quart pot into the chilled water and start loading in giant blocks of ice

I make the ice by pouring in 3 pints of water into the ice holder (my ice machine does not work). I usually go with about 6 blocks of ice, in addition to ice packs, and usually get my boil down to pitching temperature in about 30-40 minutes.....and that's without whir-pooling to cool faster.

no way Im dumping 60-70 on a chiller now.....that moneys going into an element so I can do electric brewing without killing myself ^^

It really comes down to How much cold water your can get around your kettle. I was using a commercial kitchen sink, so I could get a bunch of ice, salt and water in there, so I could get my extract batches cool pretty quickly. However your average kitchen sink, probably isn't going to cut it.

I say build one.

I built one yesterday, total cost: $20.01 (+ some tax)


This pic does not show the clear hose installed, but I think you can guess how that looks.

I do 1 gallon batches...my ice bath gets it down to 70 before I'm even done filling it!

I chill the wort in the kitchen sink. Only doing partial boils (2.5-3 gal) so it works fine, and have found one 20lb bag of ice cools the wort down to ~100*F easily in ~20 min. Then I pour the wort into my FV (plastic bucket) onto ~a gallon chilled water, then top up to 5.5 gallons (my standard batch size) with ~room temp water and I'm at pitch temp.
Don't see the need for a wort chiller until I decide to step up to full volume boils.
And I'll make one for ~$50 as opposed to ~$70 for a new one at my local LHBS.

I've only brewed one batch so far, but cooled 3 gallons of wort to 70F in about 20 minutes in a kitchen sink icebath. 20 lbs of store bought ice and whatever ice was in my freezer, added incrementally. I stirred the ice bath in one direction and occasionally opened the lid and stirred the wort gently in the other direction. I was surprised at how quickly it cooled based on what I've read. I prob will get a wort chiller, but need to get a couple of batches under my belt to justify to the Minister of Finances.

Put the lid on for cripes sake!!

I'm all about "Keep it simple" and "No stress on brewday". I do this for fun, not work. So I take my hot wort, put it in a cool water bath and forget about it for an hour or two. When I'm ready to get back to it, it's nice and room temperature. No work and no stress.

IFMracin said:

I say build one.

I built one yesterday, total cost: $20.01 (+ some tax)


This pic does not show the clear hose installed, but I think you can guess how that looks.

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That is a pretty nice freakin chiller!!!! Mind building me one?

I got tired of the ice bath method and my tiny sink was a pain to keep filling with ice and circulating.

Just used my immersion chiller for the first time and it saved me about an hour and a lot of aggravation.

If my ice bath worked in 20 minutes i would have stuck with it

bk0 said:

Put the lid on for cripes sake!!

I'm all about "Keep it simple" and "No stress on brewday". I do this for fun, not work. So I take my hot wort, put it in a cool water bath and forget about it for an hour or two. When I'm ready to get back to it, it's nice and room temperature. No work and no stress.

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Ever heard of DMS? For cripes sake?? LOL.

I've learned on this board that it can ruin your beer with nasty off flavor (cooked corn flavor). You infuse it into the wort when you leave the lid on while cooling your wort. Leaving the lid on, the condensate from the lid will drip back into the wort and quite possibly cause the DMS issue. So I'd rather risk possible contamination while cooling the wort with the lid off. I've also heard on here, the hot vapors drifting off of the cooling wort provide an adequate barrier to airborne pathogens for the short period of cooling.

I've also read that if you are so concerned about possible airborne contamination while cooling your wort with the lid off that once the wort gets down to <=90*F I believe, then it's ok to put the lid on if you want, no chance of DMS then.

>>Ever heard of DMS? For cripes sake?? LOL.

Once you take the pot off the heat and place it in water, the temperature drops quickly at first, to at least 180, so you wont have any more DMS forming. (or at least just a tiny amount)


>>Also read that if you are so concerned about possible air born contamination while cooling your wort with the lid off that once the wort gets down to <=90*F I believe, then it's ok to put the lid on if you want.

Microorganisms may thrive at a temperature of 80 or 90, but they are not killed at 120F.
Lots of yeast and bacteria can survive in 120 degree wort for 60 minutes. I can see putting the pot in the tub/sing with the lid off for a couple of minutes, while stirring, but I'd keep the lid on after that. You can easily get an air born infection in 120 degree wort that cools down to 90 in an hour. If you want, slosh the covered pot around every so often to distribute the heat, else the hot wort rises, perhaps above your water level.

You can easily get an air born infection in 120 degree wort that cools down to 90 in an hour." ArcLight

Which is why I get the wort down to ~100*F in <=20 minutes , then immediately transfer to the FV onto chilled water (only doing partial boils so far) then top up with ~room temp water and I'm at pitch temp.
And again, I'd rather risk possible airborne contamination while cooling the wort with the lid off than end up with DMS in my finished beer.