Cold break

When cooling the wort, i usually place the brew in icey cold water until i reach the correct temperature, then add it to the primary that has the other 2.5 or three gallons of water.

My question is, if i cool the water in the primary ahead of time and then dump the wort in, would that be okay?

yep, that's cool. lots of people do that. you'll still need to cool the wort a bit before you mix, so you don't crack your carboy, and because you can't get your top off water cold enough to cool almost boiling wort to pitching temps. but, if you whirlpool and let it sit for a few minutes while you set up your racking cane and sanitize your car boy it should cool down to 150 or so. if you're gonna try it do a little math ahead of time so you'll know what to expect:

wV(wT) + aV(aT) / (wV+aV)

w=wort
a=top off water
V=volume
T=temperature

example:

2.25 gallons of wort @ 150F added to 2.75 gallons of water @ 40F

2.25(150) + 2.75(40) / 2.25+2.75

337.5 + 90 / 5

427.5 / 5 = 85.5F

you *could* pitch at 85F, as long as you continued to cool, but i wouldn't recommend it. but now maybe you could just use a cold water bath in the sink instead of the ice, and cool your primary in the fridge (40F).

sorry for being so long winded, hope i make sense.

i use a plastic bucket for a primary and a carboy for secondary. Does this make a difference in the order they are used?

Is their any disadvantages to mixing the wort and cold water early. Will it create and off flavor?

Thanks

no, you can use them in any order you like. i do know that most people with your setup tend to do it like you do, using the glass for 2ndary. because you're using plastic for primary you could mix as early as you like with boiling wort, but using the formula you'll see that you'll still have a lot of cooling to do. there's no off flavors to worry about from mixing hot wort and cold water.

I am going to try that next time. Thanks for all of the info, very helpful.

Another concern about adding the wort to the water is that you may know exactly how much water you want to add when you put it in the fermenter. Save out a half gallon or gallon to add after your wort is in the fermenter. Go ahead and chill that saved water, if you like.

Also, you need to worry about hot side oxidation if you add hot wort to the fermenter. Many people do say it's just the boogeyman, but I don't care to be the one that shows them they are wrong.


TL

Still kind of new to brewing. Is hot side oxidation the same as hot side aeriation?

Would i still be at risk of the above condition the water was poored into the brew kettle instead, or maybe even syphoned in?

As far as adding to little or too much water, i am still doing extract brewing. Should i be a little questionable of these kits when they say how much water to add at the end. I usually follow their recomendations and one way or another i use a total five gallons of water.

Thanks,

Alex

Yes, hot side oxidation is the same as hot side aeration. I don't see how pouring the water into the brew kettle would change your chances of oxidizing - in fact, I usually do it the other way around, because I figure that the wort cools so much going into the fermenter that the oxidation is less bad. But that may be faulty logic.

Here's my own anecdotal experience with hot side aeration. I would sparge my first runnings, and set it to boil, then dump my second runnings of hot wort directly into the boil, and I've never had a problem with oxidation.