First Brewing Attempt... How should I cool wort - already in fermenter

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Jewrican

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Hey everyone.

So this AM i did my first batch ever :ban: and it all went pretty well. I put 2 gallons of water in the carboy and then added the hot wort (recipe said to do add it to fermenter immedietely).

My question is how should I cool this. I left a top and everything off of it for about an hour earlier to allow it to cool and then it hit me... i might not want to do that. So i placed the blow off on it to try to keep air out of it.

How should I cool this?
Should i keep the top off?
Should I add ice?
Should I just pitch?

Thanks for your help :eek:
 
Ok, first, congrats on first brew. Now, having said that...don't pitch that yeast if it is above 80, which I'm sure it is. Go to your sink and add ice and water. Sit the carboy in it and swirl the wort. Put your airlock and stopper on the carboy to prevent anything from getting in.

Now, for the future. Four hours before brewing, put 2 gallons of Water into freezer. After the boils done, put kettle in a ice bath in the sink. Get it down to where you can touch the side. Add the icy water to carboy, then add the cooler wort. You should be close. Top off with more water, warm or cold depending what the temp is in the carboy.
 
Hey everyone.

So this AM i did my first batch ever :ban: and it all went pretty well. I put 2 gallons of water in the carboy and then added the hot wort (recipe said to do add it to fermenter immedietely).

My question is how should I cool this. I left a top and everything off of it for about an hour earlier to allow it to cool and then it hit me... i might not want to do that. So i placed the blow off on it to try to keep air out of it.

How should I cool this?
Should i keep the top off?
Should I add ice?
Should I just pitch?

Thanks for your help :eek:

Couple options:
I used to pour the wort over 8lbs of ice which averaged out to about ~80F. Then I added the rest of the water to bring it up to ~5 gallons. This always got me really close to 70F.

The other option is to get a wort chiller:
http://www.homebrewery.com/images/wort-chiller.jpg

These go directly into your pot. Run cool tap water through it for about 15 minutes to cool the wort. Copper runs about $70, I picked up a stainless steel for about $45.
 
+1 to Shertz. Try putting your pot with wort into the sink and cool that way. If you do this you can help form a cold break which will drop out any protines in the beer you don't want. Don't worry if you don't get a cold break, but try to get the wort under 80. Buy a bag of ice if you need to. Similar to the above, just adding some more insight. Welcome to the world of beer brewing. :mug:

Read How to Brew
 
well, i ran into a slight bind so i am hopeing that all will be well. I did not have very much ice so that did not do very well :(

I had no choice :( I had to pitch as we had to leave for Labor Day party plans.

How screwed am I? I am thinking it was at about 80 to 82 degrees :(
 
well, i ran into a slight bind so i am hopeing that all will be well. I did not have very much ice so that did not do very well :(

I had no choice :( I had to pitch as we had to leave for Labor Day party plans.

How screwed am I? I am thinking it was at about 80 to 82 degrees :(

You'll be fine, I've pitched my yeast warmer than that. The yeast may produce some fruity esters but age it if you don't like it and it should clear up.
 
80 to 82 should be fine, I think the Kill point is 100+. Hopefully you where able to leave it in a cool place so that It will come down some more during fermentation.
 
phew!

i am going to have to leave my AC on a little more. The temp on the fermentor is at least 78 degrees. :(

Where do you guys keep yours to ensure that they are cool? Unfortunately i do not have a basement so that is out ... if i only had $30,000 more when I built my house HA HA
 
I just put my third batch in a rubbermade bin full of water with two 1 gallon containers of ice. Change out the ice containers every day and I have a constant 68 degrees.
 

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