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WISAZ13

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I made a batch and I think I screwed it up so I want to make sure I have some of the basics covered here first.

After the boil I know I have to reduce the temperature of the wort (to less than 80 degrees is what my video says) as quickly as possible. If I boiled 3 gallons, is it acceptable to use approximately 12 pounds of ice to quickly lower the temperature while simultaneously adding the additional 2 gallons of water?

Also, after adding the yeast, to aerate the beer is it good practice to just dump it in between two sanitized buckets a few times? Or is stirring for a while just fine?

Thanks in advance!
 
I wouldn't use ice in the wort unless it's ice that you made yourself from sterile (boiled) water and kept sanitized in the freezer. What I do is use an ice bath in my sink or bathtub. Just place the kettle into the sink, surround with ice and you're good. You may have to replace the ice or add cold water to get it all the way cool.
To aerate, you can use the 'pour back and forth' method. I'd do that until you get a good head of foam on the wort, pitch yeast and seal the fermenter up.
 
NordeastBrewer77 said:
I wouldn't use ice in the wort unless it's ice that you made yourself from sterile (boiled) water and kept sanitized in the freezer. What I do is use an ice bath in my sink or bathtub. Just place the kettle into the sink, surround with ice and you're good. You may have to replace the ice or add cold water to get it all the way cool.
To aerate, you can use the 'pour back and forth' method. I'd do that until you get a good head of foam on the wort, pitch yeast and seal the fermenter up.
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No need for sterile water in the freezer the temperature is enough to eliminate any bacteria.
 
I think I would just sanitize some tupperware, fill two gallons of purified water among them and drop blocks of that in there...
 
mikemet said:
i wouldnt throw ice in my wort- no matter what- thats my pay dirt. I dont care how sterile the ice may or may not be.
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Very much agreed. I didn't like the idea of top up water very much either when I was still doing partial boils. I only used bottled water for top up then. There's too many risks involved in the ice thing, and unless you can make ice from sterile water, in a sanitized and sealed environment, I'd never suggest adding it to wort post boil.
 
The most common bacteria that infects beer will live through the freezing process (in fact most bacteria samples for long term storage are stored frozen). Freezing does not kill most bacteria anyway, including yeast. Freezing places bacteria in suspend mode and they wake and thrive once thawed. So if you intend to add ice directly to your boiled wort you must use sanitized water (boiled) frozen in a sanitized container and kept closed and sanitized until you put in your wort.
 
Ice doesn't kill bacteria. It just drives it dormant. It could easily come back to life if you dump infected ice in your beer. If this is the plan, I would just boil a couple gallons and freeze it. Then, you can add it. There is nothing wrong with that. I actually froze a couple gallons for Isaac. It takes about a day or two to get it completely frozen.
 
BrewerinBR said:
The most common bacteria that infects beer will live through the freezing process (in fact most bacteria samples for long term storage are stored frozen). Freezing does not kill most bacteria anyway, including yeast. Freezing places bacteria in suspend mode and they wake and thrive once thawed. So if you intend to add ice directly to your boiled wort you must use sanitized water (boiled) frozen in a sanitized container and kept closed and sanitized until you put in your wort.
Click to expand...

Newgene said:
Ice doesn't kill bacteria. It just drives it dormant. It could easily come back to life if you dump infected ice in your beer. If this is the plan, I would just boil a couple gallons and freeze it. Then, you can add it. There is nothing wrong with that. I actually froze a couple gallons for Isaac. It takes about a day or two to get it completely frozen.
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I figured that this was common knowledge amongst brewers, seeing as we deal with microbial life regularly in our hobby. :D
 
I didn't like the idea of top up water very much either when I was still doing partial boils. I only used bottled water for top up then.
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For what it's worth, bottled water producers have more lenient requirements than municipal water suppliers when it comes to cleanliness. Unless you're getting your H2O from a well, you're likely to have cleaner water coming out of your tap. NOTE: I am in no way stating that bottled water isn't clean. It is. It's just that people automatically assume it's better than tap, which is generally not the case. ALSO NOTE: bottled water is better, of course, if your supply has a lot of chlorine or chloramine and you don't like using campden tabs.
 
Also, just to be clear...I agree with the guys and gals above, don't add plain ice. Tap water might be clean but your freezer is not.
 
WISAZ13 said:
I made a batch and I think I screwed it up so I want to make sure I have some of the basics covered here first.

After the boil I know I have to reduce the temperature of the wort (to less than 80 degrees is what my video says) as quickly as possible. If I boiled 3 gallons, is it acceptable to use approximately 12 pounds of ice to quickly lower the temperature while simultaneously adding the additional 2 gallons of water?

Also, after adding the yeast, to aerate the beer is it good practice to just dump it in between two sanitized buckets a few times? Or is stirring for a while just fine?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

You'll want about 16-17 lbs of ice, not 12 if you want your full 2 gallons. Make sure your final volume is correct though, starting off the boil with 3 gallons will yield less than 3 at the end of the boil. I think sanitation of the water\ice has been covered.

Pouring between 2 buckets would be faster, using a sanitized whisk would work. Stirring will work too, but I'd stir violently for a while.
 
Wow...another way my LHBS steered me wrong for my first batch. They told me to buy two bags of ice. Put the first into the bucket, pour the wort over that and use part of the second bag to bring it up to give gallons. Hopefully this will turn out ok.
 
My $.02
Before I had a chiller, I would soak kettle in cold tap water until temp got down low enough (or as low as I could get it), and transfer to fermenter making as much splash as I could. I ALWAYS boil my top off water.
Relax, don't worry, have a homebrew (I love that quote)
 
It probably will turn out fine, I wouldn't call that absolutely horrible advice, just not the greatest. Most likely the ice is OK, anything in there will most likely be killed off by the yeast/acidic environment. Next time, make your own sanitized ice.
 
My plan was to use a FoodSaver vacuum sealer. I was going to sterilize a bag, pour a gallon of water into it, then heat seal it closed and freeze. I should have a gallon block of sterilized ice when I cut the bag off of it.

I would love to use a wort chiller but our water in AZ here comes out of the tap at about 95 degrees this time of the year!
 
They told me to buy two bags of ice. Put the first into the bucket, pour the wort over that and use part of the second bag to bring it up to give gallons. Hopefully this will turn out ok.
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Meh, it's probably fine. Beer is tough, it will usually muscle through. The whole point is minimizing risk. The ice might be okay or it might not be, but it's your decision as a homebrewer to decide whether or not you want to chance it.

You could have 10 good batches in a row with bagged ice, then one may come out infected. That's when you decide whether or not it's worth the risk. It's the same with every shortcut. There are brewers around here who boil every bottle before filling it. Do I do that? Hell no. To me, it's worth the risk to simply hit each bottle with starsan or idophor.
 
Mtate, I'm assuming I know where your LHBS is (as there's only one). They're a pretty good outfit, I wouldn't knock any of their advice too bad - and no, I'm not affiliated with them.
 
StoneHands said:
Mtate, I'm assuming I know where your LHBS is (as there's only one). They're a pretty good outfit, I wouldn't knock any of their advice too bad - and no, I'm not affiliated with them.
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My intent isn't to knock them. I'm just surprised at the difference in some of what they recommend compared to what seems to be common practice from those that have responded to my posts. The employee working was the only one in the store and was busting it trying to assist everyone coming in. I'm glad that we actually have a store.

You weren't in there Saturday were you? The customer before me was buying for a couple of Stone alternatives. Your name made me curious.
 
Wasn't me, I've mail ordered my stuff lately due to laziness on my part. I need to go back soon. My name is a knock on my catching ability. You have one bad game in high school 15 years ago...
 
BrewerinBR said:
The most common bacteria that infects beer will live through the freezing process (in fact most bacteria samples for long term storage are stored frozen). Freezing does not kill most bacteria anyway, including yeast. Freezing places bacteria in suspend mode and they wake and thrive once thawed. So if you intend to add ice directly to your boiled wort you must use sanitized water (boiled) frozen in a sanitized container and kept closed and sanitized until you put in your wort.
Click to expand...


thats not even the point! How about what just goes around the freezer environment? My kids hands are in there... my wife ... another story. I have a nice gigantic filtered water- ice system- and even still... not worth it. You're better off waiting an extra 20 minutes and cooling it down the old fashion -(time) way.
 

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