Chilling Wort

Alright so it seems like the experienced folks recommend wort chillers. I currently chill by using about 8 lbs of ice and topping off with cold water. It takes like a minute to get below 80 deg F. I love this method. I would assume it's quicker and less of a pain than a wort chiller (never used one). However, I'm not an expert by any means, 12 batches under my belt. Obviously, you guys know more than me. Am I missing something?

Wort chillers are more necessary when you do full boils like a lot of us do which means you can't add cold top off water so you have to get 5,6 or 11 gallons of beer in the kettle down to 65-70F as quickly as possible. It could take hours to get that much wort chilled using an ice water bath.

That's pretty much it. For extract kits using partial boils with top off water there is no need for a wort chiller.

What I used to do when I was working with extract was to do a 2.5 gallon batch and poor it over a bag of ice. That way you know the ice is sanitized as well. If you make 5 gal batches it might be worth it to make one yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/results?sear....101.1618.26j1.27.0...0.0...1ac.1.IPDR9JCJpSQ

If you aren't into soldering they make compression fittings that work too. Hope this helps and happy brewing!

Jayhem, once I read your response I was like "duh" haha. Switching to all grain soon, looks like i'll be using a wort chiller.

Mac, thanks for the link! I always like saving money.

keatz85 said:

Jayhem, once I read your response I was like "duh" haha. Switching to all grain soon, looks like i'll be using a wort chiller.

Mac, thanks for the link! I always like saving money.

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Just FYI: Check your local craigslist classifieds...I found a wort chiller used in mint shape for $25!

Thanks guys!