Cooling the Wort

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joeyuwp

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I have been submerging the brew pot in a ice water bath to cool after boiling but after reading some of Papazian's books he always seems to just dump the wort into the primary which has a couple gallons of cold water in it. Is this all right? It would cut some time out of the preparation. I thought the wort had to cool in the pot so things settle out.
 
Adding 2-3 gallons of just boiled wort to 3-2 gallons of cold water probably won't get the whole thing down to optimal yeast pitching temperature. Unless you cool it down some before mixing them together.
2 1/2 gallons of 200 degree water added to 2 1/2 gallons of 60 degree water should average out to over 100 degrees; not good yeast pitching temperature.
(BUYER BEWARE, this is a guess and I haven't actually measured the temps in such a case)
 
Rookie, your advice sounds good to me. I believe that the scenario that you describe would result in approximately 130 degree water. Yeast'd be more unhappy than you dropped into an Afghani desert. ;)
 
Rookie said:
Adding 2-3 gallons of just boiled wort to 3-2 gallons of cold water probably won't get the whole thing down to optimal yeast pitching temperature. Unless you cool it down some before mixing them together.
2 1/2 gallons of 200 degree water added to 2 1/2 gallons of 60 degree water should average out to over 100 degrees; not good yeast pitching temperature.
(BUYER BEWARE, this is a guess and I haven't actually measured the temps in such a case)

I didn't mean to add yeast right away. I meant instead of letting the pot cool in an ice bath, the wort cools in cold water in the primary. I just don't know how this affects the settlement of stuff and end result.
 
My practice, since 1993, has been to place 4 gals of water in a freezer for 3-5 hours prior to brewing.

The water I use is tap, but it is filtered through a PUR water filter (the kind that screws on to the faucet).

I boil 1.5 - 2 gals. I usually lose about 1/5 gal in the boil and when transferring between the primary and secondary.

I place a nylon net on the primary prior to pouring 2 gals of cold water in. then I pour in the wort. The net aerates the wort for me as well as catches the hops and Irish Moss, etc. Then I sparge the contents of the net with another gal of water or so. Afterwards, I squeeze the water out of the net and remove it to the sink, then top off to 5.5 gals.

I'll stir this for several minutes to mix it pretty well. I take a sample with a thief and place it (the sample) in the plastic tube to take my temp and hydrometer readings.

Usually my temp is in the 70s (within minutes) as soon as I bring the water level up to 5.5 gals. Then I'll pitch the yeast, place the lid on and an airlock and move to its happy fermenting place.... :D

The process is pretty simple and it works for me. :D

Now when I use grains the instructions change a bit, but everyone knows that.
 
The one batch I made using that method, I had to wait well over an hr for the temp to drop enough to pitch the yeast...

The other 4, I chilled the pot in the sink for 10-15 min before adding the wort to the rest of the water and was able to pitch immediately.

I'd rather wait 15 minutes than an hour to pitch.
 
Yeah I was just thinking of ways to avoid a trip to the store to get ice. In a month or so the Wisconsin winter will supply all the ice and cold temps I need :) It'll be real easy to just stick the pot in a snowbank.
 
Isn't it supposed to be dangerous to allow the wort to aerate while it's still warm? I heard from a buddy of mine who also brews that the oxygen bonds differently when it's warm and sometimes doesn't unbond until weeks or months later, oxidizing your beer. Maybe that's really not that big a concern though?
 
I usually put my brew pot in the sink with ice water. I do keep the brew pot lid on to prevent stuff getting in and over exposure to air. Then when the temp comes down to around 90f i put it in the primary with the water. At that time its usually cool enough. If you put it in the primary right away then try and continue to cool all 5 gal it will take much much longer.

Ive had such good luck doing it, im in no hurry to get a wort chiller.
 
I use chilled spring water and just dump the wort in once it is done boiling. I have a thermometer on the outside of the tank - once the temp drops to a reasonable number, in goes the yeast. On a warm day it can take a bit of time, but I have had no problems and never waited more than maybe a half hour.
 
rewster451 said:
Isn't it supposed to be dangerous to allow the wort to aerate while it's still warm? I heard from a buddy of mine who also brews that the oxygen bonds differently when it's warm and sometimes doesn't unbond until weeks or months later, oxidizing your beer. Maybe that's really not that big a concern though?


I've heard the same thing many times. If you aerate the wort or mash liquid before it is under 80 degrees F. then it can cause flavor stability problems.

I sometimes wonder whether or not all of these things are actually true... It would make it much easier if aeration wasn't such a big deal.
 
You could always invest in a wort chiller. I've seen them in action and they work quite nice, but I do the same thing as homebrewer 99. Those ice cold gallons in the freezer get the temperature of your wort down in a hurry.
 
Joeyuwp Good thread!

Homebrewer99 Thanks for the good idea to freeze water,
{nothing colder than ice}
and my 33 pound pale syrup container would hold just about 4 gallons of water.
And the net... I have a net back in the brewery,
but it has evidentally fallen into disuse. I forgot what it was for!
The less trub the better, suits me.

When I'm going to do some brewing:

I boil all my water first, plenty!
4 gallons or so.
Let it cool in the sink, changeing the water till...
Its cool enough so that I can sit it on the floor,
under the table.

And never remove the lids...
till I am ready to pour the water into the primary.

I do this during the day,
so that when the sun goes down,
and I am ready to brew me some ale,
all I have to do,
is listen to Johnny Prytko and sip on the suds...
Boiling one thing... the wort...
and after cooling it the same way,
pour the 'stuff ' up,
pitch my yeast,
and whip out the accordian!


And hey ! gibfried!

What happened to your picture?

And where do you get your hair cut anyway?



J. Knife
 
I bought a plastic tub from Wal-Mart, I drilled several drain holes around the side of the tub at the level of the wort in my brew pot, keeps the water at the level of the worts so the brew pot doesn't float. I then put a garden hose in the plastic tub and turn the water on about half way just enough to get good circulation around the brew pot, cooled my IPA wort in 15 minutes yesterday.

This is an outside method only :D when winter gets here I'll just use a snow bank.
 
On this subject, do you guys cover your wort with a lid while cooling. I immerse my pot in ice water and the guy at the brew shop told me to put the lid on to stop bacteria from getting in. I'm all about that, but it seemed to take a lot longer to cool.
 
I like to gently swirl the brewpot around in the ice bath to speed cooling...I keep the lid on when I'm doing this to keep any ice water from splashing in.
 
Yep Lid stays tightly in place while I chill it, only time it comes off is to check the wort temp and then I just slide it off enough to get the probe in.
 
Waldo said:
I bought a plastic tub from Wal-Mart, I drilled several drain holes around the side of the tub at the level of the wort in my brew pot, keeps the water at the level of the worts so the brew pot doesn't float. I then put a garden hose in the plastic tub and turn the water on about half way just enough to get good circulation around the brew pot, cooled my IPA wort in 15 minutes yesterday.

This is an outside method only :D when winter gets here I'll just use a snow bank.


Living in minnesota, and i never thought of the snowbank!!!! thanks :D
 
Could this be archived, and maybe we could start putting together an FAQ, and link to this article? I found it to be very helpful, and I plan on using one (or maybe combining 2) of the techniques in here when I start my next batch Sunday or Monday.

Thanks guys!
 
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