Is this a good idea...recomended?

I read this on another forum and would like some input on as to if anyone has tried this before.I am quoting..

"The LONG part comes in waiting for your brew to cool down - but there's a way around that. Many recipies call for boiling 5.5 gallons of water, and assume you'll lose half a gallon to evaporation during a good hour long boil. Instead, you should just boil 3.5 gallons of water for an hour long boil, and buy yourself 2 8lb bags of ice. 8 pounds of ice = 1 gallon of VERY COLD water. Once you are done brewing the (at the end) 3 gallons of "wert" or unfermented beer, just drop your ice into your fermentor, pour your wert in, and by the time the ice is melted your temperature should be close to 120 degrees Farenhite. Pop the lid on, wait half an hour with your fermenter in a cool place (if you've an extra fridge, that's perfect), and you should be close to 70-75 degrees. That's a good time to add the yeast. "
First time poster....
Thanks for your in put
Mo

While I'm sure it works for some, I believe it should only be used as a temporary stop-gap solution, and not in regular practice.

1. Full boils (boiling all 5 gallons) will change the color of your beer, and increase hop utilizations. Doing partial boils (3.5 gal) will tend to darken the beer, and you have a greater change of scorching the extract because you have less liquid to diffuse it into. Many people start with partial boils and move up into full boils as they grow into the hobby.

2. There are other methods to quicker cooling, including putting your bucket into an icewater bath (instead of putting the ice into the bucket) and letting it cool that way. When I started extract brewing, I would do partial boils, then pour up to 5 gal with cold water to cool it a little, then put it in an icebath.

3. I can't vouch for the cleanliness of ice, but if you can put it in your glass of water, it can't be all bad. I, however, wouldn't trust it. If it was your ice with your water, maybe...but it aint easy making 8# of home ice.

4. Eventually, you may want to get out of extract and into all grain brewing. No such thing as a partial boil there, so you might as well get into the practice, and pick up the equipment to prepare for it. This is where a wort chiller comes in real handy. It's extra cost, so you may not want it now, but the more you get into the hobby, the more it will become a great tool.

Jezter
Thanks..good advise..I needed to hear that.
MO

I know people do add ice, the preferred method seems to be to filter water, add it to plastic containers, and freeze it in the freezer (rather than buying bags of ice). But yeah, if you otherwise CAN do a full boil (you have a sufficiently powerful stove, or use a propane burner), it'll generally result in a better end product. If you CAN do a full boil but just have problems with the cooling, make the investment in an immersion chiller, you'll make better beer.

You know, we've all heard that a full boil will result in a better brew. But how exactly does that work? I know about the hop utilization from partial to full boils, all that means is that you have to add more hops for a partial boil. Full boils give lighter colors, but other than those two things, what exactly is the difference???