Next question Ice Vs. Wort chiller

Well, it seems like the most relevant issue is that a copper chiller allows you to do full volume boils and ice does not. If you're planning to do partial boils anyway, though, I don't see why anyone would feel extremely strongly about one over the other, aside from the obvious ups and downs of each method.

For me, I have always loved the wort chiller. I have owned 2 of them so far. As Malfet said, the benefit to a wort chiller is the ability to cool down full boils. You can't do that when adding ice to a batch and expect the final volume to be the same. Also, if you compare the speed of cooling with ice to the speed of cooling with a wort chiller, a wort chiller will win hands down. My wort chiller can cool a 6 gallon batch to 100 degrees in about 3 minutes, and in another 6 minutes it's down to 70 degrees. I also don't need to stir the wort to get it fully mixed before taking a gravity reading, like you would with ice.

Wort chiller a good idea:? Yes... Nuff said

I never used ice IN my wort. The ice bath worked good for my extract kits with top up. The copper tubing immersion chiller works much better in 5 gallon full boil batches. I made two 20' coils and connect them with vinyl tubing. One goes in the wort and the other goes in a bucket of ice water. It works very nicely. Total was less than $50.

Wort chiller is worth it especially if you live in the north where the ground water is cool. down here in FL it takes my wort chiller about 10 minutes to get down to 100 and another 10-15 to get down to 80, but that's still better than the ice batch, which would take 40-50 mins at least with a full boil and 2 20 lb bags of ice.

Ice in the wort would be less of a risk if you sanitized your ice trays in between uses and used a distilled or RO water.

Wort chiller definitely. I just got a Therminator and a pump and am wondering why I waited so long to get this. Life is much easier with these toys... And I never will buy ice again (except maybe dead in the middle of summer).

Using a chiller I had tons of off flavors. Quit using it a few years back and problem solved.

And yes I would put it in the wort for the last 15 min of the boil. Scrub the hell out of it after and soak in starsan.

I've read a lot of these threads and I'm definitely going to invest in one. Honestly, I was trying to avoid purchasing "more" equipment but I think this makes a lot of sense.

If you're gonna kiss her, you might as well..... nevermind.

naptown said:

if you're gonna kiss her, you might as well..... Nevermind.

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lmao....................

I can't believe this is even a question....Get a wort chiller. It's that simple. You want a quick cool down to get a good cold break, and to be able to get it into a fermenter and yeasted as soon as possible, to protect it from infection. And s chill bath just doesn't cut it.

A chiller was my first major purpose after icing for 3-4 batches. it's just not worth it.

A 50 dollar wort chiller and a dollar garden hose adapter to run it in your sink, really IS the best way to get your batches cool quickly.

Doing that raised the quality of my beers 100% not just in terms of a beautiful cold break which resulted in clearer, crisper tasting beer, but also helped shave a considerable amount of time off my brew day.

On a stove top batch, rather than it taking 30 minutes to an hour going through water bath changes and lots of ice (which I also usually had to run out to get which was an added burden on brew day to have enough ice,) it was cool in 15 minutes, AND the hot water coming out from the heat exchange was already being used to rinse and clean things.

With a wort chiller not only was the wort cooled faster but I was already ahead in cleanup.

Honestly I can't see ANY reason why you're resistant to using it, EVEN for stove top batches.

It's just too convenient not to want to make the next step to it.

Oh some of your logic/fear about wort chillers is just that fear.

You can't get a "bug"from your wort chiller if you use it properly. If you add it at the last 15 minutes of the boil it is steralized, so it CAN'T give you a bug. And unless you leave it outside in the winter and it freeze and cracks, you won't get a leak. If you buy it brand new and it has screw connectors for the hoses, just make sure you tighten them BEFORE you use it...testing it..

I can think of a half dozen reasons why using ice could be a BIGGER risk of infection that a chiller.

It's hard to ruin something when a stovetop batch can be at pitching temperature and in a fermenter with yeast 15-20 minutes after flame out or 45 minutes for a 5 gallon batch.

You can't get a "bug"from your wort chiller if you use it properly. If you add it at the last 15 minutes of the boil it is steralized, so it CAN'T give you a bug.

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That is what I was going to say. Just put it in the pot before the boil is done.


I did one batch dinking around with ice and that was enough. I bring wort down to pitching temps in 15 min. In the southern states you may need to still use ice with a pump and recirculate water.

I have never put ice IN my wort but used to use a ice bath, I made large blocks of ice the night before and used a 18 gallon tub with the ice and water in it. I could cool a 4 gallon batch in 12 to 15 minutes, I now have a 25' copper chiller and it takes about the same time to hit pitching temps but it's much easier and I can brew on a whim and not have to worry about making/buying ice at the last minute.

For me it's about one less thing to worry about on brew day.