Ice to cool wort

for my first batch we used ice to chill the wort, two bags of it really. I felt that we cooled to quickly and have since used an immersion chiller on every batch. I'm also not completely confident in store bought bags of ice being as clean as I'd like. But, a buddy of mine recently used some ice to cool his wort and thinks that this is the way to go. He used ice from his ice maker that goes through a filter. He asked me why everyone doesn't do this and I couldn't give hime a definitive answer.

So, I put it to the forum. Why does everyone go to such trouble to make/buy these elaborate cooling setups if dumping ice in your wort will work just fine?

I do it because I'm cheap. Or should I say...because I can't justify spending my discretionary dollars on a wort chiller. I like the beer I make, I enjoy it immensely. If it takes minimum equipment to do it, then I'll do it that way. (at least until I get the kids through college!) That's what makes this hobby so great. You can get as involved in it as you want, but usually the end result is quite satisfying.


loop


Edit...I also do partial boils, which allows me to do this. If doing full boils, obviously you would need another way to cool the wort. (like a wort chiller )

I put my carboy in a large tub of ice water. I put a large bag of ice in it during my boil and by the time I get finished the water is really cold. It cools my wort pretty fast. I would be afraid to put the ice directly in the wort.

I don't put anything into the wort unless it has been boiled/sanitized. Therefore, if I wanted to do ice, I would need to boil it before hand and then freeze it, necessitating a longer prep time. My wort cooler costs ~30 bucks, and cools nice and fast. I take the "waste" water from it and direct it into my other sink, and use that water to clean up, so no waste there. I have read a lot of articles of people using ice, and I can't say anything bad about it, other than that I would be boiling it first and then freezing it- I wouldn't put it in straight from the store or my freezer, even if it was filtered.

To each his own, and if your beer is coming out fine, then who cares what I am saying. That is one of the beauties of brewing- so many paths to the same destination!

ian said:

He used ice from his ice maker that goes through a filter. He asked me why everyone doesn't do this and I couldn't give hime a definitive answer.

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Store bought ice should be sanitary enough. Make sure that the bag doesn't have to many holes. The home made ice is not ok. Even though the water was filtered (which may not get rid of contaminants anyway), it is exposed to germs while it is freezing and lying around in the ice bin.

There have been quite a number of threads on this in the past where you may find more information.

Kai

Most homebrewers eventually graduate to doing full volume boils, so there's no room to add extra liquid at the end of the boil

Haven't youse guys ever worked in a restaurant? Ice machines themselves get infected by molds, they should be cleaned monthly. Ever had a moldy tasting soda from a convienence store? Even you home freezer has bad flavors floating around in it. At the least, put you ice into sterile plastic bags to prevent adding 'onion' flavors from the fridge to your beer....

i second what casebrew says, when i was in highschool i worked in burger king and we had mad roaches in our ice machine...and this was a clean burger king. i wouldnt put ice no where near my virgin wort...

I use my sink. I just fill it up with cold water (dont use ice) and put the brewpot in. mix the wort every so oftten (either sanitize spoon everytime or leave it in the pot). Shuffle the water around every so often as heat dissapates. Evenually... like 15 min drain the water and resplace with cold water again. With stiring this process allows you to pitch the wort to your primaary awaiting with cold water in like 20-25 minutes. I usually have two gal of cold water sitting in the primary waiting.

With a 2-3 gal wort size this process works for me well.

I use store bought bottled water to brew with. Half of the jugs are put into the freezer before I start brewing and the rest of what I don't need right away is put into the fridge. I immerse my boil pot in a tub with the frozen jugs and cool to 115°F then add the cold, melted water to the wort to finish chilling it to 70°F. Works great every time.

Wild

Also, making an immersion style chiller is probably cheaper than buying ice, etc. if you do more than a few brews. There have been several threads about it here and its all over the internet.

Ice makers are a lot more expensive than a wort chiller and one that puts out enough ice to cool a batch much more so. I've used ice, but not very often.

If you are doing all-grain, too much volume is a major problem. I don't want to add another hour to the boil, just so I can dilute the wort with ice and cool it "faster" & "cheaper".

I'm using my swimming pool to cool my wort. I just take the my brewpot outside and set in the in shallow end. Pool is about 50F now so it doesn't take very long.
I have to keep a hand on the pot, and make sure I keep the lid on.
I agreed with not spending $ on items I really don't need when still have kids in school.

Mike's Brew and Brat said:

I'm using my swimming pool to cool my wort.

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I've met several people that lager in the same manner during the winter. They keg their beer then sink them to the bottlom for a few months.

Wild

I too use store bought "Spring" water...I put 1 gallon in the frezzer until frozen...I put that into my primary and pour wort ( 2.5 gallon extract/grain) right onto it along with remaining "spring" water...chills down to about 80 degrees really fast....the only trick is getting the plastic bootle off the frozen water.....scissors do the job....

wild said:

I've met several people that lager in the same manner during the winter. They keg their beer then sink them to the bottlom for a few months.

Wild

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now thats cool best thing ive read today