Cooling a starter wort

Does anyone have tips to cool a starter wort? I have a immersion chiller for my whole batch of wort, but its a pain to cool starter quickly in the sink.

Foil the top and fridge it

or

fill a pot with cold water and immerse it

that is what I do, at least.

I just cooled my Erlenmeyer flask in a pot of water like Truble. I add ice to mine to speed things up.

It's tough to beat a Pyrex Erlenmeyer flask that goes from the flame to water without busting.

Cooling my starter right now. Ice bath in the sink, put the small stock pot right into it. It only takes a few minutes.

I cooled mine with ice blocks I received from yeast shipping and water bath. Wow... boiling in an Erlenmyer = not a good idea. Had my first boilover and had to prop the stovetop up to cleanup. Then there is trying to get 7 ounces of DME down a 2 L Erlenmyer neck. I thought it was going to be so efficient, haha, looks are deceiving. But my yeasties are really multiplying.

Levers101 said:

boiling in an Erlenmyer = not a good idea. Had my first boilover and had to prop the stovetop up to cleanup. Then there is trying to get 7 ounces of DME down a 2 L Erlenmyer neck.

Click to expand...

I figured that out the first time. I add my 1/2 cup of DME to a clean dry 1 L flask, then add a pint of warm water. Swirl a few times and put on the stove. No problems with boil over though. Works great for me.


My problem is forgetting it. It will boil down to nothing pretty quick.

Levers101 said:

I cooled mine with ice blocks I received from yeast shipping and water bath. Wow... boiling in an Erlenmyer = not a good idea. Had my first boilover and had to prop the stovetop up to cleanup. Then there is trying to get 7 ounces of DME down a 2 L Erlenmyer neck. I thought it was going to be so efficient, haha, looks are deceiving. But my yeasties are really multiplying.

Click to expand...

Try heating the water and mixing the DME in a sauce pot, then pour that into the flask and boil in the flask to sanatize it. No messy pouring!

I cool mine in the fridge w/foil and my mashing thermometer probe with the lead sticking out onto the counter. No opening the fridge door till it's ready that way.

I knew before I did it that I should have dissolved the DME outside of the flask and poured it in. Well, if I do it again, I guess I'll be crazy. It seems like I always make a starter when I'm pressed for time and things like boilovers occur for me.

I've contemplated cooling it in the fridge, but I've been mega paranoid about contamination in my starters because of the possibility of magnification of any problems in my wort (which is probably backwards thinking). Maybe If I'm not running around like a madman next time I make a starter I'll do it that way and not worry.

Walker-san said:

Cooling my starter right now. Ice bath in the sink, put the small stock pot right into it. It only takes a few minutes.

Click to expand...

I just did exactly the same. Only took a little while, less than 10 minutes, to get the quart of wort down to 70 degrees.