Conical Fermentor Chilling

Hey guys,
Thanks to everybody for all their help so far. I got another question for you all, I recently purchased a minibrew 8 gallon conical fermentor, one of the plastic types. My question is after the brewing is completed and the wort is to be transferred to the fermentor almost always it is chilled first, but could a person simply poor the hot wort into the conical and put the lid on and let it cool down on its own? Or would this greatly raise the risk of bacterial contam? I know the stated melt point of the plastic material of the conical is 250F so I dont see a problem there but I just dont know if the bateria problem will cause trouble. Any advice? Thanks.

Jason

You don't want to aerate the wort while it's hot. Nor do you want to allow the wort to cool on it's own time. Get a wort chiller of some sort and cool the wort before transferring to your (very cool) conical fermenter.

Bacteria will definitely be a problem. Bacteria double every 20 minutes and they grow best in the 120-80 degree range. Since the rate at which the wort cools decreases in that range, whether you are using a chiller or just letting it cool, there will be contamination. The 4-5 hours your wort will spend in this range if you just let it cool off guarantees a bad batch. The faster you can force the temperature down the better.

And ditto on the hot side effects of transfering the hot wort.

I also purchased a 8gal MiniBrew conical fermenter (not arrived yet)

I was thinking of doing this:

1. Put my immersion chiller into the brewpot for the last 15 mins to sanitize it (as usual)

2. Pour the boiling wort into the conical fermenter (boiling wort would help to sanitize the fermenter)

3. Dunk the wort chiller into the fermenter and cool it quicly in there.

Only issues:

Not sure if the opening is large enough to fit the chiller coil in the fermenter (never seen the lid/top of a 8 gal MiniBrew).

The cold break will settle into fermenter, rather than the brewpot.

I would still sanitize the interior of the fermenter with a no-rinse sanitizer (especially the top, lid, and valves where the boiling wort won't come in contact with). Was just thinking the boiling wort would help ensure sanitary conditions in the fermenter.

Hot side aeration makes the beer go stale easier.

good call orfy/EP. pouring it would cause hot side aeration. just chill as uaual, then transfer to conical.

I agree. Main risk I think is oxidation. Also, The more activity you have around the vessel that you are using for fermenting, the better chance you have of stirring up some unwanted beasties. I santized my primary right before I am ready to add the wort, and then seal it up so that nothing gets in before I am ready to add the wort. My chiller is boiled with the wort as usual, so there is nothing that hits the fermenter that wasn't sanitized or boiled, and the fermenter is only open long enough to pour the wort in and pitch the yeast.