Forget the sink, forget the bathtub.... try a trash can!!

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Tankard

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So I finally figured out the best place to put my brewpot after the hour long boil is over.... in my trash can full of ice+water. Like many, my sink was not built with the homebrewer in mind. The last time I brewed, I was able to get the ice level about 3/4 of the way up the side of my brewpot. The result was the wort was too hot when I pitched it. Luckily I didn't have any negative effects.

This time it was much, much better. I took my trash can, put in a new bag, added a bag of ice, set my brewpot on top of the ice, and then filled up the trash can with water (making sure I did not pour water on top of the brewpot). The ice and water level started to rise, and the brewpot actually floated. The whole brewpot was submerged in the ice water and it helped cool the wort down a lot faster.

Sorry if this is old news to many of you, but maybe it'll help someone out. Who knows. :mug:
 
Might want to buy a new can for this, because I GUARANTEE that a trash can is going to be harboring a TON of bacteria. Don't think that the bag is going to keep away all of the microscopic bacteria that are living all over the can.
 
I use a double sink and have cold water running into one side, keeping it full up the side of the pot and run a siphon into the drain in the other sink with vinyl tube. It works really well as long as you keep the siphon tube sucking off the water as close to the surface as you can to use convection to your advantage.

Next investment might be a chiller though.
 
I use one of those rope handled plastic tubs they sell at wal-mart for about $10. I can get the ice bath right up to the top of my brewpot.
 
ilikestuff said:
Might want to buy a new can for this, because I GUARANTEE that a trash can is going to be harboring a TON of bacteria. Don't think that the bag is going to keep away all of the microscopic bacteria that are living all over the can.

The brewpot had the lid on and it was pretty much sealed shut. It never touched the sides of the can at all, so I think it'll be alright. I guess time will tell though.
 
I'm using doubled up garbage cans for lagering, but these are NEW cans, never had garbage in them. I also put a few drops of bleach in the water just to keep it from getting funky since it'll be in there for most of a month.
 
Bernie Brewer said:
Dude, just get a chiller. You're working too hard.


I 2nd that. For 50-60 bucks you can buy a immersion chiller. It makes cooling sooo easy. I just pop the sucker in with 15 minutes left to boil. When the boil is done, connect the garden hose. Turn it on, and that's it.

I'm a newbie brewer (6 batches under my belt) and I really need to keep it simple. This helped eliminate one headache.
 
Ok, I'm still very new at making beer. But I put 15 pounds of ice in my primary then pour the batch in and then pitch the yeast. Any then wrong with the ice method?
 
You risk sanitation by pouring hot wort onto bagged ice. Now if you filtered and sterilized your water.... put it into sealed, sanitized containers.... and froze.... that would be ok.

I recommend an immersion chiller.
 
no, its just bagged ice from the corner store. also I use bottled water fromt the store. what do you use?
 
rbone said:
no, its just bagged ice from the corner store. also I use bottled water fromt the store. what do you use?

Filtered water, full boil batch... with an immersion chiller.
 


I run cold water through the wort chiller, then place 1/2 bag of ice in the sink. When the ice melts, you can just use the sink sprayer to keep the water circulating from the right side of the sink into the left side so that the heat does not build up in the side that has the wort chiller. This only takes about 10-12 minutes.
 
Your trashcan method will work fine. The bacteria can't eat through the plastic bag fast enough to get into your covered goods.

Just use what ya got!

Probably will be cheaper and easier in the long run to use a chiller though.

Best,

The brewpot had the lid on and it was pretty much sealed shut. It never touched the sides of the can at all, so I think it'll be alright. I guess time will tell though.
 
Someone with some math ability should compare the cooling ability of a wort chiller with tap water to the chilling of a pot immersed in ice water. Compare the surface area of the wort chiller to the area of the outside of the pot up to the level of the wort and then factor in the temperature of the water going through the wort chiller as compared to the ice water in the trash can/other container. I suspect that it would be an eye opener for some.
 
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