Why cool wort?

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Yettiman

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Hi

Silly newbie question, but why do so many brewers cool the wort, as opposed to just letting it cool naturally?

It never takes more than a hour to cool, so what is the advantage to cooling it quickly?

Thank you

Thank you
 
Yettiman said:
Hi

Silly newbie question, but why do so many brewers cool the wort, as opposed to just letting it cool naturally?

It never takes more than a hour to cool, so what is the advantage to cooling it quickly?

Thank you

Thank you
Click to expand...

You can go from 212 to 64 in less than an hour, without active chilling? Wow! :eek:

Rick
 
When the wort is in that 120F to 160F range it is in the danger zone for getting infected because wild yeast and bacteria love that environment. You want to go through those temps as fast as possible to have a clean fermentation. Ideally, you should be down to pitching temp in 30 to 45 mins.
 
Hot, sugary wort is a paradise for Nasties. The sooner you can cool it, the sooner you can start fermenting.
 
Or look into no chill brewing. The most important thing is protecting it from infection while it cools.
 
I'll bite.

How are you naturally cooling your 5+ gallon batches in under an hour? I'm interested because if I can save water I'd love to.
 
Also (though admittedly a less important concern), you get cloudier beer if you take a long time cooling.
 
Yettiman said:
Hi

Silly newbie question, but why do so many brewers cool the wort, as opposed to just letting it cool naturally?

It never takes more than a hour to cool, so what is the advantage to cooling it quickly?

Thank you

Thank you
Click to expand...

Okay, you'll get better clarity and less chance of contamination. :tank:

What temp are you pitching yeast at?

Rick
 
MASSIVE, THANKS,

This is such a generous place,

I have only made a few batches and they were 'thin' and 'tinny', drinkable, but definitely tasted like the cheapest of the supermarket budget beers .

Maybe I allowed minor nasties to use up some of my sugars, by not cooling, or even killing some of the yeast by adding it too quickly.

Again huge thanks, I will be following your advice on the next batch.

I will post an update

Thank you
 
Also, I thought after reading the above posts, I thought I owed it to everyone, who kindly gave up their time to help, to explain a little more.

I did not heat all 5 gallons making the wort, rather I had pre heated and then stored hot (and allowed to cool in the fermentation bin) half of it, I did seal the lid, as this was just pre boiled water going into a cleaned and sanitized vessel, I thought this would be ok.

Next, I prepared the wort in two pressure cookers (my biggest pots) these were then sealed (lids on) and left to cool naturally outside. It is cold in the UK at this time of year.

Again, I thought as the pots were sealed it would be ok.

I wanted to share this with you as an explanation.

I have much to learn, and apparently need to do so quickly.

Thank you.

I will reread the forum, and try to avoid such beginner mistakes.

Thank you again.
 
So you boil and cool some water in your ferms, then top it off with your hot wort. That would cool under an hour easily. Ive topped off that way and cooled under 15 mins before.
 
Yettiman said:
Also, I thought after reading the above posts, I thought I owed it to everyone, who kindly gave up their time to help, to explain a little more.

I did not heat all 5 gallons making the wort, rather I had pre heated and then stored hot (and allowed to cool in the fermentation bin) half of it, I did seal the lid, as this was just pre boiled water going into a cleaned and sanitized vessel, I thought this would be ok.

Next, I prepared the wort in two pressure cookers (my biggest pots) these were then sealed (lids on) and left to cool naturally outside. It is cold in the UK at this time of year.

Again, I thought as the pots were sealed it would be ok.

I wanted to share this with you as an explanation.

I have much to learn, and apparently need to do so quickly.

Thank you.

I will reread the forum, and try to avoid such beginner mistakes.

Thank you again.
Click to expand...

Ick. Can only imagine the DMS in your beer, assuming you use grain.
 
Gear101 said:
So you boil and cool some water in your ferms, then top it off with your hot wort. That would cool under an hour easily. Ive topped off that way and cooled under 15 mins before.
Click to expand...

Under 15 min? To what temperature?

Rick
 
in addition to possible infections, while the wort is hot DMS is being produced and is unable to be driven off because it is no longer boiling. DMS will create off flavors in the finished beer, usually described as a canned corn taste. Cooling the wort quickly will reduce the amount of DMS that is produced.
 
I think there is also an issue of off tasting sulfated compounds like dimethylsulfide. During the boil it gases off but will stay in the wort at less than a boil. These compounds are very slow to form when the wort temp is below 140F.
 
F250 said:
Under 15 min? To what temperature?

Rick
Click to expand...

It was acouple years ago before I got a chiller , but half full boil the other half was in a snow drift the whole time I was brewing. So I took the wort outside to the snow.
 
I should have said, I am using a kit, not mash/grains.

Not sure if this makes any difference, in the DMS.

But I will definitely try to cool the wort quicker as per the above suggestions.

Thank you
 

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