Immersion Chiller and Risk of Contamination....Due to Open Pot???

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ScrewBrew

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Up until now I've done my extract boils indoors with an electric stove....TAKES FOREVER!!!! I've always left the cover on slightly, but loose, to decrease the time to boil. I now know about DMS and won't be doing that anymore.

But I always left the lid on to prevent contamination while the wort cools down in an ice bath. It seems DMS is still a possibility until the wort reaches a certain temp so ideally I'd leave the cover off for the hour or so it takes to cool. That makes me worry about bugs getting in my wort.

I just bought an immersion chiller that should bring my cool down times to 30-45 minutes. I still worry about baddies getting in my wort.

Am I worrying for no good reason? How to you protect your wort while it cools down?
 
You will more than likely be fine. As long as you practiced good sanitation techniques during your brewing process, keep the lid on as much as possible to reduce exposure, and pitch healthy yeast, your chances of exposure are minimal.
 
I'm more worried about specs of dust from my 115yr old house or a family member walking by and inadvertently getting some microscopic thing in the wort while its cooling. 30-45 minutes is a long time for something to fall into an open kettle.

I'm a sanitation nut....and I feel the cooling period with an open brew pot is the only time I don't have control over sanitation. Am I just being more paranoid than usual?
 
My lid is notched. You could do the same with a dremel tool.

LYuXJ.jpg
 
rayfound said:
My lid is notched. You could do the same with a dremel tool.
Click to expand...

I just found my solution. Thank you! BTW...I need to get my a nice brew kettle like that. I imagine having a spigot is 1000 times easier than dicking with a beer thief.

Quick newbie question....how do you prevent the sludge at the bottom of the wort from getting into the carboy when racking right out of the spigot?
 
Make sure you place the immersion chiller in for the last 10 minutes of the boil to sanitize it.
My immersion chiller takes a little while to cool and I never put a lid on and have yet to have a problem.
 
I place a large grease splatter guard over the pot while it is chilling. Works great. Keeps everything out and still allows airflow to help cool it down.
 
I put my lid partially on while chilling. The chiller only takes up a little bit of the edge of the pot. Have never had a problem. The wort only takes about 20 mins to chill with the wort chiller.
2013-01-01_14-54-09_46_zps426433d6.jpg
 
With 15 min left in the boil I drop in the chiller to sanitize. At flame out I cover the pot with a piece of foul. It's easy to mold it around the chiller.
 
+1 on modifying a lid so it fits on with the chiller. I've had gnats & flys trying to drink my brew while it cooled. I was brewing outside in the spring time. I had to hold them by the wings and shake them upside down to get them to spit the wort back into the kettle.:cross:
Cold wort full of gnats/flys/mosquitos is not a good start becoming a good brew.
Now I've switched to a CF chiller that feeds off the bottom port of the BK, so I can keep a lid on it, & it only takes 6 min. to cool it :)
Regards,
 
ScrewBrew said:
Quick newbie question....how do you prevent the sludge at the bottom of the wort from getting into the carboy when racking right out of the spigot?
Click to expand...

When you modify the kettle (or purchase a modified kettle), you have flexibility and can mount a 90 degree elbow on the inside of the bulkhead.

I wish I could show a picture, but if you take a peek at any or all of the videos and pictorials/stickies that are under the ALL GRAIN subheading, I am sure that you will find.

The open end of the elbow sits about 1/8" off the bottom of the pot and sits about 1 to 2 inches in from the edge.
Whirlpool your wort, let it sit for a bit and then drain. You will end up with a large pile of trub in the bottom CENTER of the pot and since you were draining from the edge of the pot, there is minimal amount that comes with.
 
Yes, I believe you are being overly paranoid. :) You only need to sanitize components that come in contact with wort post-boil; placing a clean immersion chiller in the wort for the last 10-15 minutes of boil results in a sanitized chiller (no need to waste the star-san). Chilling reasonably quickly, transferring the wort in a sanitary manner to a clean & sanitized fermentation vessel, and then pitching robust healthy yeast will result in good beer. A healthy yeast fermentation goes a long way in out-competing any minor contaminants...

We have been brewing in an open shop for the last 8-9 months, with open boil kettles, dogs, kids, etc... and have yet to have a problem. I use good, logical cleaning & sanitizing practices religiously.

We also use a pre-chiller immersed in an ice water bath that then goes to the wort chiller; between that and steady stirring during cooling we've gotten our 5-6 gallons of wort from boiling to 70 degrees in less than 15 minutes routinely. Stirring greatly speeds up the process - and I can't do that w/ a lid on. In my opinion, anything to speed the cooling rate outweighs any potential benefit of covering the pot...
 
Since we're talking about immersion coils here I've got a question. I actually received two ICs for Christmas and one is just tall enough for the hose connections to stick out over the edge of my pot, so the fit is great. Cooling takes about 15 minutes and I love it.

BUT, when I stick it in the pot with about 10 minutes to go it totally kills my boil. What do y'all do to combat this? For my last brew on Monday I tried gradually lowering it into the pot a little bit at a time but it didn't seem to make much difference.
 
You could try preheating it with the hottest water your sink can provide, or to greater effect you could boil it in another pot.

Likely if you repeat what you did last time (slowly lower it in) and put a thermometer in the brew, you will see that you aren't losing a whole lot of heat. It stops boiling and it will take a minute to get back up to boiling, but I would bet you are still in the 204-208*f range. I doubt that it is critical, but others may know more than me.
 
You're going to be inoculating your wort with a large amount of yeast (at least in comparison to what is floating around in your ambient air) once cooling done. Assuming your pitching a healthy, active, and large volume you have very little to worry about. The yeast are going to reproduce rapidly, produce alcohol, and inhibit the growth of other microbes that could potentially impact the flavor and quality of your beer. People brewed for thousands of years before processes like sanitation were known about let alone invented. I would be much more concerned about leaving your lid on the pot while boiling than dust in your kitchen.
 
ScrewBrew said:
I'm more worried about specs of dust from my 115yr old house or a family member walking by and inadvertently getting some microscopic thing in the wort while its cooling. 30-45 minutes is a long time for something to fall into an open kettle.

I'm a sanitation nut....and I feel the cooling period with an open brew pot is the only time I don't have control over sanitation. Am I just being more paranoid than usual?
Click to expand...

Your way over thinking it, someone could probably spit in your chilled wort and theres a good chance you would be fine.
 
Darwin18 said:
You're going to be inoculating your wort with a large amount of yeast (at least in comparison to what is floating around in your ambient air) once cooling done. Assuming your pitching a healthy, active, and large volume you have very little to worry about. The yeast are going to reproduce rapidly, produce alcohol, and inhibit the growth of other microbes that could potentially impact the flavor and quality of your beer. People brewed for thousands of years before processes like sanitation were known about let alone invented. I would be much more concerned about leaving your lid on the pot while boiling than dust in your kitchen.
Click to expand...

Yup...I think this is one of those discussions that seperates the noobs from the seasoned brewers. I don't think twice abut brewing indoors or out with my open brew kettle....You look at things like Natl Homebrew day where we have 50-60 brewers doing their thing outdoors,

30611_387808174066_5827524_n.jpg


You don't really see a lot of closed kettles. Even at the cooling station.
 
Revvy said:
Yup...I think this is one of those discussions that seperates the noobs from the seasoned brewers.

Ouch!
Okay, I'm a noob then, but I don't like horseflys in my wort, I'm just sayin...:mug:
They seem to add a certain dryness, like running hair thru your mouth.
Click to expand...
 
ScrewBrew said:
I feel the cooling period with an open brew pot is the only time I don't have control over sanitation. Am I just being more paranoid than usual?
Click to expand...

Yes. If it bothers you too much, throw a clean dish towel over the pot. But seriously, what chance do you think a stray microorganism has in the short time before you dump a load of yeast in?
 
Everyone here is right. Whichever route you go, it will be ok. Any stuff that gets into the wort though will settle out during/after fermentation. I don't sweat it, but if it gets your heart going, deal with it. Good luck!
 
Brewing an edmund fitzgerald porter yesterday in my garage. I had 6 chickens & 3 cats keeping me company. One of the cats jumped INTO the mash tun while I had it open, he didn't get burnt, just his front legs/chest coated with grain & sugary wort...In my area, I need to keep my stuff covered whenever I can.
Happy brewing!
 

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