Wort-chilling technique

Hi Everyone,

I'm planning to brew another batch this weekend (cooler fall temperatures are here at last!), and I'm already reviewing mistakes and lessons learned from previous experiences. In the past, I usually worked with only about a gallon of water in my brew pot, which produced a more amber and concentrated wort, but did not require too much cooling time. This time, I'd like to increase the water to about 2.5 gallons, but because I don't have a wort chiller, I was thinking about cooling the wort slightly, but then pouring it into my primary, adding a SOLID bung, and having it sit there for a few hours to chill eventually before pitching. Is there still a chance of contamination even in a closed environment like that? If so, what are some other alternative cooling methods for so much wort (in addition to an ice bath in the sink)?

Thanks!

Hi, we used to do the icewater bath thing too. If you mix up cold water, ice and salt in the sink it will get very very cold and should cool down your kettle quick. Just change out water and ice every so often. 2.5 gal shouldn't take too long to cool. You will also get better beer by having more of your liquid in the boil. You can cool it down to 80 or so and then fill to 5 gal with cold water too and that will bring the temp down to pitching temps.

It can work. Make sure your primary is sanitized, and ONLY do this with a bucket. PET Better Bottles will soften, and glass will shatter....only use an LDPE brewing bucket if you want to go this "no chill" route. (Also, if you absolutely must do this, boil some "top up" water, (so if you are using 2.5 gallons of water preboil, that means 2 gallons postboil, which means 3 gallons top-up water), then chill the top up water in a sanitized container in the fridge. Add this to your fermenter first, then pour your hot wort in.

Again, this is far from ideal....most people talk about wanting to have quick chill times, (although the "no chill" crowd will argue otherwise), but it should work. JUST DON'T DO IT IN GLASS!!!

Edit: also, for alternatives, for a small boil like 2.5 gallons, you can build a 25' chiller that hooks up to your sink for ~35 bucks.