Cold Break question

I understand the need for a Cold Break after boiling. But how fast is not fast enough??

I have been getting the temp from 210 to 110 in 15 minutes using a cold bath - then I dilute the wort into the water filled carboy and the temp reaches 80. After a couple hours the temp is nearing 72.

Is this taking way too long? Would I be wise to spend another 10 minutes to get the temp to 80 WITHOUT diluting?

I'm no expert, but I believe you need to get down below 140 degrees as soon as possible to prevent the creation of DMS. If you're getting down to 110 within 15 min, I think you're doing fine and have nothing to worry about.

I've seen people on youtube just cover their boiling wort and leave it overnight to cool down, but I wouldn't recommend that.

Instead of stopping the cooling at 110, cool it ASAP to around 90. Then dilute it to get you to 65 degrees. That's more what you want to do. A couple of hours to reach 72 is not good, and the yeast shouldn't be pitched until you are around 70 at the highest.

So do you boil the top off water to sanitize and then cool it in the fridge?

How do you keep it sanitized that way?

Thanks

You can do that. You can even boil the water, and put it in a sanitized container and stick in it your chest freezer so that you can add icy cold water to get to pitching temperature even faster. (It takes some practice- the first time I overcooled, second time undercooled, and after that I was perfect!)

That said, I never boiled my top off water. I have excellent tap water, and used the kitchen tap sprayer to spray aerated cold water into my primary. (I use buckets). If I was using bottled water to top off, I probably wouldn't bother boiling it.

So yooper - you suggest

Instead of stopping the cooling at 110, cool it ASAP to around 90. Then dilute it to get you to 65 degrees.

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so instead of 15 minutes 210 to 110

30 minutes 210 to 90 and then delute - this would speed up the dilution waiting time.

Sounds like a plan.

I just buy three 1 gallon jugs of spring water from the grocery store for a five gallon batch and use tap water for my boil. Just buy the water a day or two before brewing and throw them in the fridge. After the wort sits off the burner for ten minutes and in a cold water bath for 1/2 hr. pour it onto two gallons of cold water and top it off with the third cold gallon of water. This will get you five gallons of 75 degree wort every time.

Hooter, that sounds like a great idea. Thanks for the help guys. Hopefully I will be brewing my first batch this weekend.

good luck FS. whatcha brewing?

also dont be afraid of making an IC they arnt hard and will bring that temp down pretty quick. i use 50' of plastic refridge hose in a prechiller bucket of saltwater ice mix. gets down to 80 pretty quickly. i will have to time it this weekend when i do a batch of a buddys recipe he calls yellow summer ale.

Just a little suggestion. You may want to give the top of the water bottles a spray with star-san or sanitize them in some way before you pour them in. Refridgerators can harbor a lot of bacteria, and you don't want to pour that into your wort.

Good idea BarleyWater

BarleyWater said:

Just a little suggestion. You may want to give the top of the water bottles a spray with star-san or sanitize them in some way before you pour them in. Refridgerators can harbor a lot of bacteria, and you don't want to pour that into your wort.

Click to expand...

Another good suggestion. Thanks.

Pen, I think I am going to try to brew a nice pale ale.