Stiring hot wort while chilling...DIY help

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Bronco1500

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Hello All,
Im not sure if this should be in the DIY section or not...so Ill try here first since I am a FNG.

I have a home made IC. Id like to have the hot wort stirred while chilling. I did a search and the whirlpool method came up. That seems interesting but Im guessing a worthy pump is not cheap.

Is there a "common knowledge" method of stiring using something like a kitchen spatula attached to a drill..... Run the drill and the spinning spatula spins the wort....Im sure others have done something like this...I Hope.

Any thoughts, Or advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
Stir with a spoon, always in the same direction. Try not to splash and introduce oxygen while the wort is hot. After getting a good circular motion going in the wort simply stop stirring and let it settle while finishing cooling. Then drain into the fermenter.
 
ChuckO said:
Stir with a spoon, always in the same direction. Try not to splash and introduce oxygen while the wort is hot. After getting a good circular motion going in the wort simply stop stirring and let it settle while finishing cooling. Then drain into the fermenter.

Hot side aeration has kind of been debunked, going into the primary you want the wort to be well aerated so yes, you don't want to be splashing your wort everywhere but if you get some aeration going its not a big deal as once it goes into the primary you will aerate it for the yeast anyways:)
 
I don't use an IC, I just do an ice/water bath. I use my (sanitized) stainless steel spoon to keep it whirling. This both helps with the trub settling and keeps the wort circulating, shedding temperature and reaching equilibrium faster. I try not to splash, but that's just to avoid making a mess, not because I'm worried about aeration. My first beer, I intentionally poured hot wort noisily through a funnel / strainer into cold water in the fermenter to aerate it. My beer did not turn into a giant robot and kill my family. It was fine.
 
I looked up the paint mixer thing. Looks like exactly what im looking for. THANKS....Im off to home depot
 
Be sure to sanitize the mixer really well... Some of them will just stir up with mess and and not really do much other than aerate the wort.

The easiest way is to just stir the wort with your mash paddle while the IC is in there. Once it's cooled, Stir it really hard it one direction and allow it to sit for a couple of minutes. Then you can rack from it. The trub and hops will be in the middle of the pot leaving you cleaner wort to transfer.
 
now that ive put a bit more thought into it, im thinking i might try a kitchen hand mixer
 
I used the "stirring while cooling" method for 8 batches or so and I was regretting the time it was taking from preparing the ferementer. I considered converting an old ice-cream mixer into a stirrer but my wife managed to give it away before I could lay a firm enough claim on it. In the end, I bought a solar pump from ebay and created a whirlpool recirculater like Jamil's: http://www.mrmalty.com/chiller.php. The pump was $55 and the set-up works like a charm.
 
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