Brilliant Girlfriend

Since moving to AG I find my puny 25' IC doesn't hold up it's end of the deal. The problem is I bought a 15 gallon brewpot which is extremely wide. I'm only doing 5 gallon batches so the liquid level is deep and wide. When I put the IC in half of the damn thing doesn't even touch the wort as it is tall and slim.

So my girlfriend is helping me clean up and what not yesterday as the brew day is coming to a close and she suggests two great ideas. We had just found out that my measuring stick was innacurate so we decided after the wort had chilled we'd dump it in a marked bucket to take the volume measurements then siphon to the carboy. Should get some good aeration, too! Then she says, "Why not chill the wort in the bucket since it's tall and slinder?" Bloody brilliant. 5 gallons chilled down in 15 minutes as apposed to the 30-40 minutes it was taking.

So simple. I guess she's a keeper.

So your going to pour the boiling wort into a plastic bucket and then cool?

Seems to me that pouring boiling wort would result in a very real chance of hotside aeration and that plastic buckets usually are not safe for boiling hot liquid.

i also worry about pouring large amounts of boiling liquid, the potential for accidents seems very real. if there ever were a good excuse to move up to 10 gallon batches, this is it.

that being said, it's awesome that your girlfriend is helping and offering suggestions.

mmb said:

Seems to me that pouring boiling wort would result in a very real chance of hotside aeration

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BOOGIE WOOGIE BOO!
HSA is a pretty big boogie man! I wouldn't tempt it by pouring and trying to aerate it like you do with cool wort, but if you're a bit careful, you're good to go!
I siphon wort into my bottling bucket, then through the CFC and into a carboy, or fermenting bucket.

yeah...it could definitely work once it's cooled down to 90°F or so, but i wouldn't pour before that. HSA may not be a huge concern for most homebrewers, but that sounds like tempting fate.

EDIT: If you poured it gently, it would probably be ok. don't burn yourself on the arm with the hot pot like i did with my keg mash tun. permament scar, baby.

don't get me wrong ... i let it cool before transferring.

Couldn't you stretch out the coils in your immersion chiller to fit your brewpot? If the copper has become stiff you can anneal it to make it flexible again.

chefchris said:

don't get me wrong ... i let it cool before transferring.

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Huh? How do you let it cool? Can't just let it sit there to cool off, then transfer, then use the chiller in the bucket! Need to cool the wort below 180F ASAP to keep the DMS at bay!!!

Not sure how flexible you copper tube is, but what about reshaping it into two rings?
If it is flexible copper, shouldn't be too hard to bend around a couple of pots.