Can't I cool wort by adding cold water?

Rev2010 said:

The reason you don't want to add cold water to a hot wort is hot-side aeration. You will probably introduce oxygen into the beer. .

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Is that a good thing just prior to pitching? Proper aeration of the wort just before pitching is an essential step in getting the yeast off to a good start. Oxidation LATER isn't good... but at that stage it's actually desired.

I made an IC that I use backwards. I actually run sanitizer the inside of the copper tubing, then immerse the coil inside an ice bath in a cooler. Then I siphon the hot wort through the inside of the tubing and down into the carboy.

Admittedly it is a bit of a pain getting it set up and going, but I feel better about not wasting gallons and gallons of water cooling my wort through a standard IC. It works pretty well. I admit though that this system needs to be really carefully flushed, rinsed and sanitized before and after every use. So far I haven't had any contamination bogey's but I would have to admit the possibility.

Golddiggie said:

Not sure if it's the same water supply/source as I've had (in Natick, MA) but I won't drink the tap water, so I don't use it for brewing/fermenting. I have a really good under-sink water filter system that I use on all water I'll drink or will be used for cooking (even boiling pasta). There have been more than enough times where I've smelled chlorine in the water to NOT use it.

As for HSA being a reason for not using a chiller... That's more than just lame. I can chill my wort very quickly using my plate chiller. Even recirculating the wort into the keggle (through the chiller) both while boiling (to sanitize it) and after flame-out hasn't done any harm. I typically recirculate for 5-10 minutes, after flame-out, (depending on the season/ground water temp) and then run it into my fermenter. Doesn't take me long to chill ~7 gallons of boiling hot wort this way.

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I assume your under sink filtration is a reverse osmosis triple filter system, like they sell at home depot? I had that same thing as well. However, I have since disconnected mine. I was finding that the water, although good tasting, was leaving my mouth particularly dry. I did some research and found that reverse osmosis and the membrane used actually filter out electrolytes whereas the minerals are not small enough to permeate the membrane. I have gone back to buying spring water to drink, although my tap is fine to drink as well.

J187 said:

I assume your under sink filtration is a reverse osmosis triple filter system, like they sell at home depot? I had that same thing as well. However, I have since disconnected mine. I was finding that the water, although good tasting, was leaving my mouth particularly dry. I did some research and found that reverse osmosis and the membrane used actually filter out electrolytes whereas the minerals are not small enough to permeate the membrane. I have gone back to buying spring water to drink, although my tap is fine to drink as well.

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Nope... Using the Omni Filter system. My mother has a RO system at her place (in Methuen) and my brew-buddy has one in Sudbury. Neither one gives the 'dry mouth' effect you describe. I suspect it's something unique to either the system you purchased, or you.

I refuse to pay what they charge for spring water in stores. With the system I've been using, it costs me a few cents per gallon of water.

Golddiggie said:

Nope... Using the Omni Filter system. My mother has a RO system at her place (in Methuen) and my brew-buddy has one in Sudbury. Neither one gives the 'dry mouth' effect you describe. I suspect it's something unique to either the system you purchased, or you.

I refuse to pay what they charge for spring water in stores. With the system I've been using, it costs me a few cents per gallon of water.

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Definitely not "me", it's widely known that RO systems filter out electrolytes.

J187 said:

Definitely not "me", it's widely known that RO systems filter out electrolytes.

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It's never been an issue for either myself, family members, or friends that have RO systems in use. I don't have a RO system myself due more to space limitations where I've been living. I'm looking at a new filter system for where I'm moving to thought. Something that will be easier to change the filters on, compared with the system I've been using. If I do that, I'm thinking about setting up the current two filter system for 100% brewing water filtration. Just a matter of adapting the in and out ports to work as I want (pretty easy with 'off the shelf' parts).

Golddiggie said:

It's never been an issue for either myself, family members, or friends that have RO systems in use. I don't have a RO system myself due more to space limitations where I've been living. I'm looking at a new filter system for where I'm moving to thought. Something that will be easier to change the filters on, compared with the system I've been using. If I do that, I'm thinking about setting up the current two filter system for 100% brewing water filtration. Just a matter of adapting the in and out ports to work as I want (pretty easy with 'off the shelf' parts).

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Sounds good. I wonder if there was ever a mention of it on the brewstrong water podcasts... I think I listened to them but don't recall.

I've made a few kits in the past, but last weekend I built a 2-stage immersion chiller and used it on 2 batches of kit extract brews. I bought 2 20-foot coils of 3/8" copper piping from Home Depot, plus some clear tubing, some screw-down pipe clamps, and a fitting that attaches to my garden hose (with a barb tip on the other end). I coiled both copper lengths around my Corny keg and connected them with a 4' length of the tubing. The other end the first coil connected to more tubing with the hose fitting on the end, the other coil has some tubing to just drain the warm "waste" water away.

For the past few days, I've been filling used 2L plastic juice bottles and 500 mL Gatorade bottles with water and storing them in my freezer. On Saturday (brew day), I took a camping cooler and filled it with water and dropped in those frozen bottles of ice. I dropped in the first stage of my IC, and sanitized the other stage and put it in the wort. Connected to my garden hose, turned the water on (just a trickle is needed), and 15 minutes later, the wort was down to 75 degrees. Worked like a champ.

It's really neat - I touch the "in" part of the copper coil in the wort, and it's freezing cold. Touch the "out" end and it's piping hot. That means it's working!

That is a cool chiller.