BrewDey
Well-Known Member
I've had a few bad batches recently and I'm beginning to think that it's due to my long cooling period. I use an immersion chiller let my brewpot swim in a bath of water in a utility tub. I add ice bombs (frozen bottles of water) to the water to help as well. This still takes about an hour typically-and I know a utility tub cannot be the most germ-free environment.
I'm thinking that I may start hooking up the IC to my outside hose faucet to keep it out of the basement. Another thing that would help would be to put the ice bombs right into the wort. I'd sanitize them 1st, but it seems like they should be pretty sanitary if they're frozen to begin with. Any thoughts on this?
Also-what is the highest temp that's safe for pitching ales? I usually try to get it down to mid 60s at the highest. I had a bad experience pitching too warm and it really fouled it up...so I've probably cooled a little more than necessary.
I'm thinking that I may start hooking up the IC to my outside hose faucet to keep it out of the basement. Another thing that would help would be to put the ice bombs right into the wort. I'd sanitize them 1st, but it seems like they should be pretty sanitary if they're frozen to begin with. Any thoughts on this?
Also-what is the highest temp that's safe for pitching ales? I usually try to get it down to mid 60s at the highest. I had a bad experience pitching too warm and it really fouled it up...so I've probably cooled a little more than necessary.