I am getting ready to brew my first batch ever and have been trying to figure out how to cool it without a wort chiller. I was watching you tube and saw on good eats where he used a 7 lb bag of ice. But now I am seeing that you shouldn't aerate hot wort. Am I better just placing it in a bathtub with ice and cold water or using the ice in the fermenting bucket?
Cooling wart
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TyTanium
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Don't use ice in the fermenting bucket...freezing doesn't kill bacteria, so the ice may not be (and probably isn't) sanitary. Better to do the tub thing. Look up "no chill" brewing - tons of guys have success without wort chillers.
The aerate hot wort thing is called Hot Side Aeration and isn't really a concern in a homebrew setting. If you're pouring several gallons of wort from 20 feet in the air, sure, but a little incidental splashing - no worries.
EDIT: I'm as much of a fan of Good Eats as everyone else, but it's not the best source of brewing knowledge.
The aerate hot wort thing is called Hot Side Aeration and isn't really a concern in a homebrew setting. If you're pouring several gallons of wort from 20 feet in the air, sure, but a little incidental splashing - no worries.
EDIT: I'm as much of a fan of Good Eats as everyone else, but it's not the best source of brewing knowledge.
Hi ssdecal.
Not sure of your situation but if possible you might want to go with the DIY wort chiller approach. My first couple of batches, I tried various methods to chill it but none of them were particularly great given the amount of effort required e.g., filling up a bath with iced water. So I tried making my own wort chiller and now I am done in about 10 minutes. Piece of cake to make as well.
Not sure of your situation but if possible you might want to go with the DIY wort chiller approach. My first couple of batches, I tried various methods to chill it but none of them were particularly great given the amount of effort required e.g., filling up a bath with iced water. So I tried making my own wort chiller and now I am done in about 10 minutes. Piece of cake to make as well.
tchuklobrau
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U doing extract or ag? Full boil? When I first started brewing i watched a video on the sam adams website, Jim doing a video of the homebrew process. He would freeze gallon jugs of spring water. So this is what I did for 2-3 years before i made a wort chiller. Freeze 1 gallon of spring water. cut the plastic off and add the block of ice to the fermenter, then I would ladel the 2-3 g of wort over the ice. this cooled it enough so then i would just add cold tap water for the rest of the top up. Made many tasty kits and other extract recipes that way. Now I have a chiller and will never return to that method.
Fill your sink with cold water, add ice, add salt, place uncovered pot in the sink. Its called an icewater bath. You'll probably need to take the pot out, drain the water, repeat first step, and place the pot back in.
jonnyp1980
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im no builder or a do it yourself type of guy but...after asking questions about cooling and worrying about getting my wort down in temp in less than a half hour..i looked into making my own...very glad i did and only cost 35 bucks...looks good too...
jonnyp1980
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i know a guy who takes his wort and puts an airlock to it and leaves it overnight to cool. in the morning he pours into a new bucket and adds yeast and thats it... he said he never had any issues... i like his beer too. been after him for his strawberry cocoanut oatmeal stout recipe for 5 months.. lol
jderm
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I do this except I also have one hand stirring the water clockwise and one hand stirring the wort counter-clock wise. I get great results.
tandersen123
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myself I only boil 3 gallons then freeze 1 gallon of sping water and put 1 gallon in the fridge. I put the frozen spring water in my fermenter then pour the hot wart on top and top off with the cold spring water and then just let the fermenting bucket chill in the sink with ice water till it's at temp it only takes a few minutets and i stir rapidly while it sits never had a problem yet.
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