Questions about cooling wort

[nasmeyer]

I do not yet have a wort chiller and will be brewing my second batch this weekend. What are any advantages /disadvantages or concerns using (boiled) ice to cool the wort? or putting 2 1/5 gals. of chilled H20 in the primary then dumping hot wort into the water to bring the temp down quick? the primary could also be placed into an ice bath in the sink with either of these ideas. I did not want to try either without input first.

 

[wilserbrewer]

You certainly can do the above to chill a partial boil. An IC IMO really is only needed when cooling an entire 5 gallons. I would probably try to chill the kettle in the sink...once w/ water and then w/ ice and water, then top up the primary w/ chilled water. It is easier / more effective to chill the kettle a bit rather than trying to chill the primary. The greater the temp differential, the faster cooling will be.

Adding sanitized ice to the boil pot can also be done...just not my thing I guess?

 

[Deacon240]

Unless you have some way of freezing ice with no particulate floating around, do NOT put ice into the wort. Since the average person has no access to 100% sterile environments I'm doubting that it's an option. If you have some time and a little $$ and some soldering skills either make yourself an immersion chiller or a counterflow chiller.

 

[KDM]

First-timer here, was also anxious to cool down as rapidly as possible. I put my boil pot with 2 1/2 gallons piping hot wort in the bath tub filled to just under the level of the wort (to keep it from floating). It was a cold day and the tap water was like 58 degrees; the steel bath tub itself was chillier yet (gotta love an antique pier-and-beam house). I thought the surface area that was exposed to cooling action looked a little stingy, so I set the equivilent of three hockey pucks under the pot so water could circulate freely across the bottom as well as the sides. I stirred the wort and the tub water once in a while using a sanitized spoon for the wort and a canoe paddle (hey, it was handy) for the bath tub.

Wort was cooled to ~70 degrees in twenty minutes.

 

[DetroitOS]

Pick up some copper tube online and go to your local hardware store for plastic hose and clamps.

Then visit this site for directions on how to make a chiller. The one I made may not be as pretty as what you can buy but it works just the same. My cool down time went from a couple hours to around ten minutes.

 

[KDM]

Very cool - no pun intended. Thanks, never thought about eBay...

 

[HairyDogBrewing]

using (boiled) ice to cool the wort?

Won't the ice melt when you boil it? (j/k )

If you add 2.5 gal of 212F wort to 2.5 gal 40F water,
you will have 5 gal of ~126F wort.
Then there's nothing else that can be done.

It would be better to cool the wort to 100-110F first.
Then when you mix with cold water it will be ~70F.
You can put your kettle in the sink with cold tap water and/or ice
and watch the thermometer until it's right.


If you want add ice directly to the wort, you have to do some math to figure out the amount needed:

The specific heat of water is 1 calorie per gram per degree C
and the latent heat of fusion is 80 calories per gram.
To raise the temp of 1 gram ice from -20C to 20C requires 120 cal.

So to cool 9 liters (~ 9 kg) of wort from 100C to 20C takes 720 kcal,
about 6 kg (13.2 pounds) of ice.
Roughly 14 ice cube trays.

So you would have to use a lot of time and energy to boil then freeze that much water.
And if you do it all at once you may spoil any food that's in there.

Hope this helps.

 

[cclloyd]

It's simpler than you think - I use bottled spring water for all my beers and have been doing partial mash 2.5 gallon boils for two years now. When I start my brewday I put 3 one gallon jugs of water into the freezer and by the time the boil is complete - approx 3-4 hours later, I add the hot wort to the 3 gallons of iced water and almost instantly have my wort at pitching temp. I have had zero issues using this method for over forty batches.

 

[JoeMama]

Just go on Ebay and pick up an immersion wort chiller. I think I found a SS one for around $50 shipped.

Best $50 I spent (aside from my startup costs)
-Me

 

[ifishsum]

If you're doing a partial boil, you don't really need a chiller. I do as cclloyd does- buy 3 gallons of drinking water (gallon jugs) and put them in the freezer 2-3 hours before you think you'll be ready to cool your wort. Once the boil is finished put your pot in a cold water bath in the sink (no real need for ice), and while that is cooling pour 2 of the pre-chilled gallon jugs into your fermenter. I usually water bath the pot for about 10 minutes; stirring the bath will help it cool quicker and so will stirring the wort. I'll usually change the water once during the cooling process. Then I pour the wort into the fermenter on top of the pre-chilled water, and use whatever amount I need from the third gallon and mix well. With this method I'm almost always at 68-70 degrees and ready to take an OG and pitch my yeast.

 

[Christian]

Some people say don't use ice but i say go ahead. I do it all the time and it works really well. If the water is good enough to go in your beer then it is good enough to go in your beer if frozen. Frozen or not it's still the same water. I get my wort down to pitching temps in 20 minutes using ice IN my wort and my beer tastes fantastic.

 

[jldc]

If the water is good enough to go in your beer then it is good enough to go in your beer if frozen. Frozen or not it's still the same water.

That's really the question, isn't it? There are lots of people who put tap water in their beer, but also, lots of people who won't.

 

[winzerz]

what has been working for me is

1. a green rubermaid tub 76 qt

2. ice both crushed and 2 liter bottles frozen

3. chilled spring water gal containers in freezer 3 hrs before flameout
(kinda slushy)

chill water in tub down with 20lbs of ice 20 min before flameout

4. put pot in ice bath (spills over the sides)

5. add slushy bottled water SLOWLY to wort no splashing

6. stir gently with lid almost on watchin temp probe

I get to 75 ish in 15 min using this meathod

then I beat it with a wisk in the brewpot for 2 - 3 min till it has a nice head

of bubbles

then pour thru funnel into primary saving 1/3 of wort pitch yeast

then pour remaining 1/3 over yeast

cap and wait

thank you for your time

:rockin: