Transporting Wort

[nparcel]

I have yet to use my newly purchased turkey fryer to brew any beer. I do not have the space to use a propane burner safely at my current location, so my plan is to drive to a buddies and cook a couple batches and drive them back.

My question is:
Would it be wise to transport the wort prior to adding the yeast or after?

The ride should help add some oxygen with all the bumps in the road, but I am concerned about a temperature change due to it being in the bed of a pick up during the move. I plan to wrap the fermenters in a couple blankets to hold the heat in, which should help avoid too much of a temperature flux. Although since fall is starting to set in, the evenings will be a bit more cold.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Nate

 

[the_bird]

How about...

Get a study milk crate. Line it with a blanket. Use a carboy or Better Bottle as your primary fermenter. Place the carboy/BB in the milk crate, wrapped with the blanket to cushion it. Then, either place it on the floor next to you or belt it in on the passenger seat. I'd feel a LOT more comfortable with the fermenter riding shotgun rather than being in the bed.

"Shotgun Ale"

 

[Beer Snob]

Just a thought, but why not a Bucket? Glass carboy just seems a tad on the scary side. Definatly agree with Bird about not having it in the payload section.

 

[disaffected]

I have one other idea for safe and secure transport. You can buy five gallon plastic collapsible water bottles like the kind people commonly use for camping. Or, you can buy the rigid six gallon Jerry can if you want to overbrew a bit to have 5.5 gallons in your primary.

These are made of food-grade plastic and are designed for water or other fluids intended for human consumption. Either of these can be sanitized with Iodophore, just like you do your carboy. Either one would be much more secure for transporting five or so gallons of wort than a fermenter pail or glass carboy would be. You can tie or strap them down in the bed of your truck with no problem.

Just make sure you cool your wort down below 90 degrees, then transfer to your sanitized Jerry can or collapsible bottle for transport. When you get home, pour into your sanitized fermenter, aerate, and pitch.

 

[nparcel]

Thanks for the comments. I was planning to use a food grade plastic bucket for the transport. My main concern was the temperature change of the wort that might have an effect somewhere down the line. I suppose letting the fermenter ride passenger is the best option, and all the brew equipment will take the cold ride home.

Are there any downsides to waiting to pitch yeast after the wort has cooled? Or more specifically, will there be any major issues with waiting 2-3 hours after the wort has cooled before pitching?

 

[dougjones31]

You want the wort to be cooled down to 70 degrees before you pitch the yeast. You want to cool it down before you transport it because you do not want to aereate hot wort.

If you are going to wait 3 hours before you pitch the yeast then you should make sure the transport container is air tight and you should be extra sanitary when you do your boil and transfer.


I say cool the wort after your boil and pitch the yeast then transport it home. Shaking the wort after pitching the yeast is a good thing.....for the first few hours.

 

[Beer Snob]

I say cool the wort after your boil and pitch the yeast then transport it home. Shaking the wort after pitching the yeast is a good thing.....for the first few hours.

That is actually a very good point. Though if you want to wait, I would have a real kick a** starter waiting to dump.

 

[nparcel]

Well the whole procedure started out as a complete disaster, but seems to be moving along just fine.

To begin, the tubing on the propane burner would keep catching fire. I was unable to adjust the flame to make it burn hotter, which I am guessing is related to the tubing catching fire. So since I was in fear of the propane tank exploding and blowing up the garage, and the water not getting hotter than 165 oF, I had to move the brew to the kitchen stove.

The cook went fine and the brew pot was taken to the yard to cool off. I had thought the cool down would have taken less time since the ground was almost 45-50 oF. So an hour later the wort had cooled only slightly. I decided to add about a gallon of cold water, but the temperature ddn't lower by much. So I transferred the wort to the plastic fermenter and drive it home, since it was now 1.30AM. When I finally got home, the wort was still too hot to add the yeast, so I let it sit covered until the morning. 7 hours later the wort was cool to the touch, added the yeast and set it in the other room.

The entire first day there was no activity, but 2 days later it is bubbling away like a dream. There was a small amount of blow off due to the additional water that was added, but it seems under control now.


At any rate, the whole problem could have been avoided by staying home and cooking it all on my kitchen stove. None the less, it was a learning experience.

 

[BrewStef]

The learning experience is what it is all about...and the beer. I have 12 brews under my belt (literally AND figuratively) and feel that I have just scratched the surface. Every brew has been different, mostly because I am buying new gadgets, but also because I am incorporating what I have learned on the forums.

Keep up the good work. Don't worry about the brew...if santitation was maintained it will be just fine.

Cheers!

BrewStef