What is a good ice to wort ratio to cool it down to 80 deg?

[abefroman]

What is a good ice to wort ratio to cool it down to 80 deg if I dont have a wort chiller?

Ex 2 gallons ice per 3 gallons 200+ deg wort? 2.5 gallons ice per 2.5 gal wort?

 

[trevor_b]

I do not know gallon wise, but I've gotten by with less than 18lbs of ice (a bag from a convenient store) to cool down about 3 gallons of wort. I now bag ice from my ice maker a couple days before hand for the ice bath.

 

[cfonnes]

It would depend upon how much surface area of your pot is touching the ice. Will the ice be to the same level as the wort in the pot. How much room will there be in the vessel holding the ice when the pot is in there.

With so many variables involved the only answer that I can give would be, a whole bunch.

 

[cheezydemon3]

1/2 of my ice maker's holding bin.

It probably depends on the size of the cubes. Smaller is probably better.

You do mean IN the actual wort, right?

 

[Wakadaka]

I think he is asking if he puts 2 gallons of ice into his fermenter, then puts in his hot wort.

I don't know the specifics, but I would recommend putting it in a sink full of water for a few minutes at least. It will get down to the low 100s pretty quick, and then just top off with ice.

 

[trevor_b]

Oops, though he was talking about an ice bath. Makes sense now why he was measuring ice in gallons.

 

[abefroman]

I think he is asking if he puts 2 gallons of ice into his fermenter, then puts in his hot wort.

I don't know the specifics, but I would recommend putting it in a sink full of water for a few minutes at least. It will get down to the low 100s pretty quick, and then just top off with ice.

Thanks, this sounds like the best idea. 200deg water dissolves ice pretty fast.

Yes, ice in the wort.

 

[sfrisby]

My standard is 3 gallons of boiling wort in an ice bath in sink for a few min drops it to 110-120. Top off with 2 gallons of near freezing water (if chilled at beginning and placed in freezer at the start and shaken a few times to keep from freezing) will take it right down to 70.

 

[Maxkling]

Ice is also playground for bacteria and mold.

Best thing to do is boil water, cool it, sanitize and clean disposable water bottles, then freeze them. This also helps you with your volume, when time comes to cool, sanitize a knife and cut the plastic bottles in half, remove ice and put in wort.

Or make or purchase a chiller and call it a day.

 

[jaycount]

Ice is also playground for bacteria and mold.

Best thing to do is boil water, cool it, sanitize and clean disposable water bottles, then freeze them. This also helps you with your volume, when time comes to cool, sanitize a knife and cut the plastic bottles in half, remove ice and put in wort.

Or make or purchase a chiller and call it a day.

This. The only way I would add ice as top off water is if it was boiled water put into sanitized containers and then frozen and added. I would definitely not add commercial ice or ice out of my ice maker into my wort.

Long story short, the chiller is worth the money :rockin:

 

[billf2112]

I usually end up with 3 gallons of wort at the end of my boil.

I use 1 1/2 gallons of ice and that along with a water bath (just cold water in the sink to the wort level in the pot), gets me down to about 75*F in about 15-20 minutes.

I boil my water for the ice 1-2 days in advance and freeze it in cheap containers I bought and only use for this. They are stored in my brew pot to keep everyone's hands off of them (would hate to find left overs in em). They are each 1/2 gallon sized I, they are usually sold in 3 packs at that size.

If you are using an ice bath, I used 1 16 lb bag. Add water to the bath, it will cool the wort fast because the entire surface of the pot will be touched by the ice/water mixture.

 

[drathbone]

Best thing to do is boil water, cool it, sanitize and clean disposable water bottles, then freeze them. This also helps you with your volume, when time comes to cool, sanitize a knife and cut the plastic bottles in half, remove ice and put in wort.

See I do this, except I just pay $.60 for a gallon of water instead of doing all the boiling/cooling, I just freeze the water jug and sanitize it before I cut it open.

 

[billf2112]

I think drathdone has got it right. Think I will do that the next time myself.

Love these boards, It's like free "Beer University".

 

[Riddick]

not for nothing, but help me out seeing that im completely new to this. how/when exactly do you add this? to the fermenter before adding the wort? or to a sink when you put the wort pot into it to cool it down before adding it to the fermenter?

 

[billf2112]

Put the ice directly into the wort while still in the brew part right after boiling is complete. Do not forget the sanitation process.

 

[abefroman]

not for nothing, but help me out seeing that im completely new to this. how/when exactly do you add this? to the fermenter before adding the wort? or to a sink when you put the wort pot into it to cool it down before adding it to the fermenter?

In the pot.

 

[sfrisby]

In the pot.

But in case you don't have a 5 gallon pot, I add a gallon of water to the bucket/ carboy, the wort, and the final gallon of water to try to help mix it better.

 

[Maxkling]

I may also add that I have NEVER added ice directly to the wort. In my opinion there is no need. When I extract brewed I just put the pot in an ice bath, go it to around 100 then added 2 to 3 gallons of ice cold water when topping off. That got me almost perfect pitching temps.

Then I bought a chiller and pond pump and life is so much easier.

 

[Riddick]

what 'sanitation process' do you mean? to extract it from the container like drathdone said? i reckon you mean with the knife or scissor or whatever to open up the container, ja?

sorry, i know im asking dumb questions but my lhbs is useless with information, i asked three different people who work there three different times and never once got a good answer of an efficient way to get the water temp down quickly from them. annoying...

 

[brewit2it]

You can calculate how much Ice is needed to cool x amount of 200 degree wort (assuming the wort is water which is close enough) to 80 degrees but it takes a little work.

I'll get you started if you want to play around with it. First you need to know the temp of your ice and the volume of ice prior to freezing or the weight of the ice. Next you need to look up the specific heat of ice (hint, it's lower than the specific heat of water). You also need to calculate the heat absorbed as the ice changes state from solid to liquid which is calulated by looking up it's latent heat.

So basically the cooling (amount of energy absorbed by the ice) is done in 3 phases. The first being the amount absorbed as the ice goes from starting temp to 32. Second is the amount of heat absorbed as the ice changes state from ice to water and the 3rd is the amount of heat absorbed as the volume of 32 degree melted water reaches equilibrium with the volume of wort at temp x which has already been cooled by the first 2 phases as described above. Of course all the calulations are done in metric units and degrees celsius.

 

[NorthBay]

Thanks, this sounds like the best idea. 200deg water dissolves ice pretty fast.

Yes, ice in the wort.

I have two one gallon jugs of spring water in the freezer now for my brew day tomorrow morning.

I do about a 2 1/2 gallon boil, DME, Corn sugar and hops. When I toss in the aroma hops I shut down my burner and let the wort cool down for about ten minutes.

While the wort is cooling some I use a sanitized knife to cut open the water jugs, and drop the two gallons of ice into my fermenter.

I add maybe half a gallon of cool spring water along with the ice to help speed up the cooling down of the wort when I pour it into the bucket.

Generally speaking, by the time all the ice has melted the temp of the wort is down to the low Seventies. I add however much spring water I need to top off and it is pretty much time to pitch the yeast.

Have done this for about my past half dozen batches and it has worked well for me.

 

[cheezydemon3]

Why let it cool for 10 minutes?

I go straight from boil to a cool spot, dump in ice.