Question about a wort chiller...

I've never used a wort chiller before and I'm about to start my boil. To sanitize the wort chiller I put it in the boil for the last 15 minutes, correct?

Is there any thing else I should know? I rinsed it off really well. Thanks!

 

Correct! Just make sure there are no leaks dripping into your wort once you start running the thing. Mine does this and I have to make sure the fittings hang over the side of the pot.

 

That all I do. After the batch is chilled I give it good rinse with the hose, and I blow the water out. When the winter months and freezing weather roll in remember to bring it inside.

 

Don't know why, but I've always sanitized mine with StarSan. I have to sanitize the primary bucket anyway, so I just drop the IC in there and squirt it all over with my turkey baster. If you boil it, I would think no more than 5 minutes would be required. Essentially boiling temps should kill yeast/bacteria instantly, but 5 minutes will make absolutley sure.

What I do to speed the chilling process is drop the kettle into a sink half full of cold water. My IC chiller out line goes down the other side of the drain at first sine its really hot. As that starts to cool off and the water in the sink starts to heat up, I move the outlet to the sink/kettle side (extra water overflows to the other side of the sink). When I'm 15 - 20F from my pitch target and the IC starts to lose effectiveness, I dump in a bunch of ice to the water surrounding the kettle. Also keep the IC moving up and down the whole time, that will speed the process. Don't worry about hot side aeration, seems to be a myth!

 

One other question, how long to have to aerate the wort (I'm doing this with a paddle) before pitching the yeast?

 

Aeration can depend on the beer. A bitter with a 1.040 is not going to require a lot of oxygen vs a 1.105 RIS. I usually seal up the primary bucket, shake the crap out of it for 1-2 minutes, pitch yeast, and shake again for a minute. Call it good. Never had a stalled fermentation, but I do always make sure to have a healthy pitch of yeast.

Also remember that oxygen solubility is related to temperature. So you can get more O2 into solution at lower temps via shaking, aquarium stone, etc. Above that would require an O2 stone.

 

So my wort chiller sprung a leak and started dumping water into my wort! The water came from an outside house...should I bring the wort upto a boil and then try to chill or should I just cool the wort in my sink as is?

 

I just decided to say screw it and I started to chill the wort in my sink. I didn't try to bring the potentially contaminated wort back up to boil. I hope there's nothing in that hose water that will damage my beer. It's the same water that I'm using in the beer, it's just that it came from a garden house. I don't have any faucets that will work with my wort chiller, thats why I had to do it outside with a garden hose...please tell me I did the right thing!

 

Probably wouldn't have hurt to bring it back up to temp for a while, but it probably will also end up just fine the way you handled it.

 

My first time using my wort chiller, I didn't tighten down the adjustable hose clamps well enough so i had a little steady stream of hose water going into my wort for a few minutes before I noticed anything. My brew still turned out great. I think you will be ok.

Don't let that discourage you from using a wort chiller. they are great inventions. Next time I would just recommend putting both chiller hose ends in boiling water for 10-15 seconds to soften them up, they should then slide onto your chiller rather easily. Next make sur ethe clamps are nice and tight and turn on the hose (don't run at full pressure either, I found that my tubes couldn't handle the full stream of water and was part of the reason for the leak).

Happy brewing and let us know how the beer comes out!