Cooling the wort fast as possible

[thomas5451]

What is the reason the wort needs to be cooled so fast, and if you do it later what are the differences? Just for curiosity!

 

[rhamilton]

It's up for debate but while your wort is above 80°F, there are compounds in it that can oxidize. Some people let it cool overnight and still get beer, so it really isn't a requirement.

I always chill due to How To Brew and I really don't want a brew to span multiple days

 

[BadMrFrosty]

This intrigued me too. With sanitation so important I assumed that leaving it to cool for a long period meant greater chances of infection. Could be wrong though

 

[althea]

Primarily, you want to cool it fast so you can pitch your yeast and let the fun begin.

The whole idea is to let fermentation begin asap so that you limit the time the beer is in "the danger zone." Bacteria can more easily multiply when foods and stuff is between 40 and 140. The quicker you get your beer fermenting the less likely bacteria will have a chance to take hold.

All things being said, a lot of people practice "no chill" brewing with great success. So google and make up your own mind.

 

[Kealia]

There is a camp of no-chill brewers and they seem to get away with it but that's too risky for me.

Chilling quickly does at least two things:
1) Allows you to pitch the yeast sooner and reduce the chances for other bacteria, wild yeast, etc. to start growing in the wort. The environment that is created by the fermenting yeast drives most of that away so the sooner you can get it to that state the better.

2) Cold break. Allows the larger particles and proteins to coagulate and drop out of suspension providing a clearer beer (and better tasting to some).

It's early....that's all that comes to mind at the moment.

 

[Rivenin]

I do no chill and have for all of my allgrain. No issues ever. Done it in the winpacks and in the kettles... I usually just put the lid on the kettle and throw a starsaned soaked shirt over it and leave it outside overnight

 

[Brewnoob1]

I believe a fast cool down also helps with what's called a cold break. It helps settle things out producing clearer beer. Also, the faster you pitch your yeast, the more an infection can decrease in odds as the yeast take over.

EDIT: Looks like Kealia already stated these above..so I'm reiterating what they said lol

 

[Captainfester]

2) Cold break. Allows the larger particles and proteins to coagulate and drop out of suspension providing a clearer beer (and better tasting to some).

^^^^^this ^^^^^

 

[djt17]

Here is 101 pages that says it isn't necessary. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/exploring-no-chill-brewing-117111/

 

[unionrdr]

In my experience,the faster you get the wort chilled down to pitch temp,you get little or no chill haze come fridge time. That's if you do it in 20 minutes or less. High flocculation yeast & time will give clearer beer.

 

[MonsterBrew]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/No_Chill_Method

This gives a pretty good rundown on the pros/cons of chilling near the bottom of the page. In a nut shell, clarity of your beer, taste to a degree which is related to it being more clear, and of course the risk of infection for not pitching your wort soon after removing the wort from the boil.