I'm trying to avoid using a wort chiller simply because water is crazy expensive here. Cooling wort over a longer period of time puts it at risk of bacteria exposure, but what if I put the kettle in an empty chest freezer, not as much to cool the wort faster but more to keep bacteria out?
Cooling wort in chest freezer
- Thread starter pjm805
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AJinJacksonville
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I've done that before on late night brews where I just couldn't get the wort to cool. Once it got down to about 90 or so, I dumped the wort into the fermentation bucket (after sanitizing), threw it into the fermentation chamber (set at 65), and pitched the yeast in the morning. Of course you have to open the lid to pitch the yeast (possibility for infection), but the couple of times before I had no problem and the beer turned out fine.
AJinJacksonville
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You could also get yourself a pump and a spare cooler and recirculate the water through the chiller...although you'll be investing in ice to pour into the cooler to keep the recirculated water cool.
Your going to need water to clean up so start your chiller using tap water drained into your mash tun/brew bucket and collect the really hot water first. Then use a pump and cooler. The first water will be real hot but will knock down the wort to about 120. I make about 15 trays of ice and can cool down the rest to 60 by recirculating. Your results will vary, but it saves a lot of water.
