Cooling wort without an immersion chiller

[z-bob]

Last time I brewed we were in the middle of a fruitfly invasion and I didn't want to leave the wort open long enough to run the immersion chiller. So I drained the hot kettle right into a white plastic bucket lined with a paint strainer bag. I lifted out the bag to filter out all the hot break and the hops, then put a lid on the bucket and set it outside (I'm in Minnesota) for a few hours until it was cool enough to pitch.

Or maybe I pulled out the bag to filter it right before I pitched the yeast. I don't remember that little detail.

Frozen water bottles are good for dropping the temperature 10 degrees or so. I wouldn't use them to try to drop it 100 degrees.

 

[Kharnynb]

if you have a fermenter that can stand the heat and heat changes, so hdpe or steel, you can just dump the wort in the fermenter and use an icebath.