First Brew, Cooling the Wort?

[tryan225]

I'm gearing up to do my first brew, a hefeweizen from extract, in a simple brewing setup. I've done some searching and it seems as if it may be okay to brew a concentration of the wort and then add it to cold water to bring it up to volume.

Other resources regard this as risky due to unwanted aeration. I was wondering if any other beginners (or experts, for that matter), had any success brewing a concentrated wort and then cooling/bringing it up to volume with water.

Is there anything wrong with doing 2 gallons of wort boil and then adding it to 3 gallons of cold water in the primary? Would it be better to do 3 gallons of hot wort and 2 gallons of cold water, or is this irrelevant?

Are there any things I can do to prevent aeration but promote oxygenation?

Thanks!

 

[r_star61]

I do not have a wort chiller. I add my boil to store bought ice. I am on my sixth brew and have had no issues.

 

[TXjayhawk]

When I first started brewing I was brewing extracts with a 3-3.5 gallon boil. I would buy gallon jugs of bottled water (not distilled) and stick them in the freezer until just before they froze. I would add these to the hot wort to bring up to my 5 gallon batch size. I did also though have the boil kettle in an ice bath the same time. I could get the 5 gallons cooled in about 30 minutes.

 

[fartinmartin]

The airation is essential for healthy yeast ! As much splashing as possible at this stage. Do as big a boil as you can, if that has to be topped up it's ok but you could always reduce the size of your brew and not top up.
Topping up is ok, but it's not the best.

 

[flars]

I do all my extracts as partial boils. The boil starts with 2.5 gallons of water. When the boil is done I chill the wort in the sink with ice and water. I swirl the boil kettle a little to cool it faster.

I add 2.5 gallons of chilled water to my carboy and then add the wort. I pour through a funnel which has a strainer in it. This helps start the aeration of the total wort volume.

I then add a bit more water to account for the boil off volume.

When the carboy is full to the 5 gallon mark the wort is usually at 58° to 62°.

I aerate by shakeing and swirling. The glass carboy is on a piece of soft ceiling tile to prevent damage to the carboy.

 

[unionrdr]

Topping up to recipe volume works just fine. I do 3.5 gallon boils in my 5 gallon kettle all the time with local spring water. I chill acouple gallons of it in the refridgerator for a day or two before brew day. Usually 3 gallons to make sure there's enough to account for boil off. Chill kettle in ice water bath in the kitchen sink down to 75F or so. Then strain into fermenter to get the gunk out & aerate it. Then use the chilled water to top off to recipe volume. This usually gets it down to 64-65F. Stir roughly for 3-5 minutes to mix the top off & wort before taking gravity reading & pitching yeast.

 

[BigFloyd]

Topping up to recipe volume works just fine. I do 3.5 gallon boils in my 5 gallon kettle all the time with local spring water. I chill acouple gallons of it in the refridgerator for a day or two before brew day. Usually 3 gallons to make sure there's enough to account for boil off. Chill kettle in ice water bath in the kitchen sink down to 75F or so. Then strain into fermenter to get the gunk out & aerate it. Then use the chilled water to top off to recipe volume. This usually gets it down to 64-65F. Stir roughly for 3-5 minutes to mix the top off & wort before taking gravity reading & pitching yeast.

This ^^^^^^^^.

 

[tryan225]

Thanks for the insight

 

[tryan225]

Another Q:

Do any steps need to be taken if I were to transfer my first batch to a 5 gal plastic carboy after it's fermented for a while if I wanted to free up my primary bucket for another batch?

 

[fartinmartin]

Leave it where it is, and start the new brew in your other bin. Best not to move them.

 

[unionrdr]

Yes! Sanitize everything that'll be touching the beer,after you make sure everything's clean first. Including the carboy/Better Bottle. And be sure the beer is at a stable FG before transfering. And you should idealy use a 5G BB for 5 gallons of beer. I got away with using my 6G BB to oak a stout recently. but minimal head space in secondary is preferred.

 

[Rhumbline]

Another Q:

Do any steps need to be taken if I were to transfer my first batch to a 5 gal plastic carboy after it's fermented for a while if I wanted to free up my primary bucket for another batch?

In addition to sanitizing everything that the brew might touch, make every effort to keep from aerating it as you transfer.

Make sure the siphon hose is laying on the bottom of the carboy and not acting as a fountain. prior to adding the yeast, aeration is fine and even beneficial to fermentation.

 

[unionrdr]

^+1^ Def use a racking tube to the bottom of the secondary vessle. Aeration is bad at this point!

 

[tryan225]

Good to know

 

[BigFloyd]

Leave it where it is, and start the new brew in your other bin. Best not to move them.

+1. Buy another fermenter bucket. They're not expensive and you should have two anyway.

 

[tryan225]

Another one:

Assuming everything is cleaned+sanitized properly, is there anything wrong with checking my gravity directly in the fermenter or will the hydrometer fall over? If that's the case, can I do it in a 22oz bottle? I should probably just go get a tube or something.

 

[flars]

Another one:

Assuming everything is cleaned+sanitized properly, is there anything wrong with checking my gravity directly in the fermenter or will the hydrometer fall over? If that's the case, can I do it in a 22oz bottle? I should probably just go get a tube or something.

The plastic tube your hydrometer came in is the best sample holder. The only way to get an accurate SG is holding the hydrometer at eye level.

 

[unionrdr]

Agreed. I use the tube the hydrometer came in,with this blue hard foam ring NB has for $1.60 to stabilize it.