Hello from the East Bay!

[Noobrew]

Brewed a batch of meade 10 years ago- meh. Then I found a bottle 7 years ago. Excellent. 6 years ago my second batch went off. Hung it up until today. Startrd after my store closed. Mistake 1. My buddy talked me down when I forgot to add the bitters till i was supposed to add the aromas, told me to extend the boil and try dry hopping it. Now he's asleep and I'm worried its taking over an hour and a half to chill a 5 gallon boil with a homemade immersion chiller pumped 60gpm through a closed system with 20' of 1/4 copper. Opened the system to remove the exhaust heat but 90 mins after i turned off the stove its 48* going in, 102* coming out. 20lbs of ice and four trays gone.

Is it taking too long? Should I be worried about contamination? Being anal about the sterilization. How much trub do I want for the dry hop, its a california amber.

Anyone here now to talk me down?

 

[Jaybird]

When using an immersion chiller make sure to keep it moving about every 1-2 min give it a little shake to keep the warm wort away from the chiller. Slow down the chiller water speed if you can and give it a chance to transfer the thermal mass from hot to cold. 20' of 1/4" copper tubing for an immersion is a tad small in the first place. Yes its taking to long but you'll be just fine. Not really sure about your question about the trub and dry hop?
Cheers
Jay

 

[Noobrew]

My buddy said if i under hopped the boil i could intentionally leave some extra sediment in the fermenter and it was the same as dry hopping.

I don't know if you're supposed to taste the wort or if it can tell you anything anyway, but I sampled the wort from the hygrometer tube... Seems promising?

How long before i should worry if I don't think the fermenting is starting?

 

[Jaybird]

My buddy said if i under hopped the boil i could intentionally leave some extra sediment in the fermenter and it was the same as dry hopping.

I don't know if you're supposed to taste the wort or if it can tell you anything anyway, but I sampled the wort from the hygrometer tube... Seems promising?

How long before i should worry if I don't think the fermenting is starting?

Never really heard of the extra sediment deal. But, what works for some...

12-24 hour lag times are normal for some to see signs of fermentation, depending on several factors, for sure. What temp were you able to get the wort down to before you pitched?

You are always supposed to taste everything! Its a rule in my brewery.

 

[Noobrew]

After i opened the system and drained the exhaust water, it dropped pretty fast. I think I put the yeast in at room temperature, which was about 77*F. (At about midnight. I love Cali!)

 

[Kegcowboy]

Ohhh ahhhh - Welcome?

 

[Noobrew]

Thanks. Bottled my first and brewed my second last Friday... Been sneaking bottles from the first batch already so that I could actually RDWHAHB, already has a nice head and each day it gets better. It will be fun to track its progress.