ice bath

[jrakich87]

I'm brewing my 2nd batch (hoppy IPA, 8lbs DME and 6 oz hops total) right now and am planning on using an ice bath to cool to 110-140 then pour onto a few gallons of 40 degree water in my fermentor... my question is has anyone put salt in the ice bath? I believe it'd keep it colder for longer.... like when you make ice cream (I use the same trick to chill bottled beer faster)... any thoughts?

 

[Parker36]

Sounds ok in theory, it won't hurt at least

 

[carnevoodoo]

What kind of fermenter do you have?

 

[A4J]

I always put salt when I use an icebath.

 

[Slappy White]

Why not...unless you are putting it in the beer.

 

[Ernie3]

The Salt will definetely work to chill the ice bath down!
They even had an episode about salted ice water on MythBusters!
They were trying to cool beer the quickest way possible, as far as I remember this was the quickest aside from a Co2 fire extinguisher.

 

[Cpt_Kirks]

Salt will actually make the ice thaw faster.

However, the ions in the water cause increased heat transmission by lowering the freezing point, so your wort will cool faster.

 

[McDegga]

2 words, Wort chiller. This was the single most stress relieving purchase I have ever made. Well worth the investment of buying one, or make one yourself.
You can still add salt to the icebath in conjunction with a wort chiller for a double whammy.
-E

 

[Stratotankard]

Agreed on the salt working. Just make sure you put it in before you put your pot into the ice bath. I have this image of me tripping at the last moment and dumping a container of salt into my beer. I'm crazy sometimes. I'm also a clutz.

Terje

 

[TeleTwanger]

How much salt are we talking? And what kind? I use an immersion chiller and an ice water bath but it still takes 30 minutes. I'd like to try this.

 

[Needsanamebrewery]

How much salt are we talking? And what kind? I use an immersion chiller and an ice water bath but it still takes 30 minutes. I'd like to try this.

30 minutes? That seems a bit long for an ice bath/IC combo. Using this combo in hot weather I was able to get my entire 5+ gal of wort from boiling to 70* in 20 minutes; when the weather cooled a bit on the last batch I got it to 70* in 10 minutes. Now that the weather really has turned off nice, I can't wait til next time to see how quickly I can do it.

I make my ice bath in one of those plastic keg buckets. I put in about 4 bags of ice and some water, then take a large container of salt and pour some in. As far as how much salt I use, I don't know. I just pour it out for a few seconds.

Also, are you swirling your IC? That will help cool your wort much quicker.

 

[McDegga]

I cooled a batch to 71 degrees yesterday in about 8.5 minutes give or take. The key is to stir the wort gently but consistantly during the process so that as much wort contacts the copper tubing. I used my kitchen sink with cool water and a few lb's of ice from the freezer, no salt and nothing special.