Ice to cool Wort

[DrifterFred]

I brewed a Cream Ale on Sunday. To cool the wort I froze 2 gallons of spring water, cut the plastic off and threw it in the fermenting bucket. Poured the hot wort onto the ice and the temp came down to 69/70 very quickly. Does anyone see if I may have any issues wth cooling the wort this way?

 

[MikeinCT]

So presuming that the frozen spring water becomes part of the wort you may want to boil it before you freeze it. But actually that would be a precaution. BTW - how quickly did it take to cool?

 

[Fennis]

I've basically done this as well, but I did not leave it in the freezer long enough to freeze. Before I started my boil, I sanitized the jugs, then used tap water, like I always do with my batches, and put them in a chest freezer. By the time I was ready to cool things down, the water was just beginning to get a skim of ice on the top. It made it a much faster process to cool, probably cut it down by about 5 minutes, but late last year I finally decided to just get come copper and make my own chiller. If you are really looking to cut down the cooling time, you need a chiller.

 

[DrifterFred]

I would say it took around 13 - 15 minutes to get to 80 degrees...then I topped off with ice cold water to 5 gallons and it brought it down to around 70..with a few ice pieces floating...down to 69 degrees in less than 20 minutes

 

[SamHain]

I take 2, 1/2 gallon buckets. These buckets held Italian Ice. I sanitize them and add boiled water to them. I cover and throw in the freezer overnight.

When It comes time to cool I take the buckets out, run hot water over the sides and the blocks fall right out. I got the brew to cool pitching temp in 7-8 minutes with assistance from and ice bath.