Iced wort

[jpr210]

i just brewed my second batch of beer today, an american pale ale, and after the boil i threw some ice in the wort to help bring it down to the right temp to pitch the yeast...is this ok? i know i should relax and not worry, but theres a part of me that just has a hard time doing that haha

also, OG=1.060, is that about right?

 

[hoppymonkey]

OG is good. Adding ice can lead to infection, but more than likely it will OK.

 

[jpr210]

out of curiosity, what about the ice can cause an infection?

 

[MmmmBeer]

You just can be sure it is sterilized is all.

 

[PaulTheGhost]

Unless the ice was made from RO water under a sterile environment, it CAN lead to an infection. But more than likely it wont. I still don't have a chiller, so I have throw a pound of ice from my freezer in the past three batches and haven't had any ill side effects.

But if you're really worried, splurge and buy a chiller.

 

[hoppymonkey]

+1 on these guys comments. More than likely the yeast will takeover before anything gets a chance to do so.

 

[CameronMurie]

I have a chest freezer and I keep a big space in it and just place my part-cooled pot of wort in there...crank up the freezer....in about half an hour its at Pitching temp. OR: place it in the sink and dump a load of ice all round it with some cold tap water...cools in around an hour that way.

 

[rycov]

i've done it before and it was fine. i cant see how its much different than adding tap water (if you fill a sanitized jug from the tap and freeze it that is). i have a chiller now and i love it. its worth getting if you're thinking about it. other wise i'd just keep doing what your doing as long as it keeps working out.

 

[jpr210]

if that is the case i think i should be fine, it was just 2 gallons of drinking water from walmart that i froze. it didn't fully thaw out by the time my boil was done so i just threw it in

 

[jaz5833]

I have a chest freezer and I keep a big space in it and just place my part-cooled pot of wort in there...crank up the freezer....in about half an hour its at Pitching temp. OR: place it in the sink and dump a load of ice all round it with some cold tap water...cools in around an hour that way.

If you keep the wort in motion it will do the job in about half that time. I slowly rock the pot back and forth just enough to create movement.

 

[ChickenArise]

While I'm saving up for a chiller, I've been thinking about boiling some water, making a chunk of ice, and throwing it in at whirlpool.

 

[boomtown25]

Next time, the day before, buy a gallon of spring water and put in a gallon sized zip lock bag that has been washed with Starsan. Freeze it. Then when you are cooling your wort, dump it in there (after removing the bag!). This will bring down the temp and help clear the beer and if you use an ice bath as well you can get 2.5 gallons of wort to 60 degrees under 15 minutes or less.

 

[Longwave]

I've only made two batches, but started after using the Sam Adam's Home Brewing Kit from beer-wine hobby, and on the DVD, Jim Koch literally had 2 gallons of water he had frozen, cut open the jug, put them in the fermenter and ladled the wort onto it, to help bring the temperature down quickly.... so that's what I've been doing.

I figured if that crazy guy does it, then so can I. It's worked so far.

 

[dunard2]

While I'm saving up for a chiller, I've been thinking about boiling some water, making a chunk of ice, and throwing it in at whirlpool.

I just made one for ~$30 using 20' of 3/8" dia copper tubing and two compression fitted dishwasher supply line connections. With a garden hose hooked up from my laundry room sink to one end, and another piece of hose from the other end back to my sink to drain, I can cool 3-4 gal of wort down to pitching temp in about 20 minutes.

 

[azbrews]

Here in AZ, if I don't use a wort chiller I will put 8lbs of Ice in the wort to help get the temp down, but strain out the ice that is unmelted and then top off. This has helped get the temp of the wort down faster. most of the homebrewing stores around here sell filtered ice that is as close to clean as I can find. Hope that helped.