No ice to cool the wort?

[so5724x]

Hi all,

I forgot to stock up on ice before brewing, and now I don't have much to cool the wort in an ice bath with. I have a bit of ice and a full sink of water, but probably will take a while to cool.

Will this be a problem for my beer quality, or does it just mean I have to wait longer? I could potentially try to run to the store to get some ice now, just kind of late.

Thansks

 

[Cbaddad]

I'd go buy some while it sits in the sink. If you have a fermentation chamber, throw it in there.

 

[wfowlks]

It's mainly for clarity of the beer and to prevent infection. I have been lazy before and put the whole pot in the fridge to cool over night and not had problems. If you followed strict sanitation guidelines you should be fine, as the hops have enough antimicrobial properties to ward off any bacteria that may have floated in.

The other benefit of putting it in the fridge over night is that you let the yeast ramp up and not start too vigerous

 

[andy6026]

Get it to pitching temps before you pitch the yeast - even if that means letting it sit overnight. So long as there is a (sanitized) lid on it then you should be able to keep infection out.

 

[estricklin]

You'll be fine.

I stopped buying ice, I buy plastic 4 quart tubs from Wal-Mart for $1.80 and fill e'm and freeze e'm. After so many months of use they crack, I grab a few new ones. I've heard other brewers that use zip lock bags but I mainly use the ice for my ice chest.

 

[WayFrae]

It will just take longer. There are a lot of people that wait until the next day to pitch yeast.

Instead of throwing money away on ice every brew day, you might as well buy or make a wort chiller. I made mine for $40.

 

[so5724x]

Thanks so much everyone, I ended up running out for some ice, worked great!