Preparing strike water night before

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ILMSTMF

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As stupid as this might sound, preparing (measuring and treating) my strike water is a big time hog on brew day. I use a gallon pitcher to add 1 gallon at a time to my brew kettle. After 4 gallons, I walk the kettle outside to the burner (not lit yet duh). Then I go back and forth filling the remaining water in the kettle. I then crush half a Campden into it and stir with whisk a little bit. It takes up more time than I'd like it to. So there's a few things I want to try to minimize time on brew day that are new / different.

• night before, fill brew bucket with about 6 gallons of strike water
• add half Campden as usual.
• (new) add gypsum and epsom salt. Acquired these salts recently and the additions will benefit this specific recipe / my tap water.
• walk it out next morning. Dump in kettle. Thought that might be a heavy lift to do but, every brew day, I aerate the (full volume) wort by pouring it back and forth between kettle and brew bucket a couple times.
• add remaining couple gallons to the kettle to get to target strike volume. Proceed with brew day as usual.

So, the kettle is bulky and heavy. Moving it with water is a pain hence the idea of storing the water in brew bucket. Much easier to lug the bucket with liquid in it then the kettle.

So what are the concerns?
I wouldn't be treating the full volume of strike water with the Campden and salts for the period of time it would be stored. Uhhh, that's about it!

Trying to save time on brew day. Was considering milling grains night before but I usually do that while the water is heating to target strike temp. All ears for any other time saving tips for brew day. Thanks!
 
I do this as well, but using the carboy that will ferment the beer being brewed. Easier for me to carry than a keggle lol
 
I now do full volume BIAB so it takes me about 8.6 gal of strike water. I have been collecting my strike water the day before into the kettle. I then drain off about 1.5-2 gal into 1 gallon jugs. On brew day, I usually get my wife to help load the kettle onto the burner. After the mash I add back whatever amount I removed. Even after the boil, it's still a bit difficult to move from burner to either the tailgate of my truck or a wooden table I use to begin the cool down.
 
I don't have trouble moving my boil kettle and HLT with my strike and sparge water, but I like to fill them the night before as well.

I'd say that it's actually a very big time saver in the morning of brew day. When I wake up in the morning, I have room temp (instead of tap temp) water and all I have to do is light the burner to start heating the water. I'll light the burner before I even make my coffee, whereas if I have to measure water out or move heavy things around, I'm very likely to put it off until I'm more awake. It probably gives me an hour head start on the brew day.
 
I’ve thought of incorporating this into my brewing as well. I’ll be adding a half a campden tablet, some salts and lactic acid to my mash water. I do full volume BIAB so I’ll be treating 8 gallons. Do you know if there are any problems making those additions 8 or 12 hours before mashing?
 
Here's an option: Use a hose to fill your kettle. If I'm not using jugs of RO water, that's what I do.
Food-safe hoses are cheap and easy to make with some tubing, a barb, and a hose clamp.
The water volume can be easily measured with a yard stick, broomstick, or similar.

I’ve thought of incorporating this into my brewing as well. I’ll be adding a half a campden tablet, some salts and lactic acid to my mash water. I do full volume BIAB so I’ll be treating 8 gallons. Do you know if there are any problems making those additions 8 or 12 hours before mashing?
There are no problems with that.

Cheers
 
I second the use of a hose. No lifting this way. Unless your water supply absolutely needs the filtration just use the water as is and treat the entire volume with Campden and salts. The Campden does not hang around once added so late additions will not be treated and you may get some chloromines in your beer as a result.
 
I just run to Wal-Mart the day before brew day and fill up 6 1-gallon jugs at their water jug machine. I use that as my strike water. Also the day before I boil 2.5 gallons of my tap water as I usually need a little less than that for my sparge for my BIAB setup. On brew morning I just throw the 6 gallons of Wal-Mart water in the kettle and start up the burner. I'm lucky though living so close to a Wal-Mart and it's only $2.22/brew batch for the water.
 
As stupid as this might sound, preparing (measuring and treating) my strike water is a big time hog on brew day. I use a gallon pitcher to add 1 gallon at a time to my brew kettle. After 4 gallons, I walk the kettle outside to the burner (not lit yet duh). Then I go back and forth filling the remaining water in the kettle. I then crush half a Campden into it and stir with whisk a little bit. It takes up more time than I'd like it to. So there's a few things I want to try to minimize time on brew day that are new / different.

• night before, fill brew bucket with about 6 gallons of strike water
• add half Campden as usual.
• (new) add gypsum and epsom salt. Acquired these salts recently and the additions will benefit this specific recipe / my tap water.
walk it out next morning. Dump in kettle. Thought that might be a heavy lift to do but, every brew day, I aerate the (full volume) wort by pouring it back and forth between kettle and brew bucket a couple times.
• add remaining couple gallons to the kettle to get to target strike volume. Proceed with brew day as usual.


So, the kettle is bulky and heavy. Moving it with water is a pain hence the idea of storing the water in brew bucket. Much easier to lug the bucket with liquid in it then the kettle.

So what are the concerns?
I wouldn't be treating the full volume of strike water with the Campden and salts for the period of time it would be stored. Uhhh, that's about it!

Trying to save time on brew day. Was considering milling grains night before but I usually do that while the water is heating to target strike temp. All ears for any other time saving tips for brew day. Thanks!

Use a plastic (brew) bucket to carry the water out to your kettle that is sitting on the burrner or better yet, use two so you carry one in each hand for balance. Approximate the amount, it isn't that critical to be exact. Add your 1/2 campden and brewing salts and stir. Put a cover on the kettle to keep leaves and insects out. Leave it there all night. It doesn't need aerated, it doesn't need topped off. Brew day morning, light the burner and bring the water to strike temp. That temp is high enough to kill off any bacteria/bugs.
 
I’ve thought of incorporating this into my brewing as well. I’ll be adding a half a campden tablet, some salts and lactic acid to my mash water. I do full volume BIAB so I’ll be treating 8 gallons. Do you know if there are any problems making those additions 8 or 12 hours before mashing?

There are no problems with that.

Cheers

@North_of_60 - I am exactly in that boat and that's what I was wondering too - can I prep the water with Campden and salts and let that water rest for many hours before heating. Thank you @RPh_Guy for confirming that's safe!
However, thinking about it, adding that tablet and those salts really won't take much time. I suppose those additions could be done morning-of-brew... to the full strike volume in the kettle.

Use a plastic (brew) bucket to carry the water out to your kettle that is sitting on the burrner or better yet, use two so you carry one in each hand for balance. Approximate the amount, it isn't that critical to be exact. Add your 1/2 campden and brewing salts and stir. Put a cover on the kettle to keep leaves and insects out. Leave it there all night. It doesn't need aerated, it doesn't need topped off. Brew day morning, light the burner and bring the water to strike temp. That temp is high enough to kill off any bacteria/bugs.

I've got a 1 gallon pitcher with volume markings. I like the idea of carrying 8 total gallons in two buckets! I can use my primary and bottling bucket for that. That bottling bucket sure has come in handy as a utility bucket since I graduated to kegging. :mug:
While I'd love to save even more time, there's no F'n way I'm going to leave my burner and kettle out over night. Risk of theft, no thanks. Even if they need to dump 8 gallons before swiping it, risk is still there lol

Thanks all!
 
I don't like carrying heavy buckets of water anywhere so very early on I set up my system so that I don't have to move water. I have my HLT on a burner high enough to drain into my mash tun. I fill it from a hose with a house charcoal filter inline. The mash tun is high enough to drain into the boil kettle. And it is high enough to drain into my fermenters. The only heavy thing I have to lift is the fermenter to the chamber and the spent grain to the trash or compost pile.

Do your back a favor and limit the water carrying.
 
every brew day, I aerate the (full volume) wort by pouring it back and forth between kettle and brew bucket a couple times.

You're doing that before the mash? Don't! You don't want to aerate anything until you get to the stage where you're about to pitch yeast - only then do you want any oxygen near your wort. I actually boil my water before the mash, to boil out any oxygen, then let it cool to mash temperature.

If you're looking at a two-stage brewday, you might want to think about doing an overnight mash - it's a useful way to streamline your day - you're sleeping whilst normally you'd be waiting for the mash to finish - and helps efficiency. It's been discussed plenty on HBT, do a search for it.

Then do a no-chill to take you into a third day and your "contact time" is further reduced!
 
I use a gallon pitcher to add 1 gallon at a time to my brew kettle.

Here's an option: Use a hose to fill your kettle. If I'm not using jugs of RO water, that's what I do.
Food-safe hoses are cheap and easy to make with some tubing, a barb, and a hose clamp.
The water volume can be easily measured with a yard stick, broomstick, or similar.

I use an RV hose long enough to go from my outside hose bib to the kettle. You could use a hose to fill your pitcher, so you can fill the kettle on the burner. No lifting or carrying that way for $10-20.


I don't like carrying heavy buckets of water anywhere so very early on I set up my system so that I don't have to move water. I have my HLT on a burner high enough to drain into my mash tun. I fill it from a hose with a house charcoal filter inline. The mash tun is high enough to drain into the boil kettle. And it is high enough to drain into my fermenters. The only heavy thing I have to lift is the fermenter to the chamber and the spent grain to the trash or compost pile.

Do your back a favor and limit the water carrying.

This is exactly a main consideration with my brew space evolution, minimize lifting as much as reasonable


I aerate the (full volume) wort

No need to aerate the water. The campden tablet will reduce both chlorine(bad) and chloramine(bad) to chloride (neutral to good). Alot the gases will be driven out when you heat and most will driven out in the boil.
 
You're doing that before the mash? Don't! You don't want to aerate anything until you get to the stage where you're about to pitch yeast -

No need to aerate the water. The campden tablet will reduce both chlorine(bad) and chloramine(bad) to chloride (neutral to good). Alot the gases will be driven out when you heat and most will driven out in the boil.

I should have been more clear about that. I do not aerate my strike water, post-mash wort, flame-out wort. The only aeration I do is post-cooling and pre-pitch. I used the "lift bucket, dump to kettle, back and forth" note as an illustration that I can lift about 6 gallons and dump it. It requires two adults to do the kettle dump but I can do the bucket dump with minimal assistance.

Thanks all!
 
I don't like carrying heavy buckets of water anywhere so very early on I set up my system so that I don't have to move water. I have my HLT on a burner high enough to drain into my mash tun. I fill it from a hose with a house charcoal filter inline. The mash tun is high enough to drain into the boil kettle. And it is high enough to drain into my fermenters. The only heavy thing I have to lift is the fermenter to the chamber and the spent grain to the trash or compost pile.

Do your back a favor and limit the water carrying.

I could not agree more! excellent point, I too have gone to a system that has very little carrying of heavy liquids. I have a two vessel recirculating system that I modeled after "Joe", I have a sink right next to my setup so I can fill the mash tun and BK with a hose and even hook up my CFC and drain the water into the sink (whatever water Im not keeping for cleaning). The only lifting is the fermenter about 3 feet to the chamber where it sits for about 4 weeks.......................cheers
 
Here's an option: Use a hose to fill your kettle. If I'm not using jugs of RO water, that's what I do.
Food-safe hoses are cheap and easy to make with some tubing, a barb, and a hose clamp.
The water volume can be easily measured with a yard stick, broomstick, or similar.


There are no problems with that.

Cheers

This is a smart idea. Next time you brew, take the time to fill your kettle a half gallon at a time and put markings on a stick or your paddle...then you can use other means to fill your kettle.
 
I should have been more clear about that. I do not aerate my strike water, post-mash wort, flame-out wort. The only aeration I do is post-cooling and pre-pitch. I used the "lift bucket, dump to kettle, back and forth" note as an illustration that I can lift about 6 gallons and dump it. It requires two adults to do the kettle dump but I can do the bucket dump with minimal assistance.

Thanks all!

That makes more sense. I wasn't saying that you should remove any lifting, but any difficult lifting. I often am brewing by myself, so the lifting is unsafe or difficult with just one person, I try to work around it. Like you, my kettle would be difficult for one person to move full of water without getting drenched, so I fill in place. I don't have any pumps and don't really want the hassle, so I set my MT on the ground and fill with strike, drag it over a bit, and then it is a straight lift onto the table.

Also to make my brew day go smoother I try to stage everything the evening before, so all I have to do in the morning is light the burner on the strike water and go make coffee. I usually aim to be done by lunch.
 
you might want to think about doing an overnight mash

I meant to address this earlier. I have a separate thread asking about the potential to do a "mash the night before". Not an overnight mash, per se. Short version - I'm full volume BIAB. I wanted to save time by doing the hour mash, hoisting bag, let drain for a bit, squeeze, put the lid on. Then bring to boil within 12 hours. The consensus was that this would be safe to do but not to let it sit much longer than 12 hours before boiling.
The outstanding issue is that the mash requires lifting the kettle (a second adult is needed). So, would need to do at a reasonable hour of the evening when someone isn't sleeping / can help me lift. Whatever, have already been down this road and know what to do if the day ever comes. ;-)

I often am brewing by myself, so the lifting is unsafe or difficult with just one person, I try to work around it. Like you, my kettle would be difficult for one person to move full of water without getting drenched, so I fill in place.
Also to make my brew day go smoother I try to stage everything the evening before, so all I have to do in the morning is light the burner on the strike water and go make coffee. I usually aim to be done by lunch.

Yup. This is easy for me. I get all the utensils and stuff out that is necessary for brew day. Except I take the hops out of the freezer and measure them during the mash rest.

Time-saving idea I've devised that I could use some confirmation of safety for:

I'm doing a simple vitality starter on brew day. This also adds time and complexity to my brew day. I thought that perhaps I could boil that starter wort the night prior and leave the lid on the pot. It probably won't cool all the way down to pitching temp after 10 hours (I've done something similar before and the liquid in the pot was still warm the next morning). Since the lid remains sealed, I think this would be safe enough to pitch yeast into for the same-day vitality starter. Yes or no?

Thanks all!
 
I'm doing a simple vitality starter on brew day. This also adds time and complexity to my brew day. I thought that perhaps I could boil that starter wort the night prior and leave the lid on the pot. It probably won't cool all the way down to pitching temp after 10 hours (I've done something similar before and the liquid in the pot was still warm the next morning). Since the lid remains sealed, I think this would be safe enough to pitch yeast into for the same-day vitality starter. Yes or no?

What yeast are you using? If dry, then any kind of starter is a bad idea.

I think this comes under "you're probably OK" - but the starter is the one part of the process that I personally wouldn't leave to "probably OK", as it's so super-sensitive to contamination. I'm paranoid like that - the bugs ARE out to get me!

OK, a vitality starter is not incubated for so long, but as a one-time microbiologist, I wouldn't leave any starter media hanging around unless it was a) sealed properly and b) "autoclaved", which at the homescale means cooking in a pressure cooker at >120*C for 15-20 minutes. Just don't leave anything sealed tight whilst pressure cooking because they _will_explode - loosen all caps before cooking, then tighten them again once below boiling point.

In the lab autoclaved media would last for months, I don't quite trust things to last as long in a home environment but it's certainly fine if you do it a few days before - I tend to cook up a batch with starter, some yeast wrangling things, pipettes for small additions during the brew, a solution of priming sugar and so on.
 
What yeast are you using? If dry, then any kind of starter is a bad idea.

Yes, I'm aware, thank you. Using 1318 in this batch.

You're right. Not worth leaving something sensitive to chance. If that's not a typical workflow, I won't be the risk taker. I might just put it into a typical starter a few days in advance instead. We'll see how this week plays out. Thanks!
 
...preparing (measuring and treating) my strike water is a big time hog on brew day. I use a gallon pitcher to add 1 gallon at a time to my brew kettle....

I mark the initial fill depth and the post boil depth on a piece of masking tape on the handle of my big brewing spoon. That makes it real easy to get the water and wort volumes right. I use the (free) Priceless brewing calculator to generate the depth numbers.

... I aerate the (full volume) wort by pouring it back and forth between kettle and brew bucket a couple times...

I built a stand to elevate my burner so it is high enough to allow it to be drained into my fermenter. I cut the hose length so the wort falls through the air inside the fermenter, and splashes as it fills. My back is very happy with that arrangement, and the yeast seem to be happy too, because they've been making very good beer.

I brew at the loading dock area of my shop, and there's no water on that end of the building. I re-purposed an old garden hose reel cart so I can use it to move my kettle and fermenter. I put the empty kettle on the cart and fill it with a short hose connected to the sink faucet, then roll it back to the dock. After the wort is chilled I put the empty fermenter in the cart and drain directly into it, then roll it to the fermentation fridge.

IMG_20180112_154352_193.jpg IMG_20180112_162203_775.jpg

The only heavy lifting I have to do is to lift the kettle off the cart onto the burner, and lift the fermeter into my fermentation fridge. For 60 I'm in good shape, but I'm very careful with how I do those lifts.

My fermentation chamber is a large(ish) wine fridge. I have it elevated so that I can drain directly from the fermenter into a bottling bucket or keg that is sitting on the cart.

...Trying to save time on brew day. Was considering milling grains night before but I usually do that while the water is heating to target strike temp. All ears for any other time saving tips for brew day.

I think my biggest time saver is that I brew with a very simple single vessel BIAB rig. There is just not much gear to setup, clean, and put away at the end of the day, so time is saved at every step. I never have problems with controllers, wort pumps, etc, because I don't use them.

My efficiency is high enough to meet or exceed the target for "normal" beers without sparging, so I don't sparge (therefore I never have stuck sparge issues).

I use a thermometer that has hi/low alarms and a remote probe. It's a time saver because I don't have to be at the kettle to monitor temps. I can be doing other things, it will beep me when the temp is right (or wrong).

IMG_20180208_135342_829.jpg

My wort chilling system is very fast, plus it creates the hot & warm water I need for post brew cleanup. It's nice to have the cleanup water ready to go right there where it's needed.

My total brew time is about 3:45. That includes all steps from starting to fill the kettle to the end of cleanup. Nothing is prepped the night before. I do a full hour mash and boil. I'm efficient, but I definitely don't rush.
 
I mark the initial fill depth and the post boil depth on a piece of masking tape on the handle of my big brewing spoon. That makes it real easy to get the water and wort volumes right. I use the (free) Priceless brewing calculator to generate the depth numbers.


I built a stand to elevate my burner so it is high enough to allow it to be drained into my fermenter. I cut the hose length so the wort falls through the air inside the fermenter, and splashes as it fills. My back is very happy with that arrangement, and the yeast seem to be happy too, because they've been making very good beer.

I use a thermometer that has hi/low alarms and a remote probe. It's a time saver because I don't have to be at the kettle to monitor temps. I can be doing other things, it will beep me when the temp is right (or wrong).

My wort chilling system is very fast, plus it creates the hot & warm water I need for post brew cleanup. It's nice to have the cleanup water ready to go right there where it's needed.

My total brew time is about 3:45. That includes all steps from starting to fill the kettle to the end of cleanup. Nothing is prepped the night before. I do a full hour mash and boil. I'm efficient, but I definitely don't rush.

Some outstanding, inspiring advice in here!

1) I will find some kind of instrument to create volume markings on. I use a whisk now but I have a long plastic spoon too. The ruler has always been a pain to read when placed in the water. Poor vision...

2) Think I might take the plunge and finally use my kettle's built-in ball valve to drain cooled wort to FV. I have resisted doing this out of fear of contamination. After a brew day, I clean the kettle with Oxi Clean then rinse and store. I don't run Star San through the kettle, ever. Would it be considered "safe" to use that valve after wort has been boiled in the kettle? :off:

3) I usually run the WC water right down the drain. Wasteful, I know. I really like your idea of collecting the first 5 gallons into a separate bucket for cleaning later. Brilliant!

Wish I could do a brew start to finish in under 4 hours, bravo!
 
.... Would it be considered "safe" to use that valve after wort has been boiled in the kettle?...

Yes and no. Here's an article regarding a hard to diagnose infection issue that turned out to be valve related. Their conclusion is that if you have a high output burner (with a wide heating area) that throws enough heat to sanitize the outer portion of the valve then all is good.

My burner has heat concentrated near the center of the kettle, so I'm not confident it santizes the outer part of the valve. What I do is disassemble and clean the valve every 2-3 brews. I've never had an infection.

Even though I clean thoroughly after every brew, I find gunk in the valve when it is disassembled.

...Wish I could do a brew start to finish in under 4 hours...

If you are enjoying your brewing, then you are doing it right.
 
Yes and no. Here's an article regarding a hard to diagnose infection issue that turned out to be valve related. Their conclusion is that if you have a high output burner (with a wide heating area) that throws enough heat to sanitize the outer portion of the valve then all is good.


If you are enjoying your brewing, then you are doing it right.

Glad I saw this now. I use this Blichmann:

https://www.blichmannengineering.com/products/toptier-brew-stand-and-burners#slideshow-0

Rated lower BTU then the Hell Fire burner referenced in that article. So, what am I going to do before brewing? Take that valve apart and clean it then reinstall on the kettle. I don't know if just running hot Oxi out of the valve after every brew day is enough.

Thanks!
 
... I use this Blichmann.... Rated lower BTU then the Hell Fire burner referenced in that article...

IR thermometers are cheap these days (Lowes, Harbor Freight, etc.). You could use one to see if the outer portion of the valve is getting hot enough to sanitize it. You have a nice burner, so it may be sanitizing your valve during the boil(?).

... So, what am I going to do before brewing? Take that valve apart and clean it then reinstall on the kettle. I don't know if just running hot Oxi out of the valve after every brew day is enough.

When I clean my kettle post brew I do the same as you, run hot cleaning solution through the valve. I operating the valve several times as the cleaner is flowing.

Taking the valve apart for cleaning every so often is probably a good idea, even if your burner is hot enough to sanitize it during the boil. Though not a requirement in that case, because if your valve gets hot enough any bugs in there are going to be dead bugs.

Before I connect my drain hose to the kettle valve I spray StarSan up inside the valve. I keep a 5gal bucket of StarSan mixed up, the drain hose sits in that for several minutes before it gets connected.
 
You shouldn't have to worry too much about using the valve. The inside will be sanitized by the hot wort. Then spray some sanitizer into the outside half. No worries.
 
Wanted to share an update - all went well!

The night before brewing I:

• divided the necessary 7.9 gallons between 2 buckets
• prepared volumes of salts, half a Campden tablet, and half a Whirlfloc tablet
• prepared the volume of water needed for a vitality starter as well as the volume of needed DME for that starter. The DME was stored in a Ziplock. Water remained in a covered SS pot.

Those are now going to be employed as night prior procedures.

The following is a one-time procedure I did night prior that will expedite future brew days:

• marked an old brew spoon and a ruler with gallon volume markings. I poured one gallon at a time into my kettle, measured and marked the two tools. Removed enough water and discarded to then be left with the necessary 7.9 gallons for next day.

These were new brew-day procedures I employed that either saved me time or made some kind of positive impact (or both):

• for whatever reason, I had previously feared using a drill with my grain mill. Not this day, that went well! I made sure batteries were charged up night prior.
• I reclaimed about 13 gallons of water from the WC output. I later used that for cleaning the kettle. Indeed, a pain to lift three buckets full of water but saved me the time of being hunched over the kettle with a shower head filling it up to clean it... What's bad is that after that initial claiming of water, I ran the output into my washing machine. Filled the tub up and STILL was not down to pitching temp. Took another 10 minutes to get the temp down - that water went down the drain. For next time, I am considering using my 400gph aquarium pump to recirculate ice water through the WC after the initial supply water has done its job.
another fear has been overcome. Instead of dumping the chilled wort back and forth between kettle and FV (to aerate), I opened the kettle's ball valve allowing the wort to "pee" into the FV. It took a little while but the foam it formed gives me confidence in the amount of aeration this created. I also stirred it with a whisk. Then pitched then gently whisked.
For those wondering, I did the following to sanitize the ball valve. With 5 minutes left in the boil, I sprayed the valve with Star San. Opened valve and let 3 quarts into a pitcher. I poured that boiling wort back into the kettle, drained another 3 quarts, returned that wort to kettle, sprayed valve with Star San again, continued with brew day as usual. After cooling the wort, I sprayed the valve again with Star San then opened it to transfer wort into the FV.

Brew day was definitely less stressful than usual. Thanks for all your suggestions!
 
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Well done on making your brew day less stressful!

I agree with you that recirculation is the way to go. What I do (for a 5gal batch) is first recirculate from a 5gal bucket of tap water. When that water is within a few degrees of the wort (which works out to be about 140F), then I move the hoses and recirculate from a cooler full of ice water (~20lbs of ice + 5gal water).

That way the total volume of water used is less, and all of it gets saved for post brew cleanup.

If you just run water through the chiller one time, you're not utilizing all of its chilling capacity.
 
Late to the party but I second the RV hose @lump42

I also agree w recirc for chill - I use hose hookup to immersion chiller output into a couple buckets first, then switch to 600gph pond pump in cooler with 16# ice. The whole chill process takes 15-23m for 5g batch.
 
When I recirculate ice water, I use 20-30# and only add a gallon water. Just enough to cover the pump. Helps preserve the ice. I can easily get down to lager pitch temp - 50F
 
I'm going :off: in my own thread but now that I've got your attention...

Clearly, I've never recirculated ice water for wort chilling purposes. @balrog @lump42 @LittleRiver - can you agree on a logical reason for using 1 gallon of water with more ice versus 5 gallons with less ice? Furthermore, I could use some tips on efficient format for ice and storage of it. Would not seem economical to use cubed ice every time.
Also not sure how easily I could store bottles of ice (repurposing Poland Spring 16oz bottles with frozen tap water). How many of those bottles you think would be needed? Maybe I could empty them at end of brew day, store them empty somewhere. Fill a couple days before brew day and put in freezer. The idea here is minimizing long-term storage in freezer. SWMBO would not be pleased...neither would I, actually.

Thanks very much!
 
I got this formula from a post somewhere on HBT

Amount of ice = ((start temp - final temp)*gallons of wort *weight of water )/BTU to melt one pound of ice
= ((start temp - final temp)*gallons of wort*8.3)/144

Seems to come close what to what I see. I make ice blocks in the 48oz round glad containers they are about 2.5lb each and three gets me about 20 degrees of cooling.

Not sure if it really matters but I start with a small amount of initial water as I dont want to waste the cooling power of the ice.
 
Physics. The thermal output from phase change BIG compared to that of temp-diff. You gain quite a bit of cooling from ice melting, versus warming cool/cold water.

My pump requires submersion to start working so that's why I add water to the cooler.

Typically, I run a garden hose through my 3/8 copper immersion chiller, and I stand there and agitate the bejeebers out of it, up down, all around, back and forth, put your left leg, take your left leg out, etc
Starting at boiling,
2m, fill 5G bucket, ending temp 149°F
2m more, fill another 5G bucket, ending temp 118°F
2m more, fill my 4g grain bucket holding my emptied BIAB bag, ending temp ~100°F
Then plug in the recirc, ending at 60-67 depending on recipe and yeast.
 
@balrog OK, this is getting more clear for me. In your cooler:

• how much water are you using with that 16# of ice?
• is that initial water coming from ground water supply? Or do you capture some IC water into the cooler after your 4G grain bucket?

Thank you!
 
@ILMSTMF , I put pond pump in cooler, dump bag-ice in cooler, run garden hose (RV hose as mentioned above actually) from outside house spigot into garage brew space through chiller to fill 2-3 buckets at beginning of chilling, then run a little more into cooler just to cover pump so I won't be starting it dry. Then I switch RV hose off and sw chiller input coupling from RV to pond pump. Chiller output is of course switched into cooler.

Sorry. Long answer. Short answer is proly 1/2-1gallon?
 
I usually fill a 50 qt cooler with ice, but I have the luxury of having access to a ice machine at work. I fill it the friday before I brew. When I've forgotten, I run down the street to the corner store and pick up two bags of ice. It's about $5 per bag, but the time savings is immense, especially in summer when ground water is warm.
 
I empty my refrigerator icemaker bin into my ice chest / chilled water reservoir the night before brewing. By morning I have another bin full, and I dump that into the water - ice slurry from the night before. Drop in the pond pump and it's ready to chill. I've never had to purchase ice for brewing. I use a two - stage CFC, so the chilled water only has to cool the wort from tap water temp out of the first stage.
 
...logical reason for using 1 gallon of water with more ice versus 5 gallons with less ice?...

5gal of water has a larger thermal mass, or heat capacity, than 1gal. Add ice and it can absorb even more heat.

Another reason I like having 5gal of water in the cooler with my ice is that it results in enough warm water to fully submerge my immersion chiller during cleanup. It is too big to fit in the bucket.

... tips on efficient format for ice and storage of it... The idea here is minimizing long-term storage in freezer...

I pay $1.99+tax for 20lb of ice at a local grocery store on my brew days. For that price, I'm happy to let someone else make and package the ice for me. Convenience stores charge three times that much, so shop around.
 
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