Question About Cooling

[20000Barrels]

Right now the temperature is 15 degrees.

So I have a black IPA kit I am getting ready to brew.

After the boil I want to bring the temp down without wort chiller.

So I am going to form a block of ice in a tub out side. Then I want to set the hot pot down in the ice.


With the wort chiller I can bring the temp down to 72 degrees from boil in about 7 minutes.

I am predicting it will take 20 minutes in the cold on the block of ice to get temp down.

What flavors should I expect with the slower cooling time?
Thanks

 

[nukinfuts29]

I have never seen a difference when I cool outside

 

[Haputanlas]

While you are cooling, your hops are still being utilized (Which is why it is preferred to cool quickly with IPAs).

Your later hop additions will add more bitterness to the beer and those same hops will lose a tiny bit of their aroma/flavor additions. However, don't worry about it because it won't be much of a change. 20 minutes isn't a HUGE deal, but it would be just a little bit noticeable.

 

[20000Barrels]

thank you.

What kind of beer would taste really good with this outside technique?

 

[Haputanlas]

IPAs are known to benefit from late hop additions. Some other newer styles also benefit from this, but not too many.

If a particular style doesn't really require much late hop addition, then you would not see much, if any, difference. For example, a hef, a stout, a porter, etc.

Either way, I wouldn't worry about making IPAs. They will still come out great. My cooling down time is between 12-15 minutes and my IPAs and IIPAs are friggin awesome (not biased or anything ). I used to have 20 minute cool-downs and the IPAs still came out awesome.

I wouldn't expect that this cool-down time would make an amazing IPA turn into an OK IPA. Likely, the same Amazing IPA would still be amazing.

 

[A4J]

While you are cooling, your hops are still being utilized (Which is why it is preferred to cool quickly with IPAs).

Your later hop additions will add more bitterness to the beer and those same hops will lose a tiny bit of their aroma/flavor additions. However, don't worry about it because it won't be much of a change. 20 minutes isn't a HUGE deal, but it would be just a little bit noticeable.

I would disagree. 20 minutes is such a short time for it to impart any noticeable bitterness. Remember too that bitterness is extract at or near boiling temps. After a few minutes out in the cold you're no where near boiling temps anymore. Besides, IPA's are supposed to be bitter.

 

[Haputanlas]

I would disagree. 20 minutes is such a short time for it to impart any noticeable bitterness. Remember too that bitterness is extract at or near boiling temps. After a few minutes out in the cold you're no where near boiling temps anymore. Besides, IPA's are supposed to be bitter.

The purpose of my response was to suggest that it really wouldn't make much of a difference. However, my statement is fully correct in that your hops are continuing to be utilized while at the hotter temps. It may not be a long time, and it may not make much difference, but if you aren't cooling as quickly as others, you ARE utilizing more of the hops.

In response to the bitterness, of course you want to have bitterness for an IPA. However, the point I was making is that the purpose of the late additions are to keep the aromatics and flavors where you were expecting them to be (Late additions).

Ultimately, we agree that this shouldn't make much of a difference (If at all).

 

[A4J]

Ultimately, we agree that this shouldn't make much of a difference (If at all).

Gotcha.

 

[squirrelly]

I always cool as quickly as possible especially with my big IPAs and IIPAs, but the Sulfide factor and wild yeast is more of a concern to me than a little extra heat on my late addition hops. If the late hops haven't done exactly what I'd hoped for I can always adjust dry hopping schedules. I just want to get that wort down to pitching temp (61*) and in the fermenter as quickly as possible.

 

[20000Barrels]

Well my outdoor cooling experiment did not go as expected. It took 45 minutes to get down to 68 degrees. The outside temp was around 24 degrees and not the estimated 19 degrees. (dam weatherman was off) This Black IPA kit had a lot of sugar in. It even called for 1lb of corn sugar at the end of the boil.

 

[RM-MN]

For the next time you try to chill without the wort chiller, fill a tub (big tub is better) with cool water and then add ice to it. The water will make better contact with the pot and the ice floating in the water will keep it near the freezing point. Add ice as necessary.

 

[chickypad]

So you have a wort chiller, are you just trying to save water? I would think your ground water would be pretty cold and chill pretty fast.

 

[20000Barrels]

So you have a wort chiller, are you just trying to save water? I would think your ground water would be pretty cold and chill pretty fast.

At 20 degrees the outside faucet is frozen.


So that is why I am unable to use the wort chiller.

 

[dkennedy]

For future, you might pick up an adapter from the hardware shop to go from sink threads (remove the aerator) to garden hose threads, think that was 4 or 5 clams at Home Depot.

 

[swackattack]

I was thinking the same thing. icebath+being outside=excellent chilling time?

 

[RM-MN]

I was thinking the same thing. icebath+being outside=excellent chilling time?

I think that the wort chiller would be faster but it will take more water and require more attention as the water coming in is at pressure and the water going out is hot. With these conditions it would be quite easy to develop a leak. In my case I usually have a bank of snow available to shovel into the big tub full of water and I know that as long as I keep snow floating in it the temperature of the water will be just above freezing. I check it a couple of times during the chilling and add snow as necessary but the rest of the time I can be inside doing cleanup or surfing HomeBrewTalk.

 

[venquessa]

I read that IPA is "India Pale Ale" and was a style of brewing so that beer could be shipped from England to the British army in India, which in those days was a long hot voyage. The extra hops help to preserve the beer.

I have also heard it called "Imperial Pale Ale", but I guess it's the same thing.

Is this true though?

 

[Casedeville]

I read that IPA is "India Pale Ale" and was a style of brewing so that beer could be shipped from England to the British army in India, which in those days was a long hot voyage. The extra hops help to preserve the beer.

I have also heard it called "Imperial Pale Ale", but I guess it's the same thing.

Is this true though?

Yes, you're correct on the first one about IPA (India Pale Ale) and the hops being a great preservative.

But the Imperial Pale Ale is not the same as IPA. Imperial means a special variety of a certain style. Many styles have been made into an imperial version: Imperial Stout, Imperial Belgian Ale, Imperial Red Ale, and even Imperial India Pale Ale. The imperial versions usually contain higher alcohol content and more robust malt and/or hops.