I brewed an extract beer yesterday and, in order to avoid the long cooling time I put in a bag of ice immediately after finishing the brew. I then transferred to the carboy on top of 2 gallons of nearly frozen (slushy) water, and I got 50 degrees F wort. I had to wait to pitch the yeast this time until it rose to 66 degrees. The fermenting temp is 68-72. When I did the rapid chill, particulates formed in the wort and looks like spent yeast does at the end of the fermentation (trub?) I checked this morning, and due to temp in the house (66) the wort is at 66 and not fermenting yet. My question is, did the rapid cooling cause the malt sugar to form particulates and fall out of the beer?
Rapidly cooled Beer
- Thread starter RobertR
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No those particulates are from the cold break i believe. You're fine.
I do have a question though. You say you put in a bag of ice... where was the bag of ice? In the wort? Or did you put the ice around the outside of your kettle?
Did you pitch dry yeast or a liquid starter?
How did you aerate the batch?
Before i started using pure o2 to oxygenate the wort, a 2 to 3 day lag time before fermentation started was not uncommon. You're fine. The yeast just need a little time
I put it in the wort directly. I looked up cold break before replying and now I'm relieved, thanks!
I pitched liquid Wyeast, and I aerated by o2 through a soap stone. I think my wort is still a little cool (66) I'll wait till the day warms up before panicking again.
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I'd be a bit worried about that honestly. Did you sanitize the bag of ice before putting it in? To me, that runs the risk of infection...
Which Wyeast did you use? 66*F most likely isn't too cool. I'd bet that's in the range, depending on what yeast you used. That's right around where I ferment most of the time.
cactusgarrett
Well-Known Member
Agreed. Robert, because the ice or the slushy water wasn't (i'm assuming) sanitary (i.e. boiled before freezing), coupled with the lag time, you're now in a race to get fermentation started before something nasty takes hold. Even with a healthy, big starter, I get noticeable lag (12-16 hrs) with some yeast strains. The key, though, is to have good sanitation practices in place to prevent something bad happening before fermentation starts.
TechFanMD
Well-Known Member
If this is ice like you buy in the bag at the gas station - this may not turn out as you plan. While the ice is OK for human consumption, it would not be sanitized in the way you need for brewing. Their equipment and handling, along with the fact that those bags don't even form a true seal, likely means your yeast is going to have some competition from things that aren't going to make it taste very good.
On top of that, the water used to make the ice is probably chlorinated tap water from somewhere. Chlorine in beer is not a good taste. The taste threshold for chlorophenols is extremely low.....and not pleasant.
On top of that, the water used to make the ice is probably chlorinated tap water from somewhere. Chlorine in beer is not a good taste. The taste threshold for chlorophenols is extremely low.....and not pleasant.
At this point, I think your only option is to let it ride and see how it comes out. I don't believe there's anything you can do to change the path it's on. Let it go and if you like it, congratulations, but be prepared to end up with something other than what you intended.
