Snowbank Wort Chiller

[devilssoninlaw]

Since it's been very cold here in Northern Michigan and we have a nice layer of snow, I was wondering if I could take my 1 hour boil outside, set it on the walk and keep piling snow around my pot.
Has anyone else tried this? Of course I could get the 2 tub sink ready with an ice bath but since I boil in the garage anyways......

 

[Abrayton]

I started out doing that in the northern Wisconsin winters. It worked but took a long time. I still think a wort chiller is the most time saving piece of equipment I ever bought. I can’t believe I did a year of ice baths and snowbanks before finally pulling the trigger on a chiller

 

[SEndorf]

Back in the day, I tried this method in Minnesota.
Despite how it looks, it is not an efficient way to cool wort due to the lack of flow.

 

[TechFanMD]

Very inefficient. Snow is actually a good insulator, so immediately there will be an air pocket between the kettle and the snow. Even if you continuously pack more snow there - the cooling action may be better just from the crazy cold temps and a breeze.

You also need the wort to move or you’re just cooling the wort near the edges.

 

[grampamark]

I think every homebrewer who lives in a cold climate has tried this. Once.

As noted, snow is a good insulator, and the air space created by the snow melting away from the kettle adds to the inefficiency.

I live in northern Montana and my one attempt at snow chilling involved burying the kettle in a 3 foot deep snowbank on a subzero day. After 2 hours the wort was still over 100° F.

 

[Lefou]

I've cooled kettles in snow just for kicks to see how it works. It takes a while, and without a chilling coil, it's a big time waster. Pretty much like everyone says, thermal efficiency for heat exchange is fairly poor.

When I did this, it was during a heavy Nor'Easter snow day/brew day.
I work for the local township and school was closed, so it was an opportunity for advantage. The single-walled 5gal kettle went outside - covered, of course - or into a shallow bucket that had iced over. The 5gal kettle doesn't have a drain valve so there was no danger of contamination or losing wort. As it melted down, water would keep contact. When doing three or four gallon boils in my 7.5gal kettle, I would immediately add two gallons of cold water to cool down and let the snow do the rest of the work. That one has a drain valve so it would sit on a table.
While the wort cooled out back, I was busy shoveling the driveway out front. Nor'Easters are common all the way up into mid-March in Jersey, so it's a way to take advantage of the snow and stay occupied at the same time. This year I have a snowblower, just in case ...

 

[Lefou]

So ... what's the next level winter experiment in wort cooling for the seasonal frugal brewer when you DON'T have snow?

It's involves a copper immersion chiller, a 120v pump, extension cord, and a 42,000 gallon pool as a closed loop exchange reservoir. No wasted water!
That's my next trick. Let ya know when I get around to that ...

 

[balrog]

If used with water bath, it will work. What is *DOES* do nicely, immediately, is remove the thermal heat mass of the kettle, which is not insignificant in the overall cooling of wort+kettle. But as others have said, the snow must maintain contact and it melts and must be CONTINUOUSLY kept in contact. Therefore, the immersion pump re-circulation is viable. I do this when snow is available, using a 16# bag of ice when it's not. Cooler with pond pump hooked to copper wort chiller. Just enough water in cooler to let pump work, first running garden hose through wort chiller for 1 or 2 5gal buckets of wash water. There will be one or two times in mid winter when the garden hose is unavailable as the faucet is frozen.

 

[devilssoninlaw]

I took the advice of my more experienced friends and cooled it down in the house. The snowbank wasn't something I actually planned to do, it was just a thought and I figured I wasn't the only knucklehead to even consider it. Love the feedback, gents!

 

[TechFanMD]

I took the advice of my more experienced friends and cooled it down in the house. The snowbank wasn't something I actually planned to do, it was just a thought and I figured I wasn't the only knucklehead to even consider it. Love the feedback, gents!

Booorrring. I said it wouldn’t work.....I never said not to try it. Now I don’t get to hear about how you stood out in -18F with 30mph wind for 2 hours chilling your wort.

 

[catdaddy66]

Since it's been very cold here in Northern Michigan and we have a nice layer of snow, I was wondering if I could take my 1 hour boil outside, set it on the walk and keep piling snow around my pot.
Has anyone else tried this? Of course I could get the 2 tub sink ready with an ice bath but since I boil in the garage anyways......

Once I brewed on a rare day of snow here in SC and did just that. Had to use a lid to keep out the flakes, but it did work. That was 6-7 years ago and haven't been able to try it since.

 

[gunhaus]

Four years ago or so we had a really really cold spell here in Northern Mich - many of you from the area doubtless remember it! Big sub zero stuff!. Anyway, I brewed early one morning, and set my pot out on the porch in temps that were minus 43 degrees. Things did not cool as quick as i liked, no doubt because of lack of circulation - so I bit the bullet, grabbed a spoon and went out to start stirring. THAT helped and sure enough the temp on my wort came rapidly down. . . . Of course i froze to death in the process, and was not revived till the spring thaw! But all was not lost I actually ended up with a nifty new kind of ice beer in the process!!!! DAMN I love brewing - always a learning curve!~~~~

 

[wepeeler]

I love it when it snows near/on brew day. I made a recirculating ice bath from a cooler, a yard pond pump and IC. Dumping snow into the cooler water works wonders.

 

[bobeer]

Living in NoVa we get snow just about every year so I have tried cooling my wort in a pile of snow a few times. As others have said it didn't work very well. I'm usually a "no chill" brewer so during the cold months I just put the covered kettle on the back porch and let it cool down for a few hours in the cold air. I do have an immersion chiller but once I winterize the hose bibs I can't really use it since it wont screw on any of my faucets inside.

 

[Sbe2]

I love it when it snows near/on brew day. I made a recirculating ice bath from a cooler, a yard pond pump and IC. Dumping snow into the cooler water works wonders.

Exactly what I do, it’s amazing

 

[sborz22]

I do a water bath and continue throwing snow into the water bath as it warms. Works well for me but it’s time to buy a chiller with that being said haha

 

[RM-MN]

I do a water bath and continue throwing snow into the water bath as it warms. Works well for me but it’s time to buy a chiller with that being said haha

Are you in a real hurry? If your water bath cools the wort below the temperature where hop isomerization stops quickly enough, spend the money for grains instead of the wort chiller. Grains make beer.

 

[sborz22]

Are you in a real hurry? If your water bath cools the wort below the temperature where hop isomerization stops quickly enough, spend the money for grains instead of the wort chiller. Grains make beer.

Yeah, the issue is that it is not feasible when there is no snow on the ground or in the summer.

 

[Soulshine2]

Since it's been very cold here in Northern Michigan and we have a nice layer of snow, I was wondering if I could take my 1 hour boil outside, set it on the walk and keep piling snow around my pot.
Has anyone else tried this? Of course I could get the 2 tub sink ready with an ice bath but since I boil in the garage anyways......

how cold is your tap water from an outdoor spigot? Remember that heat rises and cold sinks , placing the vessel in a snow bank may work but I think that running a continuous water line (hose) to an immersion chiller would be better/quicker. I did it here in N.Alabama a month ago went from boiling to 100*F in 20 minutes. 5 gallon batch.

 

[eric19312]

I guess our frost line is high enough here on Long Island that our water supply is not buried very deep. My cold water at the spigot in winter is much colder than my cold water in summer and makes a huge difference in wort chilling time. A summertime chill of 17 gallons in the kettle with a half inch copper immersion chiller and constant recirculation in the kettle can take up to an hour to get below 70F, in the winter same chill might be done in under 30 minutes. I like the ice bath idea. I do use that in summer sometimes with home made ice to get from 80F to 70F or to get to a lager pitching temperature. But in winter the chilling is already so fast I don't usually bother with the extra gear.

 

[applescrap]

A water bath can be quick enough. Especially with that snow. Another good option is to freeze 2 liter bottles or whatever as your ice cubes.

Make your water bath and keep the water running with the drain opened just slightly enough to offset the water flow. That way you have a flowing loop. Stir as you chill and keep adding snow. I could get 5g down in idk 15 minutes doing that.

Outside same. Make a cold water bath somehow in a tub and stir the pot. Keep adding snow to chill water. You need the snow to chill the water whether in or out. So while sticking it in a bank wont work the snow could help you.

 

[Lefou]

Did the cold water/icebath thing outside at least once by utilizing a frozen mop bucket.

The kettle simply sat on top of the ice block in the shallow bucket. As the ice melted, the kettle would settle. I'd check periodically to level the kettle and add snow.