Split boil cooling?

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soylentred

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Due to the inefficiency of my stove I have to do split boils or 2.5gal batches. I only have one big sink and can cool only one pot at a time. My pot is big enough to hold the full wort after it's been boiled, can I put the split boils in one pot and cool in the sink? Or would I be better off cooling each pot individually?

thanks

:mug:
 
That seems like a lot of what-if variables there. I'm not sure which would be best.
You could start cooling the first 2.5g while second batch is boiling. This is probably what
I would do. Splashing the COOLED wort together into your fermenter will take care of aeration for your yeast.

Or combine it all and cool it in the sink - but it would take longer to cool the full volume. Actually that would be a lot of splashing of HOT wort which is not good.

My guess is that it would be rather hard to pin down, for someone to say which is better.
You might have to take careful hydrometer readings, make notes and do the next batch the other way and see if you spot any difference or efficiency gains (or TASTE) one way or another.

This is an interesting question. I hope some more experienced Brewsters will chime in.
 
Are you extract brewing or all grain brewing? If the answer is extract, it probably doesn't matter much. If the answer is all grain, then you are best to get everything in one pot and cool as fast as possible.
 
Yeah it's all grain. I know there is a lot of debate about hot side aeration, should I jsut dump pot #1 into pot #2 and chill away?
 
Yes, this should work just fine. Try to pour your wort into the larger pot as smoothly as possible and all will be OK. At boiling temperatures, the liquid really can't take up much O2, anyways, so it is mostly a negligible concern.
 
OK I went AG and had to do a split stove top boil at first. I boiled the first lot down to 10L's and then it went into the sink and ice bath to cool. Takes a fair while but then it gets poured into the fermenter and that gets shoved in the ice bath too whilst the second boil is going. That pot then went into sink to cool and then into the fermenter.

It still made awesome beer and I hit my ibu's spot on still. All it is does is make your brew day longer and is a pain in the ass and slightly dangerous carrying large pots of boiling wort. i'm glad I don't have to do it anymore but its far from the end of the world as far as the end result.
 
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