Tap water I kettle

[Jloewe]

Ok, so I know it’s probably not best practice but when I extract brew I top off with tap water. Was always a little worried but 3 batches haven’t had a problem and looking it up people do hundreds of batches this was with no problem.

It occurred to me yesterday desperately stirring a super hot kettle in an icy sinks why don’t I just put that very same tap water strait in the kettle? Or even better as I typed this figured in theory could sanitize and refrigerate water on jugs and cool it almost instantly.

Anyone try something like this with extract and minis?

 

[JohnSand]

I think that I have read that process, but I haven't tried it myself.

 

[Jloewe]

I think that I have read that process, but I haven't tried it myself.

In a couple weeks I’m doing a pumpkin ale of some type so it’s ready for September. I’ll try it there and report back.

 

[IslandLizard]

[Edits] It's actually more efficient and faster to first chill boiling wort (212F) down to around 100-120F using (cold) tap water, no ice needed. Then add your chilled (refrigerated water from the jugs (34-38F) to bring it down to pitching temps (64-68F).

You don't need to stir like a maniac, whipping air (oxygen) into your hot wort is not good (oxidation).
Gentle stirring is better, and also stir the chilling water in the sink/tub with a different spoon. The heat transfer takes place at the kettle walls, nowhere else.

Or use a dedicated chiller, instead of a sink/tub full of water.

 

[Jloewe]

[Edits] It's actually more efficient and faster to first chill boiling wort (212F) down to around 100-120F using (cold) tap water, no ice needed. Then add your chilled (refrigerated water from the jugs (34-38F) to bring it down to pitching temps (64-68F).

You don't need to stir like a maniac, whipping air (oxygen) into your hot wort is not good (oxidation).
Gentle stirring is better, and also stir the chilling water in the sink/tub with a different spoon. The heat transfer takes place at the kettle walls, nowhere else.

Or use a dedicated chiller, instead of a sink/tub full of water.

I’d love a dedicated chiller and plan on getting one. But always looking for a cheaper and faster way to do things.

 

[Yooper]

I used to freeze my top up water and use that to chill my wort.

 

[IslandLizard]

always looking for a cheaper and faster way to do things.

For partial boils (with top up in fermenter), the method I described is the most efficient. To chill down your boiling wort, a simple home-made copper or stainless immersion coil will work a bit more efficiently than a tub of cold water.
To get those last 30-40F degrees down, topping up with cold (refrigerated) water is the logical 2nd phase.

 

[Jloewe]

For partial boils (with top up in fermenter), the method I described is the most efficient. To chill down your boiling wort, a simple home-made copper or stainless immersion coil will work a bit more efficiently than a tub of cold water.
To get those last 30-40F degrees down, topping up with cold (refrigerated) water is the logical 2nd phase.

I’m talking about skipping the bath or chilling phase all together and dumping an ice cold top off right into my wort. Or at least after it’s dropped a little bit. Like why wait? I’m sure if you dropped 35 degree top off water into just under boiling it would probably chill it rather fast.

 

[IslandLizard]

dumping an ice cold top off right into my wort. Or at least after it’s dropped a little bit.

It has to be dropped quite a bit, before adding the ice cold water, to end up at your pitching temps.
There are calculators for that...

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Ok, so I know it’s probably not best practice but when I extract brew I top off with tap water. Was always a little worried but 3 batches haven’t had a problem and looking it up people do hundreds of batches this was with no problem.

It's possible that your tap water is "low" in minerals.

When making malt extract, they take just the water out, so putting just the water back gives you the wort that they made. Some additional minerals in the tap water won't be a problem for many recipes.

It occurred to me yesterday desperately stirring a super hot kettle in an icy sinks why don’t I just put that very same tap water strait in the kettle?

Make sure that the water is free of chlorine and chloramine.

Or even better as I typed this figured in theory could sanitize and refrigerate water on jugs and cool it almost instantly.

Assuming you are doing a partial boil (2.5 gal) with late additions then topping off to 5 gal, the calculators that @IslandLizard mentioned should indicate that one cannot get from boiling to pitching temperature with 2.5 gal of chilled water. If you play with the calculators, you will find a wort temperature where this does work.

Start with tap water in the sink (maybe add some ice to the sink) to get the wort from boiling to that "magical" wort temperature. Add 2 gal of chilled water to the fermenter, then add the wort, then add enough additional water to get to desired fermentation volume (5.0 gal, 5.25 gal, ...). Caution: If one adds the hot wort first, there is a risk of damaging the plastic/glass fermenter due to the temperature of the wort.