Too long to chill?

[GibbyGibson]

I just brewed my first batch ever. Went all extract Brown Ale and had what I would expect as typical newbie mistakes. My only question I have is other than chill haze and the potential for infection, are there any other problems from not chilling the wort quick enough following the boil?

I tried the ice bath to start and ran out of ice (1st rookie mistake) Then I put it outside (~20 degrees F) and packed it with snow. I think the snow acted as an insulator. Long story short, it took nearly 90 minutes to chill. Due to time constraints, I pitched yeast at 80 degrees. (Possibly 2nd rookie mistake). Very, very active fermentation within 12 hours. Now, 2 days later no obvious air lock activity. Going to leave in primary for another 12-15 days then check gravity. OG was nearly spot on at 1.051 (corrected from 1.048 at 80 degrees). Any insight is appreciated.


P.s. I'll be investing in a wort chiller soon...

 

[TallDan]

Good news, you made beer!

I wouldn't worry too much about the slow cool time. My first brews took that long to chill and they came out fine. I'm sure they would have been better with the immersion chiller and other process improvements that I've made in the last year. However, for overall satisfaction, I'm not sure that I can top that first batch.

 

[thadass]

Some people do consider chilling quickly desirable, but I'd think most people would agree that if you do have any issues with this, it'll be from pitching the yeast at 80F. If this was an ale yeast, there is a very high chance for that to cause significant off flavors. If it took you 90min to get to 80F, I would say that it would have been worth it to spend 120min to get it to 65F if it was at all possible.

Read around for some tips on chilling more quickly next time. I think the easiest improvement is to whirlpool the wort as it's chilling. I just do it with a spoon as it chills. This will make an ice bath or snow bank far more effective as well, and will help you hit a proper yeast pitching temperature.

Anyways, welcome to the forums and congratulations on your first brew! It's a great thing to just get out of the way, and the first few batches will gain you a TON of experience points and knowledge.

My first batch was an extract stout and ended up tasting like green apples and ended up at 2.9% ABV, almost half of what I wanted.

 

[opiate82]

When I brew my IPA's I do a hop stand (where I add a round of hops in at flameout and let it sit). Generally I do that for 30-40 minutes then start chilling so over an hour from flameout till I put it in the fermenter. I have never had an infection so far *knock on wood.*

Next time I would try to pitch the yeast at the same temperature, or a little lower, that you intend to ferment at. I find that yeast are generally happier if you start a little low and then raise the temp to your intended fermentation temperature.

 

[SteveHeff]

I don't use/own a wort chiller. Ever. If I had one, I would. However I do use the ice bath method when it's warm outside.. When it's cold outside, I leave my pot alone for about an hour until temp comes down to about 80. I usually transfer to my primary bucket and give it overnight to come down in temp completely. So far I have yet to have an infected beer using this method.

 

[GibbyGibson]

Glad to hear that other people haven't had big issues from not chilling quickly. I will block off more time for myself next time so I have plenty of time so I don't rush and make mistakes.

Thanks for the input about pitching at too high of temp. I'll keep this in mind when I finally get to taste it. (Hopefully it doesn't ruin my taste for beer).

I thought about stirring the wort but since I was outside and it was a bit windy, I was paranoid that something would blow in. Next time I'll bring snow inside to the ice bath if I run out

 

[Trox]

A little info for next time (or anyone else planning on using snow bank to chill), once the snow melts from the initial heat you'll have a bit of air between teh snow and the pot which is actually a pretty good insulator. If you don't keep packing the snow against the side of the pot it will actually take longer to cool down than if you just left it sitting out in the air with the wind blowing on it.

 

[RM-MN]

A little info for next time (or anyone else planning on using snow bank to chill), once the snow melts from the initial heat you'll have a bit of air between teh snow and the pot which is actually a pretty good insulator. If you don't keep packing the snow against the side of the pot it will actually take longer to cool down than if you just left it sitting out in the air with the wind blowing on it.

A little more info on that is if you set the pot in a tub of water and add the snow to the water, it is just like an ice bath but you rarely run out of enough snow.

Ooh! 90 minutes to get to pitching temp. That's a long time. One of my batches took 36 hours and it came out fine. That was an experiment with no chill where I had poured boiling wort into the fermenter and put the lid on. I had it in a room where the temperature was 62 degrees and at 36 hours it had reached that temp.