What type of wort chiller do you use?

[cheezydemon3]

same here 4 gallons in two shakes of a lambs tail

I got it figured out just how much ice to put in the FV then DUMP the wort right on it.

I think that resistance to this idea comes from an illusion of "diluting" the beer. Despite the fact that 5 gallons is condensed into 3 or 4 and then water (ice) added back.

OH well. Clear as hell beer and no filtration or finings are proof in the pudding.

 

[Mozart]

Hrm...

Maybe I'll have to try a slightly different method this time.

As mentioned, I've been doing 2-3 water baths, changing the water when it gets warm, and sometimes adding ice to the latter baths. For my last batch, I got the final dose of cooling by adding near freezing top-up water.

I've been avoiding adding ice directly to the wort as I can't keep larger blocks of ice from splashing a bit, losing a small amount of wort, and making a little bit of a mess.

What I am pondering for next time is freezing gallon jugs of water into solid blocks of ice, spraying some StarSan on the outside of the bottle, and just placing the bottle in the kettle. No splash, no risk of putting in too much ice as I can pull the bottle out of the kettle at any time....

Anyone try this? What have your results been?

 

[ArcaneXor]

I recirculate through my cheap, off-brand plate chiller. I wish I had a Therminator. My neighbor can get the beer cooler than I can on a single pass.

 

[cheezydemon3]

Hrm...

Maybe I'll have to try a slightly different method this time.

As mentioned, I've been doing 2-3 water baths, changing the water when it gets warm, and sometimes adding ice to the latter baths. For my last batch, I got the final dose of cooling by adding near freezing top-up water.

I've been avoiding adding ice directly to the wort as I can't keep larger blocks of ice from splashing a bit, losing a small amount of wort, and making a little bit of a mess.

What I am pondering for next time is freezing gallon jugs of water into solid blocks of ice, spraying some StarSan on the outside of the bottle, and just placing the bottle in the kettle. No splash, no risk of putting in too much ice as I can pull the bottle out of the kettle at any time....


Anyone try this? What have your results been?

Put the proper amount of ice in the fermenter (USE BUCKETS) and then no splashing.

I even put my yeast and ice in the fermenter and pitch HOT wort on that.

Putting PLASTIC jugs in hot wort is a BAD idea.

 

[Mozart]

Put the proper amount of ice in the fermenter (USE BUCKETS) and then no splashing.

I even put my yeast and ice in the fermenter and pitch HOT wort on that.

Putting PLASTIC jugs in hot wort is a BAD idea.

Ahh... now why didn't I think of that? I ferment in plastic buckets, so freeze the proper amount of water in my fermentation chiller the night before, and dump the wort right atop it! Genius!

Actually, for fun, I just figured out how much ice I might need:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/science-applied-wort-chilling-418895/

Have you tried this? In your experience what is the proper amount of ice? An amount roughly equivalent to the amount of wort being poured over it? A little less?

The more I think about it, the more genius of an idea I think it is, as it also solves the problem of the residual heat in the kettle! No need to cool down the kettle along with the wort with this method!

Thanks!

 

[mrklueber]

Never having tried this technique, I can't comment from experience but I would worry about the extreme temperature change of pouring hot wort into a plastic bucket that has a frozen cake of ice in it. Before doing this with wort, I would try it with just boiling or near boiling water. Just my $0.02.