winter brew cooling

[LouBrew13]

So it's that time of year again and here in Michigan it's almost single digits. I've brewed on semi comfortable days in years past without issues.

I just moved into a new home and my wife doesn't want pipes to freeze so we've turned off the spigot outside.

Have any of you just put the lid on the kettle and left it outside for a bit to cool off to pitching temps? Not in the snow but just on the driveway? And if so, any noticeable issues or off flavors or funkiness?

Thanks and cheers!

 

[clarksc4]

If you have an immersion chiller it's really easy to chill. Have a bucket half full of water that you leave outside to freeze. On brew day top off with water and use an immersable pond pump to circulate cold water. When you're done, dump half your chiller bucket and let it refreeze

 

[mikescooling]

I havent done it, but I don't think you'll hurt anything. I do think it will take hours for a full keggle of hot wort to cool down.

 

[Tinga]

i used to leave my kettle outside in the snow. didn't work at all.

 

[nukebrewer]

I just open the isolation to the outside faucet when I need it since the only thing I use it for is brewing and then shut it again when I am done. Haven't had any issues with frozen pipes thus far.

 

[LouBrew13]

If you have an immersion chiller it's really easy to chill. Have a bucket half full of water that you leave outside to freeze. On brew day top off with water and use an immersable pond pump to circulate cold water. When you're done, dump half your chiller bucket and let it refreeze

I just looked on harbor freight for a submersible pump for this system. Looks like a great idea and would help. If I could rig it to recirculate my mash that'd be awesome.

 

[paperairplane]

Winter water is awesome - just in a tub, no ice I can chill in about 15 minutes with 40* ground water.

Snow insulates, won't work just throwing in a snow bank. I cold crashed in my garage last night and have a corny on tap in there sitting on floor - for the next almost 3 months I have a walk in!

 

[30Bones]

My last too 5 gallon batches I left to cool on the garage floor overnight and pitched the. Next day. Not ideal at all but it was well below zero and I was too tired and drunk to mess with the hose outside. End result is totally drinkable but not as clean and could have used a secondary or more time than I gave it (2 weeks) until kegged

 

[Beernik]

My main concern is turning my driveway into an ice rink. I may set my BK in my ferment freezer overnight to bring it down to pitching temp.

 

[Thedutchtouch]

My main concern is turning my driveway into an ice rink. I may set my BK in my ferment freezer overnight to bring it down to pitching temp.

Meaning because of runoff water? Just run a hose somewhere convenient.

 

[Beernik]

There's nowhere convenient. It's a north facing driveway and it's 150 feet long. It's tough enough keeping it ice free from the snow.

It's either this or carrying it into the house and hooking the IC to the kitchen sink. Which might not be a bad option. I think I'll be mashing in the kitchen anyway.

 

[RM-MN]

Got snow? Got a big tub? Set the tub somewhere convenient where water won't be a big concern, not the driveway. Fill the tub about 3/4 full of water, set the kettle of hot wort in it and add snow. As the snow in the tub melts, add more. If the tub is high enough that the water level is about the level of the wort in the kettle, it should be able to chill the wort in 20 to 25 minutes. Pull the kettle out and dump the water and you're ready to pitch the yeast. You'll be using much less water than the wort chiller because you can use the phase change energy of the melting snow so it won't take as much. By keeping melting snow in the tub you can be chilling with 34 degree water which chills the kettle pretty fast.

 

[Homercidal]

I've done it. It only works good if there is a good wind blowing. There is a project I'd like to do soon, which involves plumbing a Quick Connect under our kitchen sink so I can hook up the CFC quickly and easily whenever I want to brew. As it is, I have to rig up the adapters and crap and it's a PITA, frankly. So I've done a few winter no chills, but I'd really rather not.

The under-the-sink option merely consists of placing a "T" just before the sink supply hose, right after the shutoff. The "T" will have it's own shutoff valve, and a QD that the Chiller hose snaps onto. When it's time to hook up the chiller, just snap the hose on, open the valve and off you go! No messing around with adapters, and you still have the sink faucet available for some clean-up duties.

After the chill, just shut the valve, and pop off the QD and drain the hoses.

 

[skw]

Have any of you just put the lid on the kettle and left it outside for a bit to cool off to pitching temps? Not in the snow but just on the driveway? And if so, any noticeable issues or off flavors or funkiness?

I left mine to cool in the garage. No off flavors that I could tell. Search for "no chill brewing" and you should find articles about the pros and cons.

 

[Beernik]

Got snow? Got a big tub?

Got snow, don't have a tub big enough to hold the BK. I have plans to make an IC recirculating pond pump, but it's not going to be until the summer.

Here's what I'm thinking...
Alternative 1: Get up early. Mash in the kitchen. Boil outside. IC in the kitchen. Rack to carboy. Ferment in the fermentation freezer in the garage.

It's going to mean carrying the wort outside twice and inside once, which sucks but is doable.

Alternative 2: Get up early. Mash in the kitchen. Boil outside. "No chill" in the fermentation freezer in the garage. Rack to carboy. Ferment in the garage fermentation freezer.

Takes longer but once the wort goes outside, it stays outside.

Right now I'm thinking about doing it on Boxing Day. But we tend to get one big storm in the week around Christmas. So that will be a factor. I also need to squeeze in at least one or two more sessions of massage therapy on my back before I consider lugging around 50lbs of wort.

 

[LouBrew13]

That is what I don't want to do(lug around boiling liquid in a kettle).

The pump looks like it'd work well though.

 

[seph]

I've been just putting my BK in the snow, and maybe stirring the wort. During the warmer month, I have a rope tub and just run the hose in the tub and drop my BK into it. The kettle floats, and the warmer water just over flows onto the lawn. I also have a well, and my water is probably 45 degrees....


Which reminds me, I've been meaning to get a solid reading on my water temp from the tap....

 

[Beernik]

Zombie thread lives!

So I'm talking to my wife about the pond pump idea and she says, "I've got one of those in the garage. I was going to make a fountain but never got around to it."

After digging around the garage for 20 minutes, I found it.

It's a 1 gpm @ 0 ft head pump. I figure I might get ~ 0.25 to 0.5 gpm running it through my 25 ft IC. I'll have to test it out tomorrow.

 

[LouBrew13]

Let me know if that works. I was going to purchase a much larger pump at harbour freight so I can brew on new years

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[certaut]

get one of these http://www.faucetdepot.com/resources/freeze-resistant-outdoor-faucet.html

I used them when I was in Wisconsin, and the drain water went into a snow pond that after a few brews the kid had a skating rink.
I might caution you that if you pay a water and sewer most places up north calculate your sewer bill on the water used in Feb, and in Milwaukee the back yard skating rink almost cost me $800

 

[Beernik]

Let me know if that works. I was going to purchase a much larger pump at harbour freight so I can brew on new years

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Home Brew mobile app

I got excited and decided to try it tonight.

It appears the pump is fried. It vibrates like the pump is working but it pushes no flow even without anything attached.

EDIT: upon further investigation -> the motor works but the impeller slips.

EDIT 2: I followed the engineer's motto "If it doesn't work, take it apart and fix it. If it breaks, it needed replacing anyway".

Yeah, it's thoroughly broken now.

EDIT 3: It's not all bad news. I found all my faucet adaptors. All I need is a 1/2" hose clamp and I can hook the 50 ft IC to the kitchen sink.

 

[msa8967]

This has already been mentioned by what I do is use a very large tub and a smaller tub. 1-2 days before I brew I fill th small tub 3/4 full of water and let it freeze outdoors. The night before brew day I fill my larger tub 1/2 way full of water before brewing and have it outside. I turn the smaller tub/bucket over to let the large block of ice slide out and then during brewing I smash it into small pieces. My brew kettle goes into the larger tub and I add ice as needed. Chills in ab out 15 min.

 

[RonPopeil]

I was thinking just leave an plate chiller in a tub of water. let it freeze and voila. plug the hoses up so nothing gets in like when you work on a carburetor.

 

[LouBrew13]

I picked up a pump from harbor freight today and will use it tomorrow. I'm not stopping until both batches are in fermenters. Gonna be cold and snowy

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[msa8967]

I picked up a pump from harbor freight today and will use it tomorrow. I'm not stopping until both batches are in fermenters. Gonna be cold and snowy

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Home Brew mobile app

Can you let us know how it turns out and which pump set up you bought from HF?

 

[LouBrew13]

Pump was a success. It's the 1/6 hp Pacific hydrostar submersible pump. It melted the ice in the bucket in the center pretty quickly so I need to hold it in order to not let it sink. But the whole setup works well

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[govner1]

I'm confused. It's a submersible pump why not let it sink to the bottom of the bucket? I use a similar one from Harbor Freight. I submersed it in cold ground water first and pump the initial output to a ten gallon bucket then switch over to recirculating the water through my CFC. I save the initial hot water for cleanup.
I chilled a batch today from boil to 70 in about 20 minutes. If course, it was 46 here in Atl.

 

[Ivypunx]

I leave my kettle outside sometime when I do small batch. I sanitize my thermometer and still it with that and it cools pretty quickly. Also I use the winter do do lagers now. I have a closet with no heating duct that stays a perfect 53 inside

 

[Beernik]

Hooking my chiller up to the kitchen sink has gotten me from boiling to 80F in under 10 minutes.