Wort chilling in plastic fermenter buckets

[jroberts548]

I'm getting ready to brew my first beer. I'm going to be using an extract recipe, and I'd like to do a full boil for better hops optimization. I have a plastic bucket fermenter.

I don't have any containers big enough to make an ice bath for my boiling pot. I could make an ice bath for the fermenter bucket, but I'm concerned that dumping the wort in the bucket while it's too hot will damage the plastic and possibly cause it to leach chemicals into the beer. As near as I can tell, the risk of contamination is greatest once the wort gets below 160 degrees F.

Could I just let the wort cool in the pot till it gets to just above 160, and then transfer to the fermenter bucket and put it in an ice bath?

 

[shanersnyder]

I think as long as the bucket is BPA free the leaching of contaminants is minimal. I have done what you are suggesting and didnt taste any off flavors in the few batches that i did that way.

 

[mdbrewer1]

You should see if you can find the specs on your bucket. Perhaps it is printed on there somewhere. A quick search showed that the MoreBeer bucket is rated up to 180. I wasn't able to find it out on the Austin Homebrew Supply or Northern Brewer sites though.

 

[RM-MN]

Your HDPE bucket is safe to about 230 or so degrees and will withstand more than that. Dump your boiling wort into the bucket and put the lid on. You can use an airlock but put in the minimal amount of liquid because at first it will be expelling gas but soon will begin taking that gas back in and will suck in part of the liquid from the airlock when it does. I have done several brews this way and it works for "no-chill brewing" where I just put the wort in the bucket and set the bucket somewhere cool. My beers have cooled in anywhere from 4 hours (10 degrees outside with the wind blowing) to 30 hours (in a 62 degree room it took about that long to reach 62 degrees). If you put it in an ice bath, be aware that the plastic doesn't transmit heat like metal so it will take longer to cool.

 

[mkyl428]

You can pour it in your bucket I would let it cool some first, just for the safety concern of the hot liquid but I also lift my kettle & pour for transfers I don't know if your kettle has a ball valve but that would probably be a good idea since you want to transfer hot liquids.

I would skip the bucket ice bath & just leave it to cool naturally & pitch the next day but that's me, I think the ice bath will be too much of a headache to be worth it.

As far as temperature concerns with your bucket this is from the Wikipedia page on HDPE

It is also harder and more opaque and can withstand somewhat higher temperatures (120 °C/ 248 °F for short periods, 110 °C /230 °F continuously)

 

[jroberts548]

Thanks for the responses.

For the people advocating no-chill brewing, are there any disadvantages to doing that? Will the beer clear as well if I do it that way?

 

[mkyl428]

I have done a variation of this & chilled below 100 then put into my ferm chamber to pitch the next day for the last 2 summers it has worked fine.

No off flavors beer cleared out just fine. I have since started recirculating ice water through my immersion chiller to get to pitching temps faster.

I never had a problem pitching the next day though. Is it optimal? Well no, but neither is trying to chill a bucket or your kettle in an ice bath.

 

[mdbrewer1]

I have done a variation of this & chilled below 100 then put into my ferm chamber to pitch the next day for the last 2 summers it has worked fine.

No off flavors beer cleared out just fine. I have since started recirculating ice water through my immersion chiller to get to pitching temps faster.

I never had a problem pitching the next day though. Is it optimal? Well no, but neither is trying to chill a bucket or your kettle in an ice bath.

I second that. I gave up on ice baths since our sink is so small and despite adding ice frequently, it still took over 2 hours to cool to pitching temps. I ended up buying a chiller, but if I had known about no-chill, I probably would have gone that route.

 

[DaNewf]

People make brew kettles out of HDPE buckets by installing electric elements in them. These things are used to do one hour boils. Dumping your wort in there to cool should be no problem. No need to wait until it gets down to 160F.

 

[TimFarAway]

I have been doing no-chill for my last few brews. Seems like it's gaining popularity. I just sanitize some aluminum foil and put that over the kettle then put the lid on top. Let it sit overnight, and when the temp is about 70* F I pour through a funnel into my carboy and pitch the yeast. No infections yet, and with cold crashing, I get quite clear beers.