Wort Chilling Time

[Crash 2006]

After boiling my extract it took me about 20 minutes to a half of an hour to chill it to 70'C. Is that too long? I boiled like 3.5 gallons of water when I usually do about 2.0 gallons, so it took longer to cool since there was more wort then usual.

 

[BarleyWater]

Not too long at all, any larger boil volumes and ou may want to consider a chiller, but 20-30 minutes is fine, and should be fast enough to form a good cold break.

 

[Crash 2006]

Does it hurt if I cool it cooler then 70F? What is the point of cooling it fast like that?

 

[BarleyWater]

It doesn't hurt, but you don't want it too cool because the yeast doesn't like to be too cool. Mid 60's is a good place to stop.

The reason is to aid in the clarification of your beer. The quicker you cool it down, the better the protiens in suspension can coagulate and sink to the bottom of the kettel or fermenter. There is a lot of protien in the grain which is what boils to the top when you first begin (hot break). After the boil is over, you want to make the protien to coagulate (cold break) so it doesn't leave you with a hazy beer, and cooling it down quikly aids in this process.

 

[pickles]

don't forget that the quicker you reach pitching temps and get those yeasties going the less risk of rogue yeasts settling in.

 

[7Enigma]

In my last batch (which I forgot to add due to drinking beer while brewing beer) I boiled, and then froze a bowl's worth of water (probably 2-3 cups). I had planned to add this in right at the beginning of cooling (and then putting the pot in cold water), but forgot. In my next batch I've decided to add another frozen bowl of water to quickly get to pitching temps. I think for those of us without a wort chiller, it is probably the best way to get quick temp drops. And as long as the water was boiled before freezing, even if (worst case scenario) there was contamination on the outer surface of the ice, it will be sanitized by the boiling wort, and the interior water you already know is safe.

HTH

 

[Aleforge]

With a sanatized spoon, and a few large bags of ice I can get an extract boil down to pitch in 12 minutes. Obviously whirlpooling it is a danger since the lid has to be removed. But with enough ice in the sink alone you can do some very quick chills. I just sit the pot in, fill the entire sink packed up with ice and keep shoving it full as it melts. Spinning the entire pot with the lid closed seems to help also. (reminds me of making ice cream)

In any event I agree with everyone else, 20-30min is fine.

 

[EvilTOJ]

When I did extract batches I would freeze an empty malt bucket's worth of water from the refrigerator water dispenser the day before, and that worked wonders. Doing full boils I really can't do that anymore but it works for partial boils.

 

[cuinrearview]

I used to only brew in the winter and set my fermenter outside before pitching. This worked great when I worked second shift and could stay up all night.

I got sick of this once I started working normal people hours and quickly fashioned myself an immersion chiller. It's really easy to make. Get some copper tubing (25+ feet), some tubing, two hose clamps and you're good to go.

 

[monty73741]

remeber the danger of chilling wort is going through the temperature danger zone slowly. that when bacteria starts to form.
I working a design kinda for a wort chiller that like a condenser for moonshine stills. I want to convert my lawn mower to run on ethonal & i figured if need a condenser why also make it a wort chiller

 

[Farside]

It doesn't hurt, but you don't want it too cool because the yeast doesn't like to be too cool. Mid 60's is a good place to stop.

The reason is to aid in the clarification of your beer. The quicker you cool it down, the better the protiens in suspension can coagulate and sink to the bottom of the kettel or fermenter. There is a lot of protien in the grain which is what boils to the top when you first begin (hot break). After the boil is over, you want to make the protien to coagulate (cold break) so it doesn't leave you with a hazy beer, and cooling it down quikly aids in this process.

This primary reason for rapid cooling seems to go missed in a lot of discussions. Everyone seems to be focussed on hygiene but this isn't the case (not employing any post boil cooling device has no effect on fermentation as many discover before they get into wort chilling).

Another thing to realise is that the chill time is not the time it takes to cool the entire batch to pitching temperature, but the time it takes a given volume of hot wort to reach that temperature (i.e. the time it takes wort to travel through the chiller).