wort chilling

[Liranc]

hi, I'm currently using a counterflow chiller to cool my wort to about 86F and I want to cool it to pitching temperature of 68F.
I thought maybe using the counterflow chiller to cool it to 86F and then to let it cool in the fermentor for few hours while sitting in the refrigerator.
the problem is that I ferment 2.5 gallons in a 5.5 gallons fermenter and I'm afraid that the few hours at low temperature without yeast and with lots of air space might contaminate the wort.
what do you think? is it possible to do it that way or is it too risky?

 

[MSK_Chess]

hi, I'm currently using a counterflow chiller to cool my wort to about 86F and I want to cool it to pitching temperature of 68F.
I thought maybe using the counterflow chiller to cool it to 86F and then to let it cool in the fermentor for few hours while sitting in the refrigerator.
the problem is that I ferment 2.5 gallons in a 5.5 gallons fermenter and I'm afraid that the few hours at low temperature without yeast and with lots of air space might contaminate the wort.
what do you think? is it possible to do it that way or is it too risky?

I've done it with no adverse effects. You have to do it when brewing a lager. I let my last batch sit overnight in the refrigerator to get it to pitching temp. I have even put the kettle in the fridge to precipitate out proteins and ferment a clear wort, worked a treat.

 

[JohnSand]

I do it in warm weather, no trouble.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Airspace is airspace. I cant see how having 6 inches of air space vs 3 inches that everyone has making a difference. Letting the beer sit with no yeast is WAAAY overhyped. I almost always chill to 90 or so and pitch the next day when it naturally drops to around 68....no worries, youll be fine

 

[Liranc]

great thank you very much

 

[seatazzz]

I've been doing "no-chill" for a few months now and haven't had an issue. If your brewing area has lots of flying nasties and/or stuff floating in the air you *could" be letting yourself in for trouble, but in my opinion it's neglible as long as you're taking precautions.

 

[njohnsoncs]

Why not just chill all the way down to pitching temp? Why let it sit if you don't have to?

 

[doug293cz]

Why not just chill all the way down to pitching temp? Why let it sit if you don't have to?

You can't chill to below the temp of your water supply. You can use ice it you want to in order to get lower. Or, put it in the ferm chamber and let it cool there.

Brew on

 

[Liranc]

You can't chill to below the temp of your water supply. You can use ice it you want to in order to get lower. Or, put it in the ferm chamber and let it cool there.

Brew on

exactly, and for using ice you probably need a pump and since I don't have one I want to chill the last few degrees in the refrigerator.

 

[BrewZer]

You could get a CO2 tank and purge the airspace with that while it sits in the fridge.