Wort cooling

[iron_city_ap]

That makes sense...
I wish we had a real winter. I could just throw the lid on and stuff it in a snow bank ha ha
I have an old ice cream maker with a large ice bucket with the ropes...Thanks for jogging the old bean.

Don't stick it in a snow bank !!!! It will work for a few minutes, but the snow closest to the pot will melt then refreeze and actually insulate the pot. Think igloos. Salt in an ice bath works great if you don't have a wort chiller.

 

[Esmitee]

That's a good idea.

Yes it is. But the best thing is, It works very well if your not doing Full Boils and don't have an IC ! It's easy too

 

[JeffoC6]

Sorry if this has already been posted in this thread, but for those of us without any wort cooling equipment other than an ice and cold water bath, did you know that adding salt to ice lowers the freezing temperature, and actually increases the "coldness" of the ice? I plan on doing my next ice bath with a bunch of salt, and I think that should cool my wort faster. Just a head's up to all ya'll

 

[unionrdr]

It's the same priciple as salt on the ice surrounding the ice cream frezzer's aluminum pale. Makes it colder. I'm gunna try that this weekend to time how fast it works.

 

[JeffoC6]

It's the same priciple as salt on the ice surrounding the ice cream frezzer's aluminum pale. Makes it colder. I'm gunna try that this weekend to time how fast it works.

Yep. I'm trying it too. Last week it took me 10 minutes with just a sink full of water, ice packs, and ice. I'm going to do the same thing, but add a bunch of salt. See how much faster it is.

 

[unionrdr]

Then we can report back here with the findings. Good stuff to pass on,potentially.

 

[SwivelHips]

The snowbank method takes FAR longer than you might think...2.5 hrs in -20 temps for less than 5 gallons, in my experience. What can I do to minimize chill haze later?

 

[Tiredboy]

I actually need to cool to below ambient temperature (85F) to reach a good yeast pitching temperature. I realised on my brew last weekend a way round the problem. The cheapest way to buy bottled water ifor me s a 5 gallon watercoller bottle. I poured what I needed in my brew pot to make the wort, then placed the bottle containing the remainder in the chest freezer at 60 degrees. When the boil was done, I cooled it down as much as possible in a water/ice bath then put wort in fermenting bucket with water from freezer (conveniently total volume was close to 5 gallons now - not as close as it should be but close enough for me). It was still a bit warm (low 80s) so I put it back in the freezer for a bit before pitching. All in all I managed to get 5 gallons of bottled water for a good price and found a way to cool my wort quickly.

My next job is to work out what bung I need so I can use the water bottle as a primary fermentor once before returning it to the store for a replacement!

 

[unionrdr]

The snowbank method takes FAR longer than you might think...2.5 hrs in -20 temps for less than 5 gallons, in my experience. What can I do to minimize chill haze later?

to minimize or eliminate chill haze at fridge time,you need to get the wort chill down to pitch temp in 20 minutes or less. Last time,I filled the empty space around the BK to the top of the sink with ice,then topped off with cold water. Stirred wort occasionally,with floating thermometer in the wort. Just don't try to stir with it! It chilled to 70F in 20 minutes flat. I'm thinking the salt addition to the ice may cut that time significantly.

 

[halister]

Hmmmm it's 20 deg and I have made ice cream in them. I'm going to boil some water and see how long it takes just to fill my curiosity..