Wort is still 80 degrees

[z-bob]

I'm freezing some 1 liter water bottles to add to it to chill it down, but they aren't frozen yet. (I wish I had thought of them earlier) I'll be pitching K-97 yeast. Pitch it warm and add the sanitized ice bottles in the morning, or wait until tomorrow to pitch? It's in a sanitized brew bucket right now with a sanitized lid snapped on tight. I moved it to my basement utility room where it's cool.

 

[mrgoodlife]

I'd wait and pitch when it has cooled. As long as everything was sanitized, wouldn't stress and just wait a day. You'll be fine.

 

[RM-MN]

If you pitch the yeast when the wort is 80 degrees it will start activity quickly and you may never bring the temperature down to the optimal in time to avoid off flavors. As long as your fermenter was sanitary and covered with a lid your wort will be fine until morning. Pitch the yeast then.

 

[z-bob]

Thanks. I waited until this morning. Wort was 68 degrees. I will add a bottle of ice in a couple of hours when I get back from church.

If I had this in a carboy I wouldn't even have bother asking, but this is my first time fermenting in a bucket -- I want to top-crop this yeast.

I need to modify my submersion chiller. It got down to 90 pretty fast but stalled at that point. Not all the coils were submerged (larger diameter kettle) so only the bottom few were doing all the work.

 

[kingmatt]

Thanks. I waited until this morning. Wort was 68 degrees. I will add a bottle of ice in a couple of hours when I get back from church.

If I had this in a carboy I wouldn't even have bother asking, but this is my first time fermenting in a bucket -- I want to top-crop this yeast.

I need to modify my submersion chiller. It got down to 90 pretty fast but stalled at that point. Not all the coils were submerged (larger diameter kettle) so only the bottom few were doing all the work.

What temp is your groundwater?

I'd be more concerned with dumping frozen ice blocks into 68 degree wort (sanitation and diluting your beer). Do you have the ability to lower the temp by adding the ice to a 'swamp cooler' type setup?

 

[z-bob]

The ice is sealed in 1L soda bottles. I just used one; I rinsed it in starsan before I added it. (took it out last night with a sanitized pair of tongs)

The ground water is still pretty cool; probably in the 50's? But I was using a new larger kettle so not much of the chiller was submerged.

 

[SlitheryDee]

If your ground water is in the 50s you should have been able to get your wort cool enough even if the chiller was only partially submerged.

My groundwater was about 70 degrees on my last brew day and it still got it down to 72-74 degrees. I had another batch I was bottling at the same time, so I just left the chiller running while I got started on that. Midway through bottling I stopped and checked it and it was about as cool as it was going to get, so I threw it in the fermentation chamber while I continued bottling. By the time I finished bottling and cleaned up it was at 66 degrees. I love it when my timing works out that neatly.

 

[MrHopScotch]

I'm not sure if you normally do this, but stirring the wort with a sanitized spoon while the immersion chiller is running really helps the efficiency. The last 20 degrees or so still happen slowly, but with groundwater in the 50s you shouldn't struggle to get down to proper pitching temps (even with some coils sticking out).

 

[z-bob]

Yes, I stir the pot while chilling it. I was using a larger heavy-gauge stainless steel kettle that I bought from a local homebrew club member, and the metal holds a lot of heat. I wiped the sides down with a cold wet towel and that helped quite a bit.

I'm going to reform my chiller so most of the copper coils will be submerged next time. Also, maybe I rushed it because I was used to chilling my smaller lighter kettle.

 

[kingmatt]

The ice is sealed in 1L soda bottles. I just used one; I rinsed it in starsan before I added it. (took it out last night with a sanitized pair of tongs)

The ground water is still pretty cool; probably in the 50's? But I was using a new larger kettle so not much of the chiller was submerged.

I'm sure you will be fine but putting a soda bottle (even dipped in Starsan) directly into the cooled wort and then taking it out is way too risky IMO.