So I was brewing for only the second time tonight, went with the Ryan IPA extract. Did a full boil of 6.5 gallons of water, used my wort chiller but it took a significant amount of time to get even near 100 degrees. I just bought a lovely GE ice chest with a Johnston temp controller. My question is, if you crash the wort, which I understand as just sticking it in the ice chest at a low temperature, is that better than waiting for the wort chiller to bring down the temp? Thanks as always.
Hank
You can chill a lot faster if you leave the lid off and stir it periodically. Just leave your spoon in the wort near the end of the boil so it stays sanitized. Once it gets to about 100, I have to stir quite a bit to get the temp to drop the last bit. As long as you’re not chilling in a dusty garage with the wind blowing through, you’ll be fine.
:cheers:
Some brewers have let the wort cool naturally with no ill effects. Even lagers.
So yes, you could put the lid on the pot and stick it in the freezer/refredgerator.
The question is can you move the hot pot in there? Maybe cool it a bit 1st. Also put something on the plastic to protect it from the heat.
Just wondering, what size is your wort chiller 25 or 50 ft? Stainless or copper?
[quote=“El Capitan”]You can chill a lot faster if you leave the lid off and stir it periodically.[/quote]+1 This is the key to fast chilling - keeping the wort moving, or moving the IC back and forth (wrap a towel around it or your hand), should get you down to 100F in less than 10 minutes.
Good stuff guys, I did notice if I took the WC and swirlled it the temp did go down quicker, still took a long time. My first batch was 2.5 gallons, took no time to cool that down. I got it down to 120 degrees, racked in the 6 gallon carboy, put in my ice chest to cool down to 78 degrees, then pitched my starter. Just looked at this morning and it is fermenting away.
Thank you as always for the information.
Oh and I have the copper WC, I believer 25’, sold from NB for $70 or something like that.
