For ABV you could always boil a cup of sugar, cool it, and toss it in there (just avoid splashing for risk of oxydizing). But, brewer beware, a higher abv could result in a hot or extremely dry beer. Next time you’re brewing if your really want to knock up your abv just use more base grains with convertable sugars.
As far as the chilling goes you should always try to do it. The rapid cooldowns (the faster the better) aid in a process called the “cold break”. This is essentially helping any of the tougher proteins suspended in the beer bond and fall out faster. If they stay in the beer you’re likely to end up with a murkier brew, untintended mouthfeel, and probably some pretty gnarly gas.
There are various opinions on this, but the general consensus is that cold break occurs regardless of how quickly the chill occurs, so chill rate doesn’t effect clarity. Read up on “no-chill” brewing and it will put any concerns about this brew to rest. I recently posted a pic of a no-chill brew that I did:
That was an 8 gallon BIAB/no-chill batch, it took 22 hours to cool to pitching temp. No haze, perfect clarity. No clarifying agents used either. I think you’ll be fine.
Did you pitch your yeast while the worth was still hot? If so, over about 100degrees, you might have killed the yeast and you will not get any fermentation. Not to worry, though, as long as everything was sealed up, just pop the top and pitch new and you’ll be all set.
I knew I had to cool the wort down below 90 before pitching the yeast. It fermented normally. I am waiting now for everything to settle before I rack it into my keg. The carboy is covered by a thick blanket to keep any light out. I was just unsure of the quick cool down step having any real affect on the settlement process.
The reason you want to cool quickly is to reduce the production of the precurser to DMS, which is made at higher temperatures (causes off flavor). The reason you cool before putting it in the carboy is so you can leave the cold break behind. As I understand it, cold break is really only going to harm your beer if it is a light beer or a lager. There are plenty of people who use CFC and plate chillers (don’t remove any cold break) and make great beer.
I’ve done both. I’ve run out of ice before and just put the bubbler in place to keep any air out until it was cool enough to pitch the yeast. Sometimes I forgo the ice altogether and just set my carboy in my Keezer to bring the temps down. But whether it’s a quick cool down or a longer cool down, as long as your sanitation is good you probably won’t notice much of a difference.
The wort was 65 when I pitched the yeast. It bubbled for 5 days. This was the same as the first 2 brews and they tasted great. The problem now is that the beer goes too fast. I drink twice as much now as I did before because it is so good. :cheers:
