I know I can’t be the first person who has thought of this, but since I haven’t seen it (or missed it) being discussed on this forum, I thought I would ask. Does anyone use frozen water bottles (soaked in sanitizer) to cool their wort? I’ve used frozen water bottles in a swamp cooler to keep fermentation temperatures under control, and thought that dropping the same sanitized, frozen water bottles into cooling wort (maybe once it’s dipped below 80* or so) might be a way to help my immersion chiller get to target temperature a little quicker, especially in the summer.
My apologies if this has been discussed previously and I just missed it!
I use them some times frozen two liters. they are a waste in really hot wort but when you get down to seventy with a chiller and your ground water is to warm for the last ten to twenty deg. they are very helpful. I just dunk them in sanitizer. get rid of them if they get scratched and make sure you get all the labels and glue off them.
I got the idea from cooling stocks and sauces in restaurants. they make and sell plastic “cooling wands” that are just big frozen plastic popsicles.
Thanks for all of the feedback. Those rapid cooling paddles are a neat idea - never knew such a thing existed. My biggest worry with the frozen water bottles being submerged directly in the wort is that they might leak (either through cracking or through the lid) and dilute or contaminate the wort. I was chilling a Cream Ale yesterday and almost dropped a few in, but decided not to at the last minute. Those paddles are a little pricey, but an interesting possibility for down the road. They seem very sturdy.
I am currently only able to chill my wort down to ~78 due to high ground water temp (using a plate chiller). To get to pitching temp, I simply fill my swamp cooler tub with water and ice to just below the fermometer on my Better Bottle. Doesn’t take long to get into the low 60’s.
If you can place the brewpot in a sink or tub, I like the idea of using the frozen bottles outside the brewpot much better. On almost every batch I make, I use my IC and then place the brewpot in the sink with ice and water to get the temp lower. Lagers get more ice and ales get less. The frozen water bottles would work well too as long as your brewpot will fit in your sink.
I like the idea of frozen water bottles cooling the outside than the inside. Wort chiller inside and enough ice on the outside to get you to pitching temp.
When It’s hot out, I use the temp. of my water to get in the 70’s and then use ice to get to proper temps, at the low 60’s. I then have to maintain that temp, at least for 4 or 5 days.
After that It’s ok to let the temp rise a little bit.
