Efficient ways to cool 10L boils

[MitchellScott]

Hi all.

With majority of my extract brews now utilizing a 10L boil, I'm trying to find more environmentally friendly and efficient ways to cool my boils. At the moment I am cooling with a water bath but the amount of cold water needed to cool 10L down is huge. Not to mention going into Summer now where the tap water can often be over 30C.....

I was thinking I could simply cover the pot with foil and leave overnight, however, the boiling hops will still be in the pot with the wort overnight if I did not and I'm not sure if it would have a detrimental effect on the beer?

The other option is buying a chiller but not really keen on purchasing more equipment that I have to run water through to cool anyway.

The only other thing I can think of is sourcing a 10L cube and no chilling overnight before dumping it in the FV the next day. Please no cube fights

Thoughts?
Cheers, Mitch.

Edited October 3, 2019 by MitchellScott

[RepSpec]

ive often thought about this as well. Especially coming into summer with hot cold tap temps.

Ive sometimes filled the sink, then dropped the pot in and then put ice in, but it still takes forever.

Can hop boil be done the day before like Mitch was asking?

[MitchellScott]

2 minutes ago, RepSpec said:

ive often thought about this as well. Especially coming into summer with hot cold tap temps.

Ive sometimes filled the sink, then dropped the pot in and then put ice in, but it still takes forever.

Can hop boil be done the day before like Mitch was asking?

Another thing that came to mind is stealing one of the All Inn FWK cubes off a mate of mine that did a lot of them. They are 15L so I could fill with my boil wort then add an extra 5L of cold water into it. This would also help being the initial temp down quicker to try and offset any extra bitterness from high temps.

Just brain storming.

Edited October 3, 2019 by MitchellScott

[ben 10]

Just now, MitchellScott said:

They are 15L so I could fill with my boil wort then add extra 5L of cold water into it.

Don't do this. You will not have a high enough temp to ensure the wort in the container is safe.

[MitchellScott]

Just now, Ben 10 said:

Don't do this. You will not have a high enough temp to ensure the wort in the container is safe.

Ah I see, makes sense. I'd have to try and track down a 10L cube if I was gonna go down that path then.

Cheers.

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

Laundry tub. 3 frozen coke bottles. When i did extracts it used to take ~ an hour with one water change and bottle change as well. So 6 coke bottles all up.

[Naughty Corner Brewing]

53 minutes ago, MitchellScott said:

Ah I see, makes sense. I'd have to try and track down a 10L cube if I was gonna go down that path then.

Cheers.

Bunnings. Grab a snag while ya there 

[iBooz2]

G’day Mitch,

I have been thinking about ways to get the hot wort down quickly to approx. pitch temps in my Coopers 23 litre FV.  Also did not want to buy a wort cooling coil.  Anyhow what I think will work for me, is this.

Purchased 2 x 15 litre food grade cubes from Bunnings, washed them out then sanitised them.  Filled with chlorine free and filtered cold water and stick them in a spare fridge which I have to get them down to about 4C before brew day.

Come brew day I can dump one of the cold cubes into the sanitised FV first and then drop the hot wort into that so the heat is dropped immediately and no damage to plastic FV.  Then just top up to required volume with second very cold 15 litre cube and/or some pre-boiled hot water to get to exact pitching temp when the volume mark is hit.  Pitch yeast, wack on lid.

I will have to practice the quantities of each at certain temps to get it just about right then make notes so it can be replicated the next brew day.  Cheers.

[MitchellScott]

Just now, iBooz2 said:

G’day Mitch,

I have been thinking about ways to get the hot wort down quickly to approx. pitch temps in my Coopers 23 litre FV.  Also did not want to buy a wort cooling coil.  Anyhow what I think will work for me, is this.

Purchased 2 x 15 litre food grade cubes from Bunnings, washed them out then sanitised them.  Filled with chlorine free and filtered cold water and stick them in a spare fridge which I have to get them down to about 4C before brew day.

Come brew day I can dump one of the cold cubes into the sanitised FV first and then drop the hot wort into that so the heat is dropped immediately and no damage to plastic FV.  Then just top up to required volume with second very cold 15 litre cube and/or some pre-boiled hot water to get to exact pitching temp when the volume mark is hit.  Pitch yeast, wack on lid.

I will have to practice the quantities of each at certain temps to get it just about right then make notes so it can be replicated the next brew day.  Cheers.

That is a good idea. Although, I don't know if my temps would drop enough when nearly half of my total volume is boiling. If you are doing smaller boils it would probably work perfect but not sure if it would drop the temp enough with a 10L boil.

Let us know how it goes for you

[King Ruddager]

I've used 500g ice blocks to good effect when extract brewing, but obviously a few of those are going to increase your volume.

[Aussiekraut]

1 hour ago, MitchellScott said:

Hi all.

With majority of my extract brews now utilizing a 10L boil, I'm trying to find more environmentally friendly and efficient ways to cool my boils. At the moment I am cooling with a water bath but the amount of cold water needed to cool 10L down is huge. Not to mention going into Summer now where the tap water can often be over 30C.....

I was thinking I could simply cover the pot with foil and leave overnight, however, the boiling hops will still be in the pot with the wort overnight if I did not and I'm not sure if it would have a detrimental effect on the beer?

The other option is buying a chiller but not really keen on purchasing more equipment that I have to run water through to cool anyway.

The only other thing I can think of is sourcing a 10L cube and no chilling overnight before dumping it in the FV the next day. Please no cube fights

Thoughts?
Cheers, Mitch.

How about a nice big block of ice? Freeze a few litres of water in a (sanitised) container and when you need to chill your wort, get the ice out of the container and into the pot. It'll melt fairly quickly I'd say and you just add less water to the FV. Just a thought.

[MitchellScott]

4 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

How about a nice big block of ice? Freeze a few litres of water in a (sanitised) container and when you need to chill your wort, get the ice out of the container and into the pot. It'll melt fairly quickly I'd say and you just add less water to the FV. Just a thought.

Not a bad idea actually, and simple.

I'll need to see if I have anything that will allow a large chunk of water to be frozen in while still allowing the brick of ice to come out. Something made of soft plastic would work best I guess.

Mitch.

[iBooz2]

Yep I thought of going the ice block route and already organised some 5 litre plastic ice cream containers for the job but my boil pot is not quite big enough to take both the wort and the block.  The ice cream tubs I have are from a catering kitchen; they taper out toward the top and have clip on lids so easy to prevent contamination when sitting in the freezer.  If my plan A does not get close enough might have to buy a bigger, say 25 or 30 litre pot.

Just doing up a batch of homemade ginger beer for Christmas at the moment and when all gear is cleaned up will try plan A and post temp results here.  Cheers.

[MitchellScott]

10 minutes ago, iBooz2 said:

Yep I thought of going the ice block route and already organised some 5 litre plastic ice cream containers for the job but my boil pot is not quite big enough to take both the wort and the block.  The ice cream tubs I have are from a catering kitchen; they taper out toward the top and have clip on lids so easy to prevent contamination when sitting in the freezer.  If my plan A does not get close enough might have to buy a bigger, say 25 or 30 litre pot.

Just doing up a batch of homemade ginger beer for Christmas at the moment and when all gear is cleaned up will try plan A and post temp results here.  Cheers.

Sounds good man!

The only other thing with such a big chunk of ice is how to remove it and place it into the FV/Pot while keeping it sanitised (not touching it). I guess you could dump the ice chunk straight into the FV then pour the wort on top.

Mitch.

[King Ruddager]

I use those takeaway food containers - you can get them cheap at supermarkets, and with more blocks you get a better surface area to volume ratio, so they melt (and therefore cool the wort) quicker.

[King Ruddager]

Plus you can add them incrementally instead of throwing in one big several-kilogram block and hoping it lands right on pitching temp 

[MitchellScott]

1 minute ago, King Ruddager said:

I use those takeaway food containers - you can get them cheap at supermarkets, and with more blocks you get a better surface area to volume ratio, so they melt (and therefore cool the wort) quicker.

I thought I saw someone using them somewhere.... Was probably one of your videos.

Cheers, will give it a crack next brew. Do you re-use the containers or do they tend to split?

Mitch.

[King Ruddager]

I reuse them for food because I tend to cook in bulk, but no, they do not split. The lid would probably be pushed off first if you didn't leave enough room for expansion

[BlackSands]

I usually pre-chill several litres of water in soft drink bottles at the start of my brew days.  Seems to be a quite effective way of getting the temp down post boil. 

[James Lao]

I know this is frowned upon but I get a 5kg bag of ice from the local bottlo on brew day and when my fermentables are all mixed in I start putting ice and tap water in the FV, to get to pitch temps.

Have been doing this for 4 years and no issues so far touch wood.

The ice would have to be the same cleanliness as tap water I would say.

I used to have 2 x 5 litre containers of 3 degree water to mix in and bring the temp down but using the ice is easier for me.

I usually use less than half a bag in the FV.

Cheers

James

Edited October 3, 2019 by James Lao

[Norris!]

Like most have said, I freeze 1 ice cream container with water, add it to the fermenter with water and let chill while doing the boil, I fill it to 3l. I then fill the sink with cold water and some ice I make from the fridge the day before and add some salt, because they say it makes things colder faster, and add the pot with boiling water.

I then add 3 of the fast food containers of ice to the wort and whirlpool. Once the sink water has heated up from cold and the ice blocks in the wort have melted, I add it to the cold water and ice in the fermenter and it is pretty much perfect and at pitching temps.

It sounds like a lot of faffing around but it is really just freezing some water a couple of days before brew day.  I have also just done 3 big ice cream containers of ice, 1 in the fermenter with water and 2 in the pot and that works well also. Just account for the ice and don't add too much water to the fermenter.

Good luck

Norris

Edited October 3, 2019 by Norris!

[MitchellScott]

6 minutes ago, Norris! said:

Like most have said, I freeze 1 ice cream container with water, add it to the fermenter with water and let chill while doing the boil, I fill it to 3l. I then fill the sink with cold water and some ice I make from the fridge the day before and add some salt, because they say it makes things colder faster, and add the pot with boiling water.

I then add 3 of the fast food containers of ice to the wort and whirlpool. Once the sink water has heated up from cold and the ice blocks in the wort have melted, I add it to the cold water and ice in the fermenter and it is pretty much perfect and at pitching temps.

It sounds like a lot of faffing around but it is really just freezing some water a couple of days before brew day.  I have also just done 3 big ice cream containers of ice, 1 in the fermenter with water and 2 in the pot and that works well also. Just account for the ice and don't add too much water to the fermenter.

Good luck

Norris

How do you handle the ice while putting it in (maintaining sanitary practices)? Do you just drop it in out of the container and hope it doesn't splash too much?

I assume handling the ice with your hands would be a no go...

Cheers guys, great tips I'll have to try for my next brew

[Norris!]

I always have a spray bottle of starsan when brewing for my hands, but I also try to warm up the containers by sitting them out with about 15 minutes left in the boil to allow them to drop from the containers easier.

[porschemad911]

2 options that I use depending if it's a full volume boil or not:

1. Full volume boil - contain hops in a spider and remove post-boil, lid goes on and I wait until it cools. 
2. Partial volume boil - freeze a 4 litre ice brick of boiled water in a Starsan-ed container, add this to fermenter first (just tip it in) then add the hot wort on top and if needed top up with cold tap water. 

Both work perfectly in my experience. 

Cheers, 

John 

[Worthog]

4 hours ago, MitchellScott said:

.....With majority of my extract brews now utilizing a 10L boil, I'm trying to find more environmentally friendly and efficient ways to cool my boils. At the moment I am cooling with a water bath but the amount of cold water needed to cool 10L down is huge. Not to mention going into Summer now where the tap water can often be over 30C.....

......The only other thing I can think of is sourcing a 10L cube and no chilling overnight before dumping it in the FV the next day. Please no cube fights

Thoughts?
Cheers, Mitch.

 

4 hours ago, MitchellScott said:

Another thing that came to mind is stealing one of the All Inn FWK cubes off a mate of mine....

With a 15L cube you can do either of the following;

• Siphon your boil into it and drop it into your laundry trough of cold water. This will take some time.
• Better, you join the No-chill "Militia", put your 10L into the cube without aerating it, and leave it until tomorrow when it is 18c. Don't worry about the free-space on top, it will be ok.  

Cheers