Question about cooling Wort

[hmiles86]

I have read many threads and watched many videos about cooling the wort down below 70 deg as fast as you can. My starter equipment comes with a Blonde Ale kit and when I too a preemptive look at the instructions, it said to "cool the wort down to 130 and then transfer into the fermenter which 2 gallons of cold water and/or ice". This really threw me off. My question is, should I follow those instructions with the kit or just cool the whole partial boil to 70 and then add it to the fermenter with the remaining hops. I appreciate any commentsa and advice. happy hump day

 

[n240sxguy]

When you put the 130 degree wort with the cold water, it should come out to be 70 degrees.

 

[LovesIPA]

I have read many threads and watched many videos about cooling the wort down below 70 deg as fast as you can. My starter equipment comes with a Blonde Ale kit and when I too a preemptive look at the instructions, it said to "cool the wort down to 130 and then transfer into the fermenter which 2 gallons of cold water and/or ice". This really threw me off.

You're doing a partial boil, so adding the cold water to the hot wort will cool it down.

When you do this, the water you're adding should be pre-boiled and cooled - or RO filtered and sterilized. Don't use tap water.

My question is, should I follow those instructions with the kit or just cool the whole partial boil to 70 and then add it to the fermenter with the remaining hops. I appreciate any commentsa and advice. happy hump day

Umm.... what? You shouldn't be adding hops to the fermenter unless you're dry-hopping, and that shouldn't be until after fermentation is done.

 

[hmiles86]

thanks for the advice guys!! i got ahead of myself with that post haha, i didnt mean to say add the hops, i meant to say remaining water. ok so i should follow the instructions in the kit then? the reason why i asked, i was under the impression that you want to have as little exposure to the air as possible. that seems like a whole lot of exposure.

 

[LovesIPA]

There are different schools of thought around this and there doesn't seem to be a solid consensus. Some people take great precautions against oxidizing wort, while others insist it's a myth/boogeyman, at least at the homebrew scale.

Once the wort is cooled, you MUST aerate it to give the yeast enough oxygen to prepare for fermentation.

 

[duboman]

Oxidation is only a concern post fermentation. You actually want a well aerated wort prior to pitching. Also, if you have good, drinkable tap water it is not necessary to pre-boil IME/IMO. When I brewed extract I used to top off all the time with regular tap water and never experienced any issues and I know many people that still do the same.

If you wouldn't drink your water out of the tap then yes, pre-boil and then cool the top off water.

 

[hmiles86]

Excellent. It wasnt the aeration that seem to bother people when exposing the hot wort to air but the wild yeast. I guess I will just try one method this time and hope for the best and try the other next time. I really appreciate all the help

 

[kh54s10]

I would also take the 130 degrees as a general target. It really does not matter what the temperature of the wort is when you top up. What does matter is that you are in the recommended range for the yeast you are using before pitching. I cool toward the low end of the range, aerate the wort by shaking the snot out of the fermenter, then pitch my yeast.

I also have pretty good tap water and have always used it for brewing. I do filter it, through a Brita filter originally, and now an inline cartridge charcoal filter.

 

[LovesIPA]

Ok, now I have a question.

Let's say you have the starter on the stirplate in a room that's 75. You cool your wort down to 65. Doesn't pitching yeast into wort that's 10 degrees cooler shock the yeast?

 

[cullen]

BTW - a great many homebrewers use tap water for top-off without boiling it. The advisability depends on the water in your area.

 

[duboman]

Ok, now I have a question.

Let's say you have the starter on the stirplate in a room that's 75. You cool your wort down to 65. Doesn't pitching yeast into wort that's 10 degrees cooler shock the yeast?

It will be fine but in reality it is better to pitch cold. Fridge and decant your starter and then pitch it into the slightly warmer wort and your yeast will be happier!

 

[woozy]

I have read many threads and watched many videos about cooling the wort down below 70 deg as fast as you can. My starter equipment ... said to "cool the wort down to 130 and then transfer into the fermenter which 2 gallons of cold water and/or ice".

They are both the same thing. You use the ice to cool down the wort.

Top off water/ice will cool off the wort. But the wort will cool off faster the later you add the cold top of water. (I didn't believe this at first. It seemed couterintuitive. But it's true[*]). Cooling to 130 and adding the ice is the most effective and fasting way to cool.


[*] The thing is hot materials lose more absolute heat in the same amount of time as a less cool item. (Hot coffee will lose 50 degrees in the amount of time it takes warm oatmeal to lose 10) Mixing hot and cold redistribute temps but doesn't lose anything over all. Thus mixing ice last will result in more overall heat lost upfront and then mixed to room temperature, whereas mixing ice first will result in mixing to warm and then losing the same amount of heat but which will take longer to lose as the materials not as hot. Yes, it's sounds bass-ackward to me too.

 

[masskrug]

I get my full boil down to about 90' outside and then I bring it into the fermentation cooler. I'll let it sit there until it hits 70' and then pitch. I'll continue to cool it into the low 60's for the first week (depending on the beer).

 

[hmiles86]

So you can add Ice straight into the wort and use an ice bath? All these tips are really awesome, thanks a bunch!

 

[woozy]

So you can add Ice straight into the wort and use an ice bath? All these tips are really awesome, thanks a bunch!

Well, put it this way: you want to cool the wort down. You can use any method within the laws of physics to do it. If you didn't do a full boil you need to top off.

Based on that, everything else is just creative engineering.

 

[bregiz]

I am currently doing an all extract IPA which I dissolved in boiling water and then topped up with refrigerated water.

The resulting temperature was 54 F so I am now slowly bringing it up to 67 F (optimal temperature for the yeast) by sitting it on a heating pad before I pitch.

Is there any problems that can be caused by over cooling like this?
Should I wait until I am at 67F before I pitch or should I pitch on the way up (say 64F or so)

additionally, I aerated the wort by stirring for 5 minutes after adding the refrigerated water. Will that be sufficient for the yeast if I am pitching hours, maybe even a day later, or should I aerate again before pitching?

Cheers in advance for your help.

 

[brewkinger]

You should be fine to just pitch your yeast now.
That way when fermentation starts and the temps start to rise, you can keep it at the low end of temp range for the yeast.