Winter wort cooling

[jackwhite]

Need to start using a burner outside seeing my stove won't boil 6.5 gals. Any thought on cooling the wort when its too cold to use a hose? Otherwise I will have to carry 195 deg wort through the house. Kind of scarey.

What do you do during the winter to cool your wort?

 

[Psylocide]

 

[Clonefan94]

I bought one of those hoses that you see on TV, forget the name now, amazing hose or something like that. The one that expands and contracts and rolls up tight. I use it strictly for Brewing, keeping it in the house, warm during the winter, then when I need it, I take it out for brewing.

Depending on weather we have snow or not, ends up determining my exact cooling method. I hate snow in general any more, but for brewing have come to love it. If we have snow on the ground, I just stick my portable sump pump in a coller and pack it full of snow. When it's time to cool, I had a little water, to get things running, and just pump through my immersion chiller and back to the cooler. There I just keep adding snow as it melts. Great way to not waste a lot of water.

If we don't have any snow, this time of year the ground water is down to about 47 degrees, so it's a great temp to just keep running straight through my chiller. I've also been known to fill up a bunch of empty gallon milk jugs with water and freeze those to use in the cooler with the pump as chilling ice as well. Works pretty good in the winter, because I can bring 5 or six of them out without worrying about them melting.

I actually love brewing in the winter. No bugs, usually free ice and standing around the boil is nice to keep warm as opposed to making me sweat even more. I usually brew right at the edge of my garage, so when it comes to cooling time I can close the door and help stay warm.

 

[blizz81]

Too cold for the hose? It was about 0*F when we brewed last. Hooked up the hose, used it to fill our IC ice water bucket, used it to spray stuff off afterwards on cleanup, unhooked it, drained it.

 

[jackwhite]

Too cold for the hose? It was about 0*F when we brewed last. Hooked up the hose, used it to fill our IC ice water bucket, used it to spray stuff off afterwards on cleanup, unhooked it, drained it.

Thats what I am reading. (I found a similar thread AFTER I posted this one.)

 

[blizz81]

Thats what I am reading. (I found a similar thread AFTER I posted this one.)

Information gained is information gained!


One thing that sucks if you're not going the pump / recirculating your chilling water route is potentially having an icy mess on your hands where you're draining your chiller. Another reason to switch to the pump route if you haven't already (and then like Clonefan mentioned, if you have snow, you can find the one good use on earth for it).

 

[imasickboy]

I bought a hose specifically for winter brewing that I keep inside to stay unfrozen.

Or for those days when I can't imagine touching water outside, (last weekend I brewed when it was 9 degrees out), I just carry it inside and hook the chiller to the sink. Remember, you're not carrying 6.5 or 7 gallons, but something closer to 5. It's not so bad if you're careful.

 

[JonM]

I fill the HLT with ice water and run it through the immersion chiller with a pump. I only need a couple short lengths of hose, so it's easy to bring them inside.

 

[TheCADJockey]

Yeah. I do this. I did this last night. Stuck it in a snowbank, grabbed a beer, threw the ball for the dog for a bit. Was chilled in 30 mins. If I'm in an absolute hurry, I put it in a tote filled with water, fill the water with snow and swirl it, replacing the snow as it melts.

 

[MI_Dogman]

I live in Northern Michigan and know all about the cold. I did a full boil and cooled using my immersion chiller and a hose. Although I have a well and a water pressure tank.
On the water pressure tank there is a spigot and it come straight from the well water. If you have that you are golden. In my garage with the door open and outside air being 20*F I wen from boiling to 65 in 20min. I just had to run a hose from my utility room to my garage. They are conveniently right next to each other on the same level.