chillin' the wort- is too quick and too cold bad

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by mikestab, Jan 27, 2015.

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  1. mikestab

    mikestab Initiate (0) Jan 18, 2015 Pennsylvania

    I made a batch of beer Sunday. Cooled the wort down to 92* in 15 minutes.
    Used a combination of the laundry sink filled with water then snow was added to the sink water. After that wort chiller was put in the wort.

    Is quicker better? I read where getting the temp down quickly is good but how quick is too quick?

    Also, regarding wort temp to pitching the yeast. If I have cooled wort at 92* or below, add 2 gallons of really cold water to the bucket, add wort, then add more cold water to top off the water can be down to 60* or below.

    Is it safe to assume the yeast will start to ferment once the water warms up to a desirable temp to activate the yeast?
     
    #1 mikestab, Jan 27, 2015
  2. kbuzz

    kbuzz Initiate (0) Jan 22, 2011 North Carolina

    No such thing as cooling too quick...so you're good there. Quicker is better - limits bacteria exposure during the most dangerous temps and also prevents further SMM to DMS conversion.

    Pitching at too low of a temp could be a problem, however. I would try to determine the correct combo of chilling and cold water additions to get you to about 65 or so...and pitch then.
     
    #2 kbuzz, Jan 27, 2015
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2015
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  3. billandsuz

    billandsuz Pooh-Bah (2,097) Sep 1, 2004 New York
    Pooh-Bah

    do you walk into the shower before the water has warmed up?
    yeast make beer. keep them happy and they will make good beer.
    beer yeast are notoriously demanding little bugs. if you shock your yeast with dramatic temperature changes they will show their displeasure by going on strike. they will eventually get around to doing their work, unless you really shock them.

    try to pitch yeast that is tempered to within a few degrees of the desired pitching temp. note desired pitching temp, not necessarily desired fermentation temperature. that is another discussion.
    Cheers.
     
    #3 billandsuz, Jan 27, 2015
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  4. inchrisin

    inchrisin Pooh-Bah (2,013) Sep 25, 2008 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah

    It's easy to get down to about 100F. The real trick is getting to into the mid 60s within half an hour. Most people need ice to do this.
     
    #4 inchrisin, Jan 27, 2015
  5. mikehartigan

    mikehartigan Maven (1,421) Apr 9, 2007 Illinois

    The wort chills virtually instantaneously as it goes through my plate chiller. As kbuzz correctly pointed out, there's no such thing as too fast. I need only to adjust the flow so that the wort exits the chiller at the desired pitching temp.
     
    #5 mikehartigan, Jan 27, 2015
  6. Wanda

    Wanda Zealot (518) Nov 23, 2006 Tennessee

    I wouldn't chill THEN put the immersion chiller in, rather, put it in with 10 or 15 minutes left in the boil to sanitize it (the immersion chiller). Then, when you're ready for it turn it on. Putting it in after the wort has cooled is inviting bugs...unless you had it sitting in StarSan or something of that nature.
     
    #6 Wanda, Jan 28, 2015
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  7. kbuzz

    kbuzz Initiate (0) Jan 22, 2011 North Carolina

    damn...good catch. Funny...I was so focused on the issue at hand that I blew right over that procedural error.
     
    #7 kbuzz, Jan 28, 2015
  8. mikestab

    mikestab Initiate (0) Jan 18, 2015 Pennsylvania

    Thanks for the replies.
    Good to know about quick chilling.
    Wanda, I put the pot in the water and then put the chiller in the pot right after. The chiller sits in sanitized solution right until it goes into the wort.

    As far as yeast pitching temp, the directions said 78* or below, not warm to the touch. When water was added before pitching it definitely wasnt warm to the touch. The bucket was cold.

    One concern I have with this batch(brewed late Sunday afternoon) is I havent seen any activity. I bought a new fermenting bucket so I can have multiple brews going and when I put the air lock in the hole it was loose. Today still didnt see any activity so I put the blow off tube in which is tighter thinking the CO2 is escaping around the air lock. Still no activity.
    I shook the shit out of the wort to aerate before adding the yeast.

    Maybe I shocked the yeast (Safale US-05 Ale) having the wort too cold like billandsuz said?
    If it doesnt wake up should I re-pitch if nothing happens in a day or 2?

    It does smell good though when I remove the cover I have over the bucket.
     
    #8 mikestab, Jan 28, 2015
  9. kbuzz

    kbuzz Initiate (0) Jan 22, 2011 North Carolina

    What does it look like? Is there krausen? And by "cover", you mean lid that snaps on tightly, yes? Does the hole for the air lock have the little rubber grommet? Odd that it was loose.

    My guess is that co2 is escaping but I suppose it's possible that you shocked the little buggers.

    Only real way to know is to take a gravity reading. :wink:
     
    #9 kbuzz, Jan 28, 2015
  10. mikestab

    mikestab Initiate (0) Jan 18, 2015 Pennsylvania

    Looks good. Lots of krausen. When I peeked under the lid I can see little bubbles popping off the top layer. I think my son or one of the dogs got to close and the blow off tube was just barely in the lid.
    The lid is a plastic snap lid. It's on tight. There is a rubber grommet but compared to my Northern Brewer lid it's not tight. The NB lid it's tough to get the air lock or blow off tube into the grommet. This new lid there is a lot of play. I have the tube taped down around the grommet to see if that helps.
    Gravity did drop compared to initial reading so I guess it's doing something.
     
    #10 mikestab, Jan 28, 2015
  11. kbuzz

    kbuzz Initiate (0) Jan 22, 2011 North Carolina

    Yeah...I think you're good...just give it another couple weeks and check gravity...
     
    #11 kbuzz, Jan 28, 2015
  12. mikestab

    mikestab Initiate (0) Jan 18, 2015 Pennsylvania

    I put the bigger hose from the bottling kit in the grommet to use as a blow off and it is bubbling pretty good.
    It was fermenting after all but escaping around the air lock at fist then the other blowoff tube. And taping the grommet around the other blow off tube didnt help.

    Thanks for the replies.
     
    #12 mikestab, Jan 28, 2015
  13. HOPS-IT-TOME

    HOPS-IT-TOME Initiate (0) Jan 10, 2015 Florida

    hey yall. so im very new to homebrewing. infact a virgin. i have read alot on the submersion and plate chillers. i have drawn up some blueprints to build a wort chiller of my own. my design involves two coils of copper tubing arranged in a cooler, the first one alittle higher then the second(gravity feed). the thought is to fill the cooler with ice and actually run the wort through the coils. kind of like how the fountin systems in bars and resturants works. my question is has anyone tryed using a heat exchanger set up like this for wort. im not at all HVAC educated just pretty handy. i was thinking about using around a 5/8'' tubing and depending on my output temp i could adjust my flowrate using the ball valve and get a desired temp. im pretty much just looking for some advise and input from some more experenced brewers and posible contracters that could help me determine tubbing size, length, ect.
     
    #13 HOPS-IT-TOME, Jan 28, 2015
  14. hoptualBrew

    hoptualBrew Initiate (0) May 29, 2011 Florida

    In commercial setting, we whirlpool and let stand 30 minutes then start knockout through counter flow chiller which takes about 60 minutes for the batch. So basically 90 minutes & we've never detected DMS or any bacterial contamination. The beer as it sits that 90 minutes doesn't fall below 180 in the kettle. I don't think any microbes are living at that temp for a prolonged period of time. This additional contact time is good for late addition and flameout hops aka hop stand.
     
    #14 hoptualBrew, Jan 28, 2015
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