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Author Topic: Cooling a full batch extract brew  (Read 6276 times)

Offline jmsetzler

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Re: Cooling a full batch extract brew
« Reply #15 on: October 26, 2014, 01:25:13 pm »
I have quite a few friends who brew like this and don't chill their wort at all after the cook.  They just rack it to their fermenter and let it cool overnight and pitch the yeast the next day.  As mentioned earlier, the chilling process is for clarity.  Some of my friends occasionally get a really clear beer without chilling so it can be done.  I normally use Whirlfloc in the last 15 minutes of the boil which is quite helpful towards clarity also. 

I have never tried the ice cube method mentioned here but that would certainly work.  When I was doing partial boil extract brews I would chill my water in the fridge overnight and start with two gallons of chilled water in the fermenter and pour the hot wort in on top of that.  I would then top it off with however much chilled water I needed to get my correct volume.  This would usually get me pretty close.  You can also take your brew kettle and set it in a sink of cold ice water to get the cooling started.  You can bring the temp down pretty quickly this way too.

Offline flbrewer

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Re: Cooling a full batch extract brew
« Reply #16 on: October 26, 2014, 04:11:07 pm »
Hmmm, no chilling would be great! I use Whirfloc so if chilling is for clarity, perhaps I can skip it.

Offline klickitat jim

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Re: Cooling a full batch extract brew
« Reply #17 on: October 26, 2014, 07:16:18 pm »
Hmmm, no chilling would be great! I use Whirfloc so if chilling is for clarity, perhaps I can skip it.

The chill helps the whirlfloc precipitation. As well as creating whats called cold break. I suggest just trying it and see what you get.

Offline KEOLUMIKE

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Re: Cooling a full batch extract brew
« Reply #18 on: January 04, 2016, 04:54:47 pm »
I use a star san sanitized chiller and mix stir bit with my drill. Dramatically faster chill. 5 gal takes me 10 to 15 minutes. A 4 gal Belge Farmhouse ale to me from boil to 72 in 10 minutes.

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Offline Lazy Ant Brewing

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Re: Cooling a full batch extract brew
« Reply #19 on: January 12, 2016, 05:06:52 am »
Cooling time with an immersion chiller depends a lot on the input temp of your water.  My water comes from a city water tower: 76 F in August down to 60 F on December 5 (last brew day).

I'm going to brew again this Thursday.

I've been doing partial boils with all grain, then adding one gallon of chilled RO water and 1 gallon of chilled drinking water to the fermenter to speed cooling.  Works great.
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Offline flbrewer

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Re: Cooling a full batch extract brew
« Reply #20 on: January 12, 2016, 05:19:42 am »
When I brewed full 5 gallon extract batches (prior to owning an immersion chiller) I would simply fill up a deep sink and float the pot in an ice/water bath. This would bring the temps down in around 20-30 minutes.  Circulating the water around the pot helped.