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Date: 06 Jun 2006 00:57:24
From: Gerard Eberlein
Subject: Can you cool wort too fast?
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I know I'm way ahead of myself being it's June but I was thinking about
winter brewing. I live in Michigan and I do my boils at the edge of my
garage. Seems to me using my wort chiller in the 10 degree and below temps
could freeze the water out line as I have no drain in the garage. If I have
a snow drift or where the snow plow piles up snow can I dig a small hole and
put the boil pot in it or can it cool too fast..like crystals, etc? Has
anyone tried this before? Thanx in advance.
Gerard
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Date: 06 Jun 2006 15:15:50
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Can you cool wort too fast?
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On Tue, 6 Jun 2006 00:57:24 -0400, <dormouse@charter.net > wrote:
> I know I'm way ahead of myself being it's June but I was thinking about
> winter brewing. I live in Michigan and I do my boils at the edge of my
> garage. Seems to me using my wort chiller in the 10 degree and below temps
> could freeze the water out line as I have no drain in the garage. If I have
> a snow drift or where the snow plow piles up snow can I dig a small hole and
> put the boil pot in it or can it cool too fast..like crystals, etc? Has
> anyone tried this before? Thanx in advance.
Assuming you don't let it get too cold, then no I don't think you can
cool it too fast. IE, in theory if you could instantaneously drop it from
boiling to 65F, it shouldn't hurt anything. I've got a recipe that I call
"Snow Stout" because the first time I made it the wort was chilled in a
snow bank. The beer came out fine.
John.
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Date: 06 Jun 2006 05:55:41
From: Jerry Z
Subject: Re: Can you cool wort too fast?
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Gerard,
You can't cool it too quickly. In fact, the quicker the better.
However, you may be surprised at how slowly the snowbank method cools
your wort. I tried it that way many moons ago, before I fabricated my
first wort chiller.
A few factors to keep in mind:
1 - Despite the difference between the wort temperature and the ambient
air temperature, consider that stationary air is not the greatest
thermal conductor. Yes, you'll get some cooling, but it will be slow.
2 - Although the brewpot is mostly buried in snow, it will quickly melt
away from the sides, leaving a small pocket of air around the brewpot.
This air effectively forms a layer of insulation, igloo-style, which
quickly warms up, slowing the cooling process.
3 - This leaves you with the bottom of the brewpot in contact with
snow, which rapidly compacts and forms ice. That's good. But, because
only this surface is in decent contact with a cold substance, you'll be
getting rather inefficient heat exchange.
4 - You're going to have to stir like heck to improve the efficiency of
the heat exchange between the bottom of the brewpot and the ice, as
well as the surface of the wort and the ambient air.
5 - Allowing for extremes -- If you decide to take your brewing
operation to Antartica and chill your wort outdoors at temperatures of
-180 degrees F., you are likely to experience some ice formation. But,
that's simple enough to resolve, bring the icy wort back indoors (while
it's still mostly liquid), and stir it until the frozen wort melts. No
harm done. Repeat the outside/inside cycle until you're at your target
temperature.
As far as using your chiller goes:
It's unlikely that the outflow line would freeze shut during use in
moderately cold situations (say, down to about 10 degrees F.), for a
number of reasons. At its lowest point, the water exiting your wort
chiller should only be a few degrees below the target temperature of
the wort (assuming reasonable efficiency on the part of your wort
chiller.) And because the water is flowing at a pretty good clip, it
will further resist freezing. (If you slow the water flow down, it will
absorb more heat from the wort, raising the outflow temperature.) So,
unless your area of Michigan gets down to serious sub-zero
temperatures, it's not going to be an insurmountable problem.
If you're running low on beer and just have to make a batch on the
coldest day of winter, consider moving your chilling operation inside
the garage and running the outflow from your chiller into a couple
pails which you empty alternatingly as needed. Dump them down an
adjacent steep hillside and explore that urge you've always had to see
if you're cut out for the U.S. Olympic Luge team. :D
Best luck!
Jerry
Gerard Eberlein wrote:
> I know I'm way ahead of myself being it's June but I was thinking about
> winter brewing. I live in Michigan and I do my boils at the edge of my
> garage. Seems to me using my wort chiller in the 10 degree and below temps
> could freeze the water out line as I have no drain in the garage. If I have
> a snow drift or where the snow plow piles up snow can I dig a small hole and
> put the boil pot in it or can it cool too fast..like crystals, etc? Has
> anyone tried this before? Thanx in advance.
>
> Gerard
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Date: 06 Jun 2006 01:54:31
From: Washu
Subject: Re: Can you cool wort too fast?
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Gerard Eberlein wrote:
> I know I'm way ahead of myself being it's June but I was thinking about
> winter brewing. I live in Michigan and I do my boils at the edge of my
> garage. Seems to me using my wort chiller in the 10 degree and below temps
> could freeze the water out line as I have no drain in the garage. If I have
> a snow drift or where the snow plow piles up snow can I dig a small hole and
> put the boil pot in it or can it cool too fast..like crystals, etc? Has
> anyone tried this before? Thanx in advance.
>
> Gerard
I have cooled my wort in a chest freezer with no problems, in fact
I had the best cold break I've ever had that way. You're only going
to be cooling your wort down to 70F or so anyway so don't see
how ice crystals could be a problem.
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Date: 06 Jun 2006 06:54:35
From: QD Steve
Subject: Re: Can you cool wort too fast?
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"Gerard Eberlein" <dormouse@charter.net > wrote in message
news:VW7hg.107$yX5.17@fe06.lga...
>I know I'm way ahead of myself being it's June but I was thinking about
> winter brewing. I live in Michigan and I do my boils at the edge of my
> garage. Seems to me using my wort chiller in the 10 degree and below temps
> could freeze the water out line as I have no drain in the garage. If I
> have
> a snow drift or where the snow plow piles up snow can I dig a small hole
> and
> put the boil pot in it or can it cool too fast..like crystals, etc? Has
> anyone tried this before? Thanx in advance.
>
> Gerard
>
It doesn't snow where I live but I don't think you can cool wort too
quickly. I know that Pilsner Urquell uses 'cool ships' which is a rapid
method of chilling wort which I believe also oxygenates at the same time.
Not that I know much about these cool ships or what they look like but I
have read about them.
Steve W (in Aus)
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Date: 06 Jun 2006 09:57:04
From: bregent
Subject: Re: Can you cool wort too fast?
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In article <LE9hg.4182$ap3.1957@news-server.bigpond.net.au >, QD Steve says...
>
>
>"Gerard Eberlein" <dormouse@charter.net> wrote in message
>news:VW7hg.107$yX5.17@fe06.lga...
>>I know I'm way ahead of myself being it's June but I was thinking about
>> winter brewing. I live in Michigan and I do my boils at the edge of my
>> garage. Seems to me using my wort chiller in the 10 degree and below temps
>> could freeze the water out line as I have no drain in the garage. If I
>> have
>> a snow drift or where the snow plow piles up snow can I dig a small hole
>> and
>> put the boil pot in it or can it cool too fast..like crystals, etc? Has
>> anyone tried this before? Thanx in advance.
>>
>> Gerard
>>
>It doesn't snow where I live but I don't think you can cool wort too
>quickly. I know that Pilsner Urquell uses 'cool ships' which is a rapid
>method of chilling wort which I believe also oxygenates at the same time.
>Not that I know much about these cool ships or what they look like but I
>have read about them.
>Steve W (in Aus)
I'm not sure how PU chills their beer from the kettle, but a cool ship is
something else. It's a low profile wide fermenter that uses it's large surface
area in a cold room to keep fermentation temperatures low.
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Date: 06 Jun 2006 18:40:04
From: Todd
Subject: Re: Can you cool wort too fast?
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"Gerard Eberlein" <dormouse@charter.net > wrote in message
news:VW7hg.107$yX5.17@fe06.lga...
> I know I'm way ahead of myself being it's June but I was thinking about
> winter brewing. I live in Michigan and I do my boils at the edge of my
> garage. Seems to me using my wort chiller in the 10 degree and below temps
> could freeze the water out line as I have no drain in the garage. If I
have
> a snow drift or where the snow plow piles up snow can I dig a small hole
and
> put the boil pot in it or can it cool too fast..like crystals, etc? Has
> anyone tried this before? Thanx in advance.
>
> Gerard
>
You can cool it too much. Be careful not to let it get below your target
temp, but as long as you don't do that, you can't cool it too fast.
Todd
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Date: 08 Jun 2006 11:41:55
From: MDixon
Subject: Re: Can you cool wort too fast?
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Todd <Noname@NoSpam.invalid > wrote in message
news:8_jhg.11155$9c7.8159@trnddc06...
> You can cool it too much. Be careful not to let it get below your target
> temp
That's not true...Noonan even suggests cooling lagers to near freezing and
then allowing to warm...check out New Brewing Lager Beer...
Cheers,
Mike
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Date: 08 Jun 2006 19:27:28
From: Sam G. Daher
Subject: Re: Can you cool wort too fast?
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Hey Mike,
I didnt know you were still alive. It was good meeting you last november,
let me know when your in the great state (texas)
later
"MDixon" <me@privacy.net > wrote in message
news:4eqv31F1fv1e8U1@individual.net...
>
> Todd <Noname@NoSpam.invalid> wrote in message
> news:8_jhg.11155$9c7.8159@trnddc06...
>> You can cool it too much. Be careful not to let it get below your target
>> temp
>
> That's not true...Noonan even suggests cooling lagers to near freezing and
> then allowing to warm...check out New Brewing Lager Beer...
>
> Cheers,
> Mike
>
>
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Date: 08 Jun 2006 16:39:33
From: MDixon
Subject: Re: Can you cool wort too fast?
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Sam G. Daher <Daffy@duck.com > wrote in message
news:AS_hg.42385$fb2.14455@newssvr27.news.prodigy.net...
> Hey Mike,
> I didnt know you were still alive. It was good meeting you last november,
> let me know when your in the great state (texas)
> later
Hey, I owe you some brews...
Cheers,
Mike
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Date: 09 Jun 2006 12:46:30
From: Sam G. Daher
Subject: Re: Can you cool wort too fast?
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OK, I guess i have that in writing now, hehehe
anyway hoppy brewing
"MDixon" <me@privacy.net > wrote in message
news:4ergh6F1gbhnsU1@individual.net...
>
> Sam G. Daher <Daffy@duck.com> wrote in message
> news:AS_hg.42385$fb2.14455@newssvr27.news.prodigy.net...
>> Hey Mike,
>> I didnt know you were still alive. It was good meeting you last november,
>> let me know when your in the great state (texas)
>> later
>
> Hey, I owe you some brews...
>
> Cheers,
> Mike
>
>
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