Chilling Wort

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NickP

Chilling Wort

Post by NickP » Fri Jan 22, 2010 7:49 pm

Im looking for opinions here but currently i dont have any means to Chill my Wort but im not sure really how much difference it would make to my beer.

The last brew i did was a black sheep ale clone, and i did this is the height of the cold weather. After boiling i put my kettle outside to cool. When this finished fermenting it was crystal clear from the fermenter. I have never had this before, and im not sure how this happened. To complicate things i also fitted a hop strainer to my kettle so i made two changes so im not sure if the chilling was the cause or if the filter was the cause !!

boingy

Re: Chilling Wort

Post by boingy » Fri Jan 22, 2010 8:18 pm

Cooling quickly helps you get the "cold break" but it is (arguably!) not that important.
I brewed a White Wych clone last week and, due to the hosepipe being frozen solid, I was unable (AKA too lazy) to force cool the wort. I pitched the yeast the next morning and the wort was almost "sparkling clear". 8 days on and the beer is in secondary and already tasting pretty good, although perhaps a shade darker than I intended (nothing to do with the cooling, just the recipe).

So, quick cooling is good but it is not top of the list of essentials.

howard

Re: Chilling Wort

Post by howard » Sun Jan 24, 2010 9:31 pm

No matter how much difference the cold break makes a good wort chiller is one of the most satisfing bits of kit you make (well I am fighting against the need for anything shinny :roll: )

Mine is 10M of 10mm copper tube raped around an old paint tin with a couple of washing machine taps on the top. I was lucky enough to have some copper sheet lying around into which I drilled a series of 13mm holes and threaded them around the coil - got the idea from another post on this forum.

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