Cooling

[JammyBStard]

Why cool?
Another Newb question:

What is the advantage of rapidly cooling the wart after the boil?

[boingy]

2 reasons:

1. To minimise the time the wort sits around without an active yeast in it. The wort is vulnerable to infection and oxidisation during this time.

2. To achieve the cold break www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter7-4.html

In an ideal world you would use forced cooling from an immersion cooler or a counterflow cooler. Failing that you can sit the bucket in a bath/barrel of cold water. Failing both of these you can just wait for the wort to cool naturally. Rapid cooling is ideal but I can assure you many fine brews have been made with just natural cooling. Just make sure you do not pitch the yeast until the temperature is low enough or the yast will die.

[JammyBStard]

Cheers!

[Fatgodzilla]

2. To achieve the cold break www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter7-4.html

Without arguing a zealot's line, there is no real need for cold breaks. I'll leave this argument alone cos I won't to concentrate on the other, more important point.

1. To minimise the time the wort sits around without an active yeast in it. The wort is vulnerable to infection and oxidisation during this time.

In an ideal world you would use forced cooling from an immersion cooler or a counterflow cooler. Failing that you can sit the bucket in a bath/barrel of cold water. Failing both of these you can just wait for the wort to cool naturally. Rapid cooling is ideal but I can assure you many fine brews have been made with just natural cooling. Just make sure you do not pitch the yeast until the temperature is low enough or the yeast will die.

I use the natural cooling method we call "cubing" in Australia. This has nothing to do with Picasso, but to the cubed shaped water carrier the wort is transferred to. This cube, with a single outlet (screw lid) comes in various sizes but is generally a fifteen litre carrier (fits a bit more but that's the size name). You obvious sterilize the cube prior to use, by transferring the near boiling wort straight to the cube you also pasteurise the cube as a second form of protection. Fill the cube to near overflowing, compressing the cube slightly so that an absolute minimal amount of air is contained in the cube. Seal the lid and allow the cube to cool naturally. Done correctly, there is no reason why this cube of wort cannot remain as is for a number of months.

This has a number of good uses. For instance, I am off to a brew club this weekend who will be making a 200l batch. We all chip in and take home a 15l cube of the wort (in this case a bragot or mead). I can ferment this at my convenience. I'm assuming that commercial brewers sell cubes of unfermented wort to the public in the UK as they do in Australia, so I'm sure some people on this forum also use this method. The main point is minimal exposure to air / oxidisation and done properly this is a really easy way to brew, wait and ferment.

Anyone else in the UK use this method ?

The only argument on why you shouldn't cube is the cold break reason which I still believe is unnecessary.

[haz66]

I have noticed a remarkable difference in the clarity of my beer since using an IC, the first brews i did i cooled naturally or in a bath of icey cool water, but lugging the FV around and up the stairs was hard work so i decided to build an IC, it cost about £18 and was worth every penny, i know the cloudiness is only cosmetic but its a lot nicer when you give someone a bottle of your homebrew and its crystal clear, it also kind of makes it more satisfying knowing that you can achieve the same sort of clarity as commercial brewers.

But at the end of the day its all down to personal taste and methods, but for the cost of an IC i`d highly recommend one.

[boingy]

... I'm assuming that commercial brewers sell cubes of unfermented wort to the public in the UK as they do in Australia....

Wow. Never heard of that happening here in the UK. Our local brewery won't even sell/give me any yeast...

[Stonechat]

You may well find that's because they use something readily available like SO4 or Nottingham, lots of micros do.

Also it needs to be remembered that a commercial brewery is there to make money and amateur brewers wanting live yeast are a PITA to them. Even though live yeast is a by-product of the brewing process and costs nothing it is the time needed to go to the fridge, get a bucket of it out, sterilise a whisk, and then try pouring it into your container that can annoy, especially now that with falling sales cutbacks on staff are likely to happen.

If you are lucky enough to have a local brewery that still gives out free yeast make a point of buying a case or two of their bottled beer or polypined ale