11 replies to this topic

[djinkc]

Prepped to brew tomorrow.  First time making some ice and chilling water for the post chiller this year.  Kind of a PIA but what are you going to do...........

[Big Nake]

Brewing tomorrow as well.  I'm just going to use ground water and then an ice bath in the sink.  It's an ale so not too much of a PITA.  

[djinkc]

Brewing tomorrow as well.  I'm just going to use ground water and then an ice bath in the sink.  It's an ale so not too much of a PITA.  

 It's a usual 10+ gallon batch.  An ice bath or delayed pitch won't cut it for me.  It seems to have worked well at my place the last several years.  Just a little more setup and cleanup time.

 

Batch 496 since the restart............

[Poptop]

496, nice.

I'm hoping to get off batch 97 on Monday and by the looks of the weather heading my way, it'll be cool but wet haha.

Ken, I'm pretty sure you're a 5g batch guy. Do you always chill in your sink? Several of your brewing activities are in the kitchen no? Just curious.

I used to brew out back by the pool until I realized I can save 1,213 literal steps by brewing in the garage

[Big Nake]

Yes, five gallons always.  Heat strike water in the kitchen, mash and runoff in the kitchen, boil and chill (ground water and IC) in the garage and then place the kettle in the kitchen sink with water and ice.  Lagers get more ice, ales get less.  Let sit for 30 minutes or so and transfer to primary.  That works for me with 5 gallons but I see DJs point about 10 gallons and his ground water may not be as cool as mine either.  I am looking closely at putting a deep sink in the room in my basement next to my brew bunker.  This would allow me to clear out of the kitchen quicker and do all my washing & sanitizing down there.  

[Poptop]

Cool. Part of my brew day philosophy is a continued effort to save steps in my process. Moving to the garage was a big help. One costly improvement I hope to make soon is to have a plumber run a copper line from the water heater (in the garage) to an area by the garage door. This way I'll be able to measure out hot strike water w/o having to use the kitchen sink. Naturally it will heat quicker and save some time. My initial chill comes from the ground which is +85 in the summer. But when I get down to that I usually add ice and circulate through the IC. I'm not patient enough to rack to fermenter and let it sit overnight in the ferm chamber but that is an option I've used. All in all keeping things centralized has made a difference in time and steps.

[Big Nake]

I tried brewing in the garage once when my wife didn't want me monopolizing the kitchen.  I set up a table out there and I heated strike water and also water for cleaning on the propane burner.  I used straight hose water for the sanitizer and everything went pretty smoothly but cleanliness and sanitization were my biggest fears.  My garage is somewhat clean but it's not that clean.  I was surprised how well everything worked out but I wouldn't want to do it all the time.  I know a local brewer who built a new house and opted for the 3-car garage... bay #3 was the brewery and he coated the floors and had a floor drain put in, had water, gas, a stainless counter, etc. all put in.  Now *THAT* I would use.   

[Poptop]

I'd use that too.

[pkrone]

Too hot for lagers already.   Bring on the Belgians!

[djinkc]

Too hot for lagers already.   Bring on the Belgians!

 

That's another option I've been tossing around.

[Bklmt2000]

One method I've used for several years now (both summer and winter): a sump pump, 1800 gal/hr, with a bucket of ice water.

 

A day or 2 before brew day, I measure out 2-ish gallons of water, (after I filter/measure out the mash and sparge water for said brewday), into a bucket and then into my lager fridge to chill.  I also pilfer a few pounds of ice from our kitchen fridge's icemaker.

 

On brewday, once the boil is done, I knock the wort temp down to ~100-110° with tap water (I use an IC).  Once there, I take the bucket of water (now partially-frozen) out of the lager fridge, plop in the sump pump, connect it to my IC, dump in the pilfered ice from the kitchen, and then circulate super cold water through the IC.

 

I recirc back into the bucket, and I also direct the discharge water into a bottle of frozen water, to keep the chilling water as cold/icy as possible for as long as possible.

 

Granted, I use more ice and cold water in the summer, but even then, lagers are well within reach, whereas years ago, lagers were a late-fall to early-spring thing only, and I didn't brew them in summer.

 

If anyone is interested, I will post pics of this setup in action (next week is my next brewday).

[Poptop]

One method I've used for several years now (both summer and winter): a sump pump, 1800 gal/hr, with a bucket of ice water.
 
A day or 2 before brew day, I measure out 2-ish gallons of water, (after I filter/measure out the mash and sparge water for said brewday), into a bucket and then into my lager fridge to chill.  I also pilfer a few pounds of ice from our kitchen fridge's icemaker.
 
On brewday, once the boil is done, I knock the wort temp down to ~100-110° with tap water (I use an IC).  Once there, I take the bucket of water (now partially-frozen) out of the lager fridge, plop in the sump pump, connect it to my IC, dump in the pilfered ice from the kitchen, and then circulate super cold water through the IC.
 
I recirc back into the bucket, and I also direct the discharge water into a bottle of frozen water, to keep the chilling water as cold/icy as possible for as long as possible.
 
Granted, I use more ice and cold water in the summer, but even then, lagers are well within reach, whereas years ago, lagers were a late-fall to early-spring thing only, and I didn't brew them in summer.
 
If anyone is interested, I will post pics of this setup in action (next week is my next brewday).

Very similar approach down here in northern Cuba. I use a pond pump in a cylinder cooler and add water to get below 100 and. I then let the water in the cooler drop to an inch above the pump and add a 10# of ice and recirculate which will get me into the 60's. Done. This process usually takes an hour though. But I'm cleaning and putting away during this time.