wort cooling advise
Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 2:26 pm
by Firekja
I was listening to an old podcast on brewing equipment and they said that it is not recomended to stir the wort once you have the imersion chiller in place. My trouble is that it seems to create pockets of cooled wort around the chiller. Is there an easy way to mix this without any additional equipment, or does anybody have any advise or techniques they can pass along? It just seems like I won't be able to get an accurate temp reading without the wort being mixed and an uneven cooling.
Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 2:44 pm
by Bugeater
Too much agitation of hot wort may cause oxidation. Gentle swirling will not create a problem otherwise stirring during the boil would also be something to avoid. Generally I don't bother stirring during cooling until the temperature drops below about 100°. Above this temperature the temperature differential between the wort and the cooler will drop the temperature pretty rapidly. Since the temperature is so far above pitching temperature at this point, an accurate reading isn't necessary so you don't need to worry about uneven cooling.
Below about 100° oxidation isn't a problem so you can stir all you want. Basically just wait until the temperature stops dropping rapidly and then begin to stir. I think the temperature at which oxidation is no longer a problem is quite a bit higher than that, but I don't worry about it. By the time I get the other stuff cleaned up and put away and have time to stare at the thermometer, it is already cooled to that point.
Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company
Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company
Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 11:37 pm
by Mylo
Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 10:34 pm
by Terrazza
"Hot side aeration" Having a PhD in chemistry, I can't even believe any oxygen wanting to dissolve in such a high temperature wort to cause oxidation. It doesn't seem like a big deal to me... I splash my hot wort around and it doesn't seem to affect things. That is I recirculate through a plate chiller back on top of hot wort until its all cooled to about 100 degrees. It doesn't mind at all. There is at least a good 6 minutes of splashing before my temperature falls between boiling and 100 degrees...
Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 6:08 am
by Brant
you could also make an argument that the compounds coming into contact with the oxygen that are at risk of being oxidize are more so readily oxidized at the higher temperature whereas at the lower temps when we oxygenate wort they are less likely to be oxidized.