So obvious and simple, can't believe I just now thought of this method for chilling wort down the last 30+ degrees. I basically use the hose water water and a whirlpool to drop the boiling wort down to ~100 degrees in ~20 minutes (Not directly from the hose, but pumped from the HLT). The problem is getting the wort down to pitching temps without using a ton of ice (price adds up quickly). The free ice from the automatic ice maker in the refrigerator helps, but is not enough. So I usually have several 1/2 gallon jugs of frozen water to help prechilling the water which dosen't work too well since the plastic insulates the ice and I usually spend a lot of time dumking, filling, and dumping them back out . On my last brew day, the "light bulb" finally went off ... take the cap off the ice jug and put the water recirculation out hose into the jug. This forces water over the ice and out of the jug and very effectively chills the recirc water that then chills wort. Once the ice in the jug is empty, I just replaced the jug with another full of ice.

Very simple, cheap, and effective as long as you are using a pump to chill your wort ... Hope this helps someone else. Oh and the answer to the posed question "Why did it take me so long to think of this?" .... because chilling the wort is at the end of the brew day, during which, I am always drinking.

[quote="EagleDude"] So I usually have several 1/2 gallon jugs of frozen water [quote]
You mean ice? Ha!
Really, though, that is a great idea. Probably works pretty damn quickly, too!

A more effective method is to use a separate immersion chiller for the cooling water (I'm assuming you already use an IC in the boil kettle.) Use the kettle IC alone to get the wort down to 100° or so. Then you redirect the incoming cooling water through the second IC, which is immersed in ice water. The output from that IC (now extremely cold) goes into the primary IC in the kettle. You will drop the remaining 30°+ in a hurry.

Yes ... the pre-chilled ice bath is exactly what I use, just figured out how to "pre-chill" the water without using a ton of store purchased ice or having to cut open the plastic jugs each time.

That's what I do. I smash frozen 1 gallon jugs with a 4 lb sledge hammer and then cut them open. The ice water gets recirculated through a whirlpool immersion cooler. It usually only takes 5 gallons of ice.