Wort Chiller Pre-Chiller -- Bonus Tasting w/ Head & Lace!!!!

[bmeyer44]

maybe we should put your squirrel in terpichorean kids yacht? LOL

[bmeyer44]

bwaaaaa tea!! tea! whoda thunk it!! LOL

[steeljan]

@bmeyer44 Did you watch til the very end to see the squirrel? Bonus squirrel sighting, LOL!!! Cheers!

[hoppinglion01]

Rock on SJ! I spewed coffee out of my nose. LOL Let me kno how the prechiller works. There is also a school of thought that says to run the wort through the chiller that is in the ice bath, but treat the ice bath like an icecream maker and add salt to the water. That lets the wter get below freezing hile still remaining a liquid. I have never tried it, just something I read. Cheers.

[steeljan]

@hoppinglion01 LOL, snicker snicker. Thanks for the tip on adding salt to the ice slurry. Ope08 recommended this too (great minds think alike). So I'll sure be doing this when I use it. Thanks.

[g0fPrincipals]

loved the lipton thing. was so hilarious

[steeljan]

@g0fPrincipals Head & lace, head & lace, LOL!!

[OPE08]

I didn't read all the comments Jan, but you might think about dumping some salt-water in with your ice, a salty ice slurry will be extra cold.

I generally pour, roughly, the wort into a ferment bucket once it gets below 80, it drops a few degrees doing that alone and it aerates a bit.

My Ferment chiller works well, I use frozen 1gal water bottles, but even then I have to change them twice a day during summer. I can easily maintain 66-68 degrees, even with two fermenters in there

[steeljan]

@OPE08 Thanks, great idea, like when ya make homemade ice cream, put salt in the slurry. Yeah, I have to beef-up my ferm chiller with thicker styrofoam, only using 5/8ths foamboard insulation right now. It will hold the temp of a fermenter that I put in it, but it really can't get that mass of wort to chill down any farther. Yeah, I'm doing the same, 2 gallon ice bottles, change in the morning and late afternoon.

[OPE08]

@steeljan - I used 2" foam, I Thought about using the 5/8th rigid as the outer skin over 1" foam, but the 2" was easier...

[terpsichoreankid]

LOL!!! When you pulled out the can of Lipton, I just about lost my breath laughing! Awesome job Jan!

[steeljan]

@terpsichoreankid Thanks! Did you watch through the credits to see the squirrel? He's threatening me with a court battle because he wasn't included in the credits, argh. ;-)

[terpsichoreankid]

@steeljan Haha--I did! Little guy looked like a mini spy back there!

[weirdbeer]

WOW! I can totally read the story the grains in that iced tea are telling like a book! NOW THATS LACING!

[steeljan]

@weirdbeer LOL, don't you just know it!!

[78recordrepair]

HaHa Nice Lipton commercial!

[steeljan]

@78recordrepair :-) Did you see the squirrel? Wait til after the credits to see him.

[mattsarg]

Great video jan nice to see you have a brewing squirell! VideoBeerReviews had one in his fosters king can tasting video too lol.

[steeljan]

@mattsarg Yeah, the squirrel is mad cause I didn't list him in the credits. Tempremental actors, geesh.

[nige4958]

I use a pre-chiller if it's hotter than a som'bitch. I bought a pump at Home Depot that pumps the chilled water through the pre-chiller into the main wort chiller and back to the pre-chiller.

Summer Ale is now gone! Pale Ale is conditioning in keg and tasting gorgeous. Checked gravity of IPA today. It's at 1.032 from 1.068. About another 15-18 points left. Gonna be a good 4th of July party at Nige's Haus of Ale. Brisket, ribs and pulled pork. Possibly shark belly buttons and assholes as well!

[steeljan]

@nige4958 Great, thanks, making notes on the pump usage.

Haven't gotten my usual invite to this party, hope my little faux pas on Jason's shoes last time didn't count against me, but no biggie. I hear those shark belly buttons can transport just fine through the mail if you drop them into fresh pre-boiled and cooled garlic-infused pickle juice, then wrap tightly in a used pair of jockey shorts and stuff them in a priority mail box. Thx in adv. Air kisses sweetie, chou bella ya'll. ;-)

[mixmmick]

Hehe, had to laugh at that. :-)

Ice Tea isn't really popular here, mainly because we find it too sweet (the fact we eat vegemite say a lot about our palates). Actual tea is really popular, big fan myself. :-)

[steeljan]

@mixmmick Oh, good old vegemite and marmite, I remember those well (or maybe well *cough* isn't the right word) from when I visited my Brit friends a few years back. :-) And yes, I know our tea isn't fit for you guys, even our tea bags, which my Brit friends called "fairy pee" when they were visiting me. LOL! We are so very alike, us having come from you guys, yet we are so very different. Funny that. Thanks, salud!

[mixmmick]

@steeljan Well not british, Australian actually, of Italian and New Zealand Maori ancestry. Still get into arguments which is better, Vegemite or Marmite. Though having said that, both are made from beer. :-)

[ligon29]

pretty solid lacing on that iced tea, lol

[steeljan]

@ligon29 And you know what, it dried on the glass, proving it was exceptional! I think I'm ready for all-leaf brewing, LOL!!!!!

[steeljan]

Okay, the squirrel is about to rescind his contract if he doesn't get some notice! LOL!!

[threeque]

LOLOLOL !!!!!!!! Perfect!!!!

[steeljan]

@threeque ;-)

[jturie]

oh, yeah what's the IBU on that Lipton tannic ale?

[steeljan]

@jturie Pretty dam* high, could you tell I had to keep from wincing? I had to make it very strong and pour it back and forth between a couple of glasses to get the head. LOL!! Thanks.

[brewinathome]

Ice tea too funning, I think TSA was drooling for a few seconds.

[steeljan]

@brewinathome Tee-hee-hee, you're a bad boy.  :-)

[jturie]

Excellent vid. Nice quality from a little Kodak. I just tapped 1st all grain beer about 15 minutes ago-Sierra Nevada clone. Unbelievably huge step above my extract brews.

Hey, I would vote for using ur main chiller until u get down to about 100F or so....you'd just be wasting a lot of ice. 80 degree tap water should get u there pretty fast. The only issue would be the PITA task of futzing with your hoses. Either that, or just hook it all up and don't dunk the prechiller right away.

[steeljan]

@jturie Yeah, I'm thinking have it all hooked up and leave the pre-chiller out til after the regular hose water cools it down all it can. After all, in this heat, the ice is going to melt fast after I bring it outdoors. Ooh, maybe I should put the pre-chiller in an ice chest. Yes! Thanks!

I have a Kodak Zi6 and a Zi8. I like the Zi8 better because of the external mic input. But these have big limitations. Oh well, they were both used and cheap, what can I say.

Fantastic on your 1st AG!

[brewinathome]

Hey SteelJan another option is hooking a pondpump up to your wort chiller submerging it in a bucket of iced water. The you would be pumping ice water through you wort minus the ice of course.

[jturie]

@brewinathome damn, that's a great idea! I already have a submersible pump that I use on my pool cover to drain rainwater. It's pretty gross, but who cares--nothing touches the beer. I brewed my second AG batch today in 90F heat and could only chill down to about 70 or so. After a few mins, you can even recirculate the exit water back into the ice bucket. In the words of the immortal Don Rickles-"you win a cookie".

[brewinathome]

@jturie

That's what I do just recirculate, works great! Congrats on 2nd AG, I start 4 yrs ago, and haven't look back...well only when I have limited time and need my brewing fix.

[steeljan]

@brewinathome Great idea. Where were you before I bought this pre-chiller. :-) Thanks! Did you see the squirrel?

[brewinathome]

@steeljan

Here is another idea, it looks like you pre-chiller fits in the middle of your "squirrel!" (Where was I oh..) Chiller, you could have two pumps and two buckets of Iced water. Double the chiller. ;-)

Sorry I wish I would have known, in Wisconsin warm tap water is not such a problem, I do that just to chill faster.

[steeljan]

@brewinathome LOLOL!!! Squirrel!!! Yes, I know that one, LOLOL!!!! You're right, nothing preventing me from also having a pump. We'll hit 106F soon, so who knows what my garden hose water will be at by that point. Thanks!! LOLOL!!!!