PistolPatch
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Wasn't too sure how to word this topic title but many of you will have had the same problem I'm having tonight...
The Problem Your tap water is around 28 degrees so that's the best you can chill to without pumps and chilled water. The best you'll chill to and this'll take 60 minutes or more is 30 degrees.
Solutions Well, I don't know any easy solutions. Let's talk ales... You can choose to not pitch, throw your fermenter in a 2 degree fridge and then wake up to find it's too cold the next day. You can also choose to pitch at 30 degrees, throw your fermenter in an 18 degree environment and find that it takes way too long to cool to acceptable fermentation temperatures.
If you have a temperature controller like I do (the MashMaster one - top stuff!) the real problem is where do you put the probe? If you put it in the wort which is the ideal place, and set it to say 18 degrees, your fridge will run non-stop for way too many hours - very inefficient. If you put it in the fridge set at 18 degrees then your wort is going to take forever to cool.
Being the first brew I have done in my new abode, I had to deal with this problem. The best I could cool my wort to was 30 degrees. I chose to pitch...
So, Here is Where I Shoved My Probe Tonight
What I've done is shoved the Mashmaster probe half-way through the fermenter lid, set it at 18 degrees and it seems to be working a treat....
The probe, after 2.5 hours, is reading 18 degrees while the real fridge temperature is 8 degrees and the compressor is therefore not continually running....
Just pulled off 250mls of wort and it is at 24.5 degrees already.
I like that. I'm out of the danger zone.
Of course the time it takes to get down to 18 will increase exponentially but I'm happy with the above result especially as I pitched at 30. Think I can now safely put Batz's Alt to bed.
Of course pitching at the right temp would be great but tonight it wasn't an option.
My goodness! There's a movie on Channel 9 and the girl in it has taken off all her clothes.
Gotta go,
Pat
P.S. Anyone else had this problem. If so, what do you do?
Christ! Thought it must be SBS but it is Ch 9!!!!
The Problem Your tap water is around 28 degrees so that's the best you can chill to without pumps and chilled water. The best you'll chill to and this'll take 60 minutes or more is 30 degrees.
Solutions Well, I don't know any easy solutions. Let's talk ales... You can choose to not pitch, throw your fermenter in a 2 degree fridge and then wake up to find it's too cold the next day. You can also choose to pitch at 30 degrees, throw your fermenter in an 18 degree environment and find that it takes way too long to cool to acceptable fermentation temperatures.
If you have a temperature controller like I do (the MashMaster one - top stuff!) the real problem is where do you put the probe? If you put it in the wort which is the ideal place, and set it to say 18 degrees, your fridge will run non-stop for way too many hours - very inefficient. If you put it in the fridge set at 18 degrees then your wort is going to take forever to cool.
Being the first brew I have done in my new abode, I had to deal with this problem. The best I could cool my wort to was 30 degrees. I chose to pitch...
So, Here is Where I Shoved My Probe Tonight
What I've done is shoved the Mashmaster probe half-way through the fermenter lid, set it at 18 degrees and it seems to be working a treat....
The probe, after 2.5 hours, is reading 18 degrees while the real fridge temperature is 8 degrees and the compressor is therefore not continually running....
Just pulled off 250mls of wort and it is at 24.5 degrees already.
I like that. I'm out of the danger zone.
Of course the time it takes to get down to 18 will increase exponentially but I'm happy with the above result especially as I pitched at 30. Think I can now safely put Batz's Alt to bed.
Of course pitching at the right temp would be great but tonight it wasn't an option.
My goodness! There's a movie on Channel 9 and the girl in it has taken off all her clothes.
Gotta go,
Pat
P.S. Anyone else had this problem. If so, what do you do?
Christ! Thought it must be SBS but it is Ch 9!!!!