A fast way to cool wort

[joejoe]

I have been told that cooling the wort as quickly as possible is very important in creating a good brew.
Everything I heard about cooling the wort has to do with either an ice bath in the sink or using a copper wort cooler.
An ice batch generally takes 20 minutes and I do not have a wort cooler.

What would be wrong with dumping the 3 gallons of hot wort into the cold water that is in the carboy?

This would definitely reduce the lag time in cooling.
Has anyone tried this?

What is the downside?

Thanks.
________
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[paul84043]

The only downside that I can see is that "they" say not to splash, or aerate "hot" wort. Hot wort happily oxidizes in a real big hurry when above 100 degrees or so causing "cardboard Flavors".
The other, and possibly worst case scenario, would be to accidentally spill the pot full of hot wort while trying to pour it....that would be real bad.

I personally think that the copper coil wort chiller is the easiest method, you can make your own, or buy one for around 30$. They are easy to use, very easy to keep clean, and if you gently stir the wort with the chiller while cooling, they work fantastic. I can cool down 2 gallons (I start with 3, but alot boils off) to 80 degrees in under 8 minutes.

I have seen someone suggest a second chiller submerged in an ice bath used as a pre-chiller. I think I may give that a try in the summer when the tap water is warmer.

[toneyc]

Some folks have warned me that this may not be a good idea, but I haven't ruined a batch, yet, and someone else mentioned that this method was used on television. What I do is dump an eight pound bag of ice into my brewpot right after I turn off the heat. An 8# bag is about a gallon of water. That usually brings it down pretty close to pitching temperature in close to one minute. If it is still a little warm, you can top it up to five gallons with cold water. As they say, YMMV.

:) Toney.

[paul84043]

The only prpblem I can see with that is that I would bet the water they use to make the ice is not sterilized. I would think that you would be risking an infection.
But, if it's been working, then it's probably okay.

[danno]

one more potential downside, the temperature variation between 212º wort and 60º water may crack or break your glass carboy.

I'd recommend a counterflow chiller, they're easy to make from scratch, or use the Phil's Chiller parts.... If you want instructions on building your own, let me know....