Another newbie question...chilling

[hockeynut]

Has anyone tried using Dry Ice to chill their wort? I know most of you are using CFC or ice bath but would this work? I am thinking that it would keep the wort from oxidizing and chill it down rather quickly. Any input?

~Go Bluejackets~

[wortchillergoal]

Handling and storingdry ice is diffcult. It is so cold that it will cause injury if not handled properly. You would have to be able to purchase it just before you want to use. Your home freezer is not cold enough to keep it. It will "melt" in your freezer quite quickly.

I would not drop it into my wort either for fear of introducing materials or orgainisms that I would not want. If you paln on using it for as ice bath, then as long as you can store it and handle with the right safety precautions.

[hockeynut]

Thanks dude! I would have thought that it would be cold enough to keep from having any nasties in it, but now that you mention it....... I understand about the challenges of handling ( or not handling) Dry Ice. I was going to p/u some from an icecream manufacturer the morning of the brew fest and just keep it in a cooler. I have had luck with that in the past for theatrical projects. You are right though, a regular freezer just leaves you with an empty tub. :mad:

This was just a thought and probably more frustration than it is worth. I will just stop by the neighborhood Lowes tomorrow and get a coil of 3/8" CU tubing and form up a wort chiller.

Should I do a single coil or double?

~Go Bluejackets!~

[BrewDog]

Keep it simple. Do a single coil now in the winter when the tap water is cold, and then in the summer make another one that you bathe in an ice bath.

[cluckk]

Besides, I seem to remember that dry ice can be pretty pricey. We used to buy it in Montana to keep ice cream frozen till we could get it home. Shopping was 3 hours from home one way.

With the extra money you would add to the price of your batches for a few months you could pay for a coil.

[Caracole99]

Like what was said before, dry ice is touchy stuff.

I do mostly all-Grain now & use an emersion chiller. But , back when I was doing stove top brewing. I would put 3 gallons of sping water in the freezer 2-3 hours before I started my boil (60min boil). I would do a boil of 2.5 to 3 gallons. When My boil was over. I would then give the pot an ice water bath & stir the wort & water counter to each other for about 10min. Then dump 1 gallon of the spring water into the plastic fermenter(bucket), then the wort. Top off at 5 gallons with the rest of the Spring water. Which usually had a little ice crust on it. Which dropped the temp down below 88oF real quick.
Hope this helps!

[Mill Rat]

There was another thread on this topic not long ago in the homebrewing section (which is where this really belongs). You may want to see the comments there, too. Search the site on "dry ice" to find it. The consensus from that thread was that it was a creative idea, but contamination and the potentially violent reaction when dry ice hits near boiling wort argues against this as a practical technique.

[hockeynut]

Thanks for the input. I gave up on the newbie idea of this a while back and decided that I would just make a CFC. Since then I have acquired the parts but not put them together yet. Still using the immersion technique and with my well I am able to chill 5 gal in about 25 min.

[B_rad1969]

Ahhh Dry Ice. Nothing like filling your house with CO2. Mabey put the Ice in a keg. Instant coldness and CO2! Might work. Is cold water too expensive?