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Beer/wort cooler

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Expert: - 6/15/2007


Question
I will be brewing my second batch soon and this time will be using a wort cooler I made. Read somewhere how to clean it before I put it in the wort. Some mixture of vinegar or something that will pull the "stuff" off. Any advice would be great, Thanks.

Answer
Daryl,

A mixture of vinegar and soaking time may get the water scaling off but it will not "clean" it.

To clean the cooler I would recommend at least 20 in boiling water.  This will clean and sterilize the cooler.

I also store my chiller submerged in an old fermenter full of liquid PBW.  I found that this keeps the chiller clean of yuck between brew sessions.  I then rinse the chiller well and boil it for 20 minutes.

If you live in a warm climate like myself you may also need to pre-chill your water.  I live in Texas and in order to get my chill water below 90 degrees in the summer I have to use a pre-chiller (simply a copper wort chiller) placed in an old igloo ice chest full of ice and water.  This then connects to my actual wort chiller.  This allows me to get the in line down to below 60 degrees and decreases my chill time.  Even on a hot summer day with temperatures of 100 degrees I can cool 5 gallons of wort in less than 10 minutes to below 90 degrees.  With out the pre-chiller it might never get below 95.

If you have any questions just let me know and I will be glad to assist.

Alan

Beer

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Alan Ward

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I am a home brewer who has been brewing since 2000. For us brewing is a family activity with everyone helping in some small way. We brew mostly all grain batches, but we do some kits. I have built all of our equipment. We bottle and keg. Drop us an line, we will be glad to assist with answer or help you find where the answer is. In October 2008 we opened the Brigadoon Brewery & Brew School at the Texas Renaisance Festival. This is a unique brewpub and teaching facility located on the grounds of the Texas Renaissance Festival in Plantersville, Texas. To our knowledge we are the only functioning brewpub located on the grounds of a renaissance festival brewing using both period specific equipment and modern equipment to brew hand crafted ale and then serving it back to the public. Where we offer hands on training and live period appropriate all grain brewing through out the day. Drop by and we will be glad to answer any question you have. You can checkout the brewery at www.brigadoonbrewery.com or follow on twitter@brewschool.

Experience

Home brewing since 2000. Started with a Mr. Beer kit and worked our way up to all grain.

Former chemistry and physics teacher.

Education:
Bachelors Arts Teaching; Master Instructional Technology
Currently the Managing Member and Brewmaster for Brigadoon Brewery & Brew School.

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Master Brewers Associaiton of America Texas Craft Brewers Guild American Home Brewers Association Brewers Association

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Bachelors in Sports Medine from Sam Houston State University Masters in Instructional Technology from American Intercontinental University

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