Chilling the wort
After the boil the wort has to reach pitching temperature as quickly as possible. The faster it goes, the less time germs have and the clearer the beer will be.
What you need
- An immersion, counterflow or plate chiller
- A sanitised fermenter
- A thermometer
- Sanitiser for everything that touches the wort after the boil
Step by step
Step 1Prepare the chiller
Put an immersion chiller into the boiling wort about 10 minutes before the end of the boil. This sterilises it at the same time.
Step 2Turn on the cooling water
Run cold tap water through the chiller. Gently stir the wort now and then – it speeds up chilling a lot.
Step 3Reach the target temperature
Chill ales to about 18 to 20 °C (68 °F) and lagers to 8 to 12 °C (54 °F). In summer tap water is often not cold enough. Then chill further in a second round with iced water.
Step 4Work cleanly from now on
Everything that touches the cold wort must be sanitised: hose, spoon, fermenter and thermometer.
Step 5Transfer the wort
Run the wort into the fermenter and leave the trub in the kettle. A strainer or hop filter holds back hop debris.
Step 6Aerate
Yeast needs oxygen at the start. Let the cold wort splash into the fermenter from a little height, or shake the closed fermenter vigorously.
Tips and common mistakes
- Only aerate cold wort. Hot wort doesn’t tolerate oxygen, which later leads to a stale taste.
- No-chill: the hot wort goes into a heat-proof container and cools overnight. It saves water but gives late hop additions more bitterness.
- The warm cooling water is handy for cleaning.
Matching calculators
Yeast calculator
How much yeast does your beer need? The calculator tells you how many packs of dry yeast to use, or how big your starter has to be.
Final beer calculator
Work out the alcohol content, attenuation, colour and bitterness of your beer – before brewing as a plan, and afterwards with your measured values.
New to brewing? The “First beer” guide walks you through your first brew day. Your first beer