I do this with ales and lagers. Cool down as much as practical with whatever cooling equipment you have then get to the desired temp by putting it in a chamber, cellar, or wherever you ferment and pitch when the wort is desired temp. I usually pitch the morning after I brew.
That a great idea! Do you put a solid stopper on the fermenter or an airlock? I figure that there isn’t any activity, since no yeast was pitched.
, yet.
Sanitized foil over the top is just fine.
Yep, that’s what I do, almost. I put both the fermenter and the starter in the chamber. When the wort gets to 48-50, I dump in the starter and oxygenate which also mixes in the starter.
I’ve had great success with whirlpooling the wort around the immersion chiller (aka the Jamil method). It does require a pump for max impact, but I can chill 6G of boiling wort to 70-80F in 10 mins or less (depending on my water temp).
Then for lagers I switch from tap water on the input to recirculating ice water through a bucket with a sump pump in it. That will get me down to 45 in another 15 mins or so.
I realize I could dump it in the chamber and wait, but I don’t sleep well when my wort has no yeast in it [emoji12]
I use an airlock since I would need to switch to that when I pitch anyway. And yes do remember to aerate in the morning. I froth it up with a mix stir on a cordless drill.
I don’t lose any sleep at all. I know my sanitation is good and that I’m going to be pitching a big healthy starter.
Yeah, it’s just my OCD tendencies. I’ve done plenty of batches via slow chill and saved them for months so I’m not concerned about contamination.
To me it just feels like driving 475 miles of a 500 mile trip and then deciding to stop for the night. I’m too close to the finish line to quit.
Good analogy, and well said.
Yes that is a good analogy and a good example of personality types. I’m the one who would stop at the hotel at the 475 mark and have a beer and start fresh in the morning.
I’m also the one whose starter wouldn’t be ready on brew day so I would need the extra 12 hours.[emoji3]
I know award winning Brewers who chill lager wort down to mid-60’s then pitch, wait for krausen to form, then lower down into the 50’s for the balance of fermentation, then do a D-rest. From there it is lowered a few degrees a day down to 32F for lagering. Again, he wins awards with his lagers. So you can make them in that manner, or do as noted above by starting below fermentation temperatures (which is what I do). Sounds like an experiment for Marshall or Denny!
Dumb question (given the awards) but, no more fruity esters than pitching at say 48 or 50? I’ve heard other stories like this but it seems like it should produce fruitiness before the yeast stalls. Just curious.
I prefer to chill to the temp I need and be done with it. And personally id rather overshoot and pitch at 45F with my controller set at 50F than undershoot and pitch at 55 with the controler set at 50.
The recent Brulosohpy experiment on pitching temps would give one reason to question the “higher temps equal more esters” dogma.
For the record I pitch lagers in the 40s and rise a few degrees to the desired fermentation temp.
That said, the results of that one experiment would at least make you think that consistency of temperature (or rising rather than falling) is as important.
I won’t change what I do based on the results of one experiment, but it’s certainly made me less certain that I fully understand why what I’m doing works. That makes me no less certain that it does work, but once you understand the why better avenues for improvement tend to reveal themselves.
I only recently realized 34/70, which is apparently the same strain as WLP830 and Wyeast 2124, recommends a max ferm temp of 71F. I went with 70 and folks couldn’t distinguish it from the same beer fermented at 50. In fact, most of those who were right on the triangle thought the warm ferm beer was the one fermented cool.
Water, in my opinion, has a huge impact on beer character.
Huge gelatin fan, use it in every batch!
That’s what I do 
As to the award winner - he swears by 2206 as his favorite lager yeast, even for bocks. We joke that if you enter a bock you are just fighting over second and third, because he wins that often.