Has anyone ever chilled wort with powdered co2
The problem is that there’s no way to assure that the dry ice is sterile (or at least sanitary enough for beer use). Otherwise it would be a fantastic idea, especially if you’re trying to cool down to lager pitching temps.
But it may turn out that dry ice is clean enough. If you try it out, let us know how it works.
Thanks Eric. The co2 I would be using is food grade. I didn’t know if that cold of a temperature would hurt the wort.
I doubt it would hurt, but it would be very expensive.
food grade does not mean beer level sanitary. Food grade you are concerned that it not poison someone immediately upon contact (carbonating soda, freezing food quickly, making carbonated smoothies). with beer you will be storing this warm and unpasteurized for months. Any bacteria introduced by the dry ice will have plenty of time in an ideal surrounding to multiply and spoil your beer.
that said, give it a try and see what happens! interesting experiment. might be fairly exciting introducing dry ice to boiling wort though. Wear safety equipment.
Well i brewed a Belgian triple tonight and I tried using the co2 ( dry ice) which was food grade and safe enough to chill beef. It took 12 minutes to cool the wort from boiling to 65 degrees with no problem. Actually I could have probaly cooled it in less than 10 minutes. I will tell you how it tastes in a few weeks.
cool,
next time you try it you could do the following experiment,
pull 2 samples of hot wort before chilling. Seal one immediatly and leave the other covered with foil to chill slowly. pull a third sample after chilling to pitching temp with the dry ice and seal that immediatly.
Set all three samples somewhere room temp for a few days and see what happens. if the dry ice introduced anything unpleasant that sample should spoil faster than the one that chilled covered with foil and they both should spoil faster than the one sealed hot.
Well took a sneak bottle and turned out great. Almost like it cold crashed ,very clear belgian tripel. great taste.
8.5 abv
Just keep in mind that, as Mort said, food grade does not necessarily equal sanitary. Beef is not affected by wild yeasts and bacteria the way wort is.
Gave out some bottles as Christmas gifts to friends they all enjoyed them.
Also true beef is not affected the same way as wort by wild yeast but bacteria effects the same way , also food grade is the cleanest dry ice you can get.