Usually, I let the wort cool down on its own (which takes forever). For this batch, I am doing an ice bath to speed it up a little. It felt very strange carrying the wort outdoors. (Though, I will eventually be doing most of my brewing outdoors.)
There's one new variable I discovered -- bugs.
Has this ever happened to you? I pitched the yeast yesterday. This morning, there is a Kräusen but it is thick on part of the beer's surface but almost non-existent on the other part of the surface.
@brudibrau
"You'll probably check again tomorrow, right?"
Oh, yes! I tend to check kräusens several times a day just because I love looking at them.
Thanks!
This country has definitely been contaminated with that far-right yeast. Hopefully, we can save this batch and don't have to start over.😬
@CarstenBoll
At minimum, we need a few big tweaks.
It astounds me how seldom any tweaks happen, at all. The last serious attempt was the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s.
@Mutedog
I did stir the cold water but was hesitant to lift the lid over the bucket of wort because of the bugs. The wort cooled down quite a bit faster than in the past (when I did nothing).
What prompted me to do this is I tend to pitch the yeast when the wort temperature is fairly high (30 to 35C, Nottingham's rehydration range). The last batch of Kölsch I did had a fairly strong green apple-like taste. So now, I'm not going to pitch the yeast until it's around 20C.
Will
Brudi Bräu
Carsten
Mute Dog Brewing
Jörg