Since I have some free time this weekend, and my first attempt at brewing beer won't be ready for consumption for another 2 weeks, I bought some ingredients today. I found a recipe online for a Fat Tire clone (amber ale, brewed in Colorado, my favorite beer...can't get it in Kentucky). Since everybody seems to say that Brewer's Best kits aren't the greatest, I'll be interested to see how the quality of this beer matches up to my first batch. I'm using a lot more specialty grain, all dry extract, and liquid yeast (all per the recipe), so I'm hoping it will taste good, and if I'm lucky, it'll taste just like Fat Tire.
The think I'm most worried about is cooling the wort. Last time, I was only able to get it down to about 89 degrees F in about a half hour, but that was fine for the dry yeast from the kit (recommended between 80 and 92 degrees). This time, the liquid yeast wants between 70 and 75 degrees. Does anybody have tips for quickly cooling the wort? Have you ever mixed in cold water, and if so, did it contaminate the batch with wild yeast?