Exploring "no chill" brewing

[smellysell]

Did my first no chill last night with a Rye IPA! Gonna pitch the yeast here in a couple hours.

 

[The Pol]

I am doing a no chill Hefe tomorrow.

Hope I dont have chill haze

 

[Droot]

No chill with extended storage tomorrow. I am going to keep the cube for at least 2 weeks before it can go into the fermenter. maybe 4 weeks depending on when I can brew again. The other half gets put into the fermenter and chilled in there. I bought a 7 gallon conical but still make 11 gallons.

David

 

[smellysell]

Anybody done a no-chill with pilsner instead of 2-row yet? Just curious if DMS would show up with that.

 

[The Pol]

Anybody done a no-chill with pilsner instead of 2-row yet? Just curious if DMS would show up with that.

Id boil the hell out of it... no one I have spoken to has. Unfortunately, I dont use much pilsner malt in any brew... so I will not do this in the forseeable future.

 

[bkov]

No chill with extended storage tomorrow. I am going to keep the cube for at least 2 weeks before it can go into the fermenter. maybe 4 weeks depending on when I can brew again. The other half gets put into the fermenter and chilled in there. I bought a 7 gallon conical but still make 11 gallons.

David

i understand no chill brewing untill the wort naturally cools to pitching temps(say 24hours max)....but i dont get the extended aging of wort?

why not pitch the yeast and let it stay in primary for a month instead of letting it sit without yeast for a month? beer for the most part improves with age

 

[The Pol]

i understand no chill brewing untill the wort naturally cools to pitching temps(say 24hours max)....but i dont get the extended aging of wort?

why not pitch the yeast and let it stay in primary for a month instead of letting it sit without yeast for a month? beer for the most part improves with age

Not enough fermentation room, that is generally the reason to store wort. You create the wort, and ferment it when time and fermentors allow.

 

[bkov]

why not just add a blowoff to the cube?

 

[postman]

This container looks good too

 

[Droot]

Not enough fermentation room, that is generally the reason to store wort. You create the wort, and ferment it when time and fermentors allow.

Correct. I "upgraded" to a smaller fermenter. Variety is too small with 10 gallon batches. This is a test..........It will also change the pipeline.

By drawing the yeast and trub off the bottom, I don't need a secondary. Just leave it in the conical for another week or two. It makes for less work.

I kind of revamped my whole brewing system.

I may have to purchase a carboy for a secondary. Holding off for now, I like stainless over glass. I broke ONE of those big glass bottles and don't care to do it again.

My question is how long will it keep in the cube. I am going to find out.

David

Brewing house ale this morning.

 

[The Pol]

why not just add a blowoff to the cube?

You can do that too, and use foam control. Some people choose to wait... and just ferment whenever. Just like some people choose to chill and pitch right away, cool... to each thier own.

I guess my point is, no one is "aging" thier wort.

 

[chucke]

The Aussies have left wort in cubes for months with no ill effects.

My plan for next winter and spring to to brew like a crazy man and cube a good chunk of it. Next summer I won't have to brew in the hot Bama heat- just pitch already brewed wort from the cubes and ferment.

 

[The Pol]

The Aussies have left wort in cubes for months with no ill effects.

My plan for next winter and spring to to brew like a crazy man and cube a good chunk of it. Next summer I won't have to brew in the hot Bama heat- just pitch already brewed wort from the cubes and ferment.

Another good reason.

 

[nutty_gnome]

So I did my first no chill last night. Finished up the boil on a pale ale extract kit at around midnight. I use a big pressure canner to boil so I just sealed up the 'canner/kettle' and put it on the basement floor. Its 11:30 am now and it is still too hot to hold your hand against the kettle. I know it will cool, but I'd rather not have to stay up till midnight tonight to pitch. The 70 degree ambient floor temp isn't making the process any faster.

I used The Pol's suggested hop schedule. Its that green and yellow chart he put on the intarwebs.

This no chill process did shave an hour and a half at least off the brew day. I estimate that it will take me 30 mins tonight to prep the fermenter, transfer and pitch.

ALSO - I really like the look of that blue $13 6-gallon container lined a few posts ago. That looks like a nice alternative to the Winpack.

 

[The Pol]

My no chill Hugh Heffe is about to boil... so far, so smooth.

No step mash, recirculated the HERMS at about 2-3qts/min and everything went fine.

61% of the bill was pale wheat
The BC crush on the wheat looked GREAT, all of the kernels were crushed into several bits.

 

[smellysell]

Did my first no chill last night with a Rye IPA! Gonna pitch the yeast here in a couple hours.

Everything went really well with this except forgetting to get a hydrometer sample until after I had already shaken the **** out of the cube. We'll see how it is in a couple weeks.

 

[smellysell]

ALSO - I really like the look of that blue $13 6-gallon container lined a few posts ago. That looks like a nice alternative to the Winpack.

The fact that it's blue scares me a little.

 

[bakins]

Anybody done a no-chill with pilsner instead of 2-row yet? Just curious if DMS would show up with that.

Yes. I've done a couple of beers at least 50% pilsner. I've been doing 90 minute boils for a while (larger pre boil volume). Never noticed anything off with my no chills like DMS.

 

[smellysell]

Yes. I've done a couple of beers at least 50% pilsner. I've been doing 90 minute boils for a while (larger pre boil volume). Never noticed anything off with my no chills like DMS.

Great! Guess I won't need to avoid Pilsner then.

 

[Droot]

Yesterday I put 1 oz Cascades in a cube and filled it up as far as could. The filler isn't the highest part of the cube, so I pulled on the handle, tipped it back and put in as much as I could fit. Then I squeezed all the air I could. Its cool now and there is less than 1/4 cup of air.

Now its going to sit for at least 2 weeks, maybe 4 or 6. I labeled and dated the cube with a sharpie.

The first half of the beer was put in the fermenter, chilled to 65* in 25 minutes and pitched the bigger smack pack of Wyeast 1056. The cubed gets S-05 so I can compare them.

This adds a whole new dimension to by brewing..... If it works.

Thanks for all the informataion.

Whodathunk?

David The happy bewer

 

[The Pol]

My no chill heffe is ready for yeast this morning... 18 hours to cool it to pitching temps. The WLP300 starter liked the wort too, nice krausen on the starter this morning.

 

[Dr_Deathweed]

i understand no chill brewing untill the wort naturally cools to pitching temps(say 24hours max)....but i dont get the extended aging of wort?

why not pitch the yeast and let it stay in primary for a month instead of letting it sit without yeast for a month? beer for the most part improves with age

Yeah, as hit on before it comes down to a time/space issue. I have very few free days to brew right now, so when I do get a free day I brew 20-30 gallons in a day. Now because of the local climate (read: hot as hell), I HAVE to ferment everything in my fermentation chiller unless I want to drink banana smoothies all summer. Now since my chiller only holds two carboys, with no chill I can ferment 10 gallons now, rack in 2-3 weeks and ferment some stored wort, rinse and repeat. Instead of having to try and shove a brew session in some time I really don't have enough time, I can plan a large brew day on my odd day off, invite friends over, have one massive brew day, and my pipeline does not suffer.

 

[KopyKat]

The POL wrote: Yes, isomerization takes place even when hops are removed, the oils are in the wort, not the hops at this point.

Rob, from what you wrote, it would seem there would be no difference if your trub (with all the hop material) went in the cube or not. The question I have is do you have any idea how long into the boil the oils are out of the hop cone and into the wort?

 

[The Pol]

Rob, from what you wrote, it would seem there would be no difference if your trub (with all the hop material) went in the cube or not. The question I have is do you have any idea how long into the boil the oils are out of the hop cone and into the wort?

I have no idea...

 

[KopyKat]

As to cubes I first ordered the 6 gallon white WinPacks. They were too stiff and it was hard to figure how much air I had left after the fill.

I ordered 5 Gallon Lightweight Carboys at US Plastic (link below) and have used them to fill 4 times. They hold almost 5.5 gallons and because they are soft sided you can close them, position them to get all the air at the cap and squeeze it out. I have no more than a few small bubbles of air I don't get out.

Today I brewed 10 gallons of blonde ale and 5 gallons of English brown and all are in these carboys.

Before now I would have had to schedule only a 5 gallon brew day because my fermentation chamber has room for only two 6 gallon carboys and I usually have one fermenting. My wort chillers are now gathering dust.

Like Deathweed I don't brew real often, at least in the summer. The heat is a killer. This weekend it was cooler - I think it was just under 100° - so I started at 6AM and was done by noon. Next weekend is supposed to be under 95° - I need more carboys!!!

5 Gal UN Approved Plastic Carboys - US Plastic Corporation

 

[The Pol]

The 6 gallon Winpaks are pretty stiff, but they are probably not the best choice if you are storing wort for any period anyway, with all the headspace.

The 6 gallon Winpak was my choice because I dont store my wort. I pitch within 24 hours, so I dont remove the air from the container, and I wanted more headspace for the ferment.

The Winpak is basically a HDPE fermentor, which is capable of the temps associated with no chill so that you do not require a chilling vessel and a fermenting vessel.

 

[bkov]

i havent read a lot of the posts...wheres the cheapest place to get cubes or winpacks?

 

[The Pol]

Cheapest? Dunno... about the ONLY place I found them was USPlastics.com. $15 for a 6 gallon fermentor that is indestructibe and has a handle on it, is a pretty good deal!

 

[dcgrp]

Going to be packing up my gear and driving to my parents house for a visit. My dad wants to learn how to brew but is not going to purchasing equipment just yet. Basically I figure I have two options while bringing the wort back home after the visit and brew day (AG), chill and siphon into a sanitized cube, or go no chill and siphon into a sanitized cube.

From flameout to pitching will involve no more than 24 hours with 4.5 of those hours in the car.

The question is, which will yield a better beer? Or will there be no discernible differences? Probably going to brew something like Edwort's haus pale ale. I think the thing I am most worried about is bacteria, but if both methods are going to bacteria safe, I would like to choose the one that will yield the better beer.

 

[The Pol]

Going to be packing up my gear and driving to my parents house for a visit. My dad wants to learn how to brew but is not going to purchasing equipment just yet. Basically I figure I have two options while bringing the wort back home after the visit and brew day (AG), chill and siphon into a sanitized cube, or go no chill and siphon into a sanitized cube.

From flameout to pitching will involve no more than 24 hours with 4.5 of those hours in the car.

The question is, which will yield a better beer? Or will there be no discernible differences? Probably going to brew something like Edwort's haus pale ale. I think the thing I am most worried about is bacteria, but if both methods are going to bacteria safe, I would like to choose the one that will yield the better beer.

If you go no chill, you will have to adjust your hop additions. You will get about 20 minutes of additional utilization if you no chill. Other than that, you wont taste or see a difference in your beer, no one else I have spoken to has.

 

[chefchris]

I would go No Chill. IMO it's a more sanitary option and you're putting it in the car for 4.5 hours. What with all the sloshing and stopping and what have you. I moved from Mississippi to Florida with a primary in my front seat. First AG, too ... got infected.

Plus you won't waste all your Dad's water and you can show him right off the back to not believe everything he reads about brewing.

 

[chucke]

One thing to consider- if you don't get *all* the air out of the cube, all the sloshing around on the trip back will hot-side aerate the tee-total crap out of your wort.

If it were me, I'd cube and leave it until next trip. If you cube properly, it'll keep for weeks or months just fine.

 

[bakins]

hot-side aerate

Of course, not everyone "believes in" HSA.

 

[chucke]

Of course, not everyone "believes in" HSA.

Belief is one thing.
There's one way to *know*.

(I'm just as willing to let the HSA boogieman go as to embrace no-chill... with the proper evidence.)

 

[bakins]

Not that I have extensive experience, so I agree with you, chucke. But I'm erring on the side of "prove to me that it exists" (innocent until proven guilty or something like that...) The brewstrong HSA episode was very interesting.

 

[chucke]

) The brewstrong HSA episode was very interesting.

??? Wazzat ???

 

[flyangler18]

??? Wazzat ???

The Brewing Network.com - Shows and Podcasts: Brew Strong

 

[SumnerH]

Yeah, great episode. While he doesn't come right out and say HSA is a myth, the guest basically says that couched in more conservative wording.

He points out that Anheuser-Busch, among others, bubbles either O2 or air (I forget which, it's been a while since I listened) vigorously through their wort to help clean up other volatiles before cooling and pitching yeast. You may not like their beer, but it's not got any of the flavors traditionally ascribed to HSA.

 

[chucke]

I'll give it a listen.
Thanks-

 

[Homercidal]

That was a great episode. The basic conclusion that is made by this expert is that yes, there is such a thing as HSA, but the amount you are likely to get is extremely small if you are just careful, and not nearly as likely as oxidation from being careless. His point was not to worry about it, and focus on some of the other, more likely, things that can affect the long-term flavor stability of your beer.

It def made me believe that HSA is nothing to worry about.