Exploring "no chill" brewing

Amity · May 17, 2009

I've got an HDPE #2 pail that I got some (chilled) wort from a local microbrewery. I've read that HDPE can accept temperatures up to 230F. Can I use this for no-chill brewing?

Mike

The Pol · May 17, 2009

Amity said:
I've got an HDPE #2 pail that I got some (chilled) wort from a local microbrewery. I've read that HDPE can accept temperatures up to 230F. Can I use this for no-chill brewing?

Mike

Problem is, when the wort cools, it shrinks... a lot. The pail is too rigid and will buckle under the vaccuum.

adamjab19 · May 17, 2009

The Pol said:
I no chilled another beer yesterday, actually I sold off my IC yeterday too!

I had a guest over from HBT for a brew session yesterday, who could not believe that I was not chilling my beer. So I pointed him at the tap on my kegerator where my No Chill Haus Ale was, he loved it. He mentioned how CLEAN it tasted... seriously, no chilling works.

I converted at least one person to brewing on an electric HERMS yesterday and possibly two people to no chill brewing.

Brew On!

you got me hooked. I'll be ordering a 6 gallon cube pretty soon here.

plus after tasting my pale ale today I'm getting rid of my hop bag....killed my utilization.

adamjab19 · May 17, 2009

Maybe I missed it but do you woory about HSA when transferring the wort? Will an autosiphon withstand the heat? Otherwise just dump the whole kettle in?

The Pol · May 17, 2009

adamjab19 said:
Maybe I missed it but do you woory about HSA when transferring the wort? Will an autosiphon withstand the heat? Otherwise just dump the whole kettle in?

Ahh, I have a spigot on my keggle with a rotating dip tube inside. I run a hose right to the bottom of my container, so there is no aeration. NO, an autosiphon will not withstand boiling temps.

adamjab19 · May 17, 2009

Ok I was thinking that was the case. I guess a hose (proper temp. requirements) fitted to the end of my funnel with a careful pour will do the trick.

And do you squeze the air out of the cube before completely sealing the container? I thought I read that somewhere.

The Pol · May 17, 2009

adamjab19 said:
Ok I was thinking that was the case. I guess a hose (proper temp. requirements) fitted to the end of my funnel with a careful pour will do the trick.

And do you squeze the air out of the cube before completely sealing the container? I thought I read that somewhere.

No, I dont, here is why. My no chill container is 6 gallons, because I ferment in it too. So, I simply transfer the wort, seal the lid on it, and let it sit for about 24 hours. At that point it is cooled to pitching temp, I then pitch my starter and place a blow off on the fermentor. Yes, a blow off... last time I thought I was safe, and I was no... blow offs are just so simple and effective!

Dr_Deathweed · May 18, 2009

adamjab19 said:
And do you squeze the air out of the cube before completely sealing the container? I thought I read that somewhere.

If you use the proper sized cube (unlike The Pol

), or are looking to store any longer than overnight, yes, you do try to squeeze all the air out before sealing.

As Pol mentioned, he only chills overnight and pitches a day later, and uses the container to ferment in as well. My original project (which has been postponed temporarily due to hectic schedule, which ironically was the reason i wanted to start this project

) would be to hot pack and store the wort, to be fermented days, weeks, or even months later. To do this you do not want the head space in your cube, and do want to squeeze all the air out.

LooyvilleLarry · May 18, 2009

deathweed - I was wondering if you've considered alternatives like rapid cooling. What if you had a bucket liner that was food safe and could vacuum seal (like a food saver) ? Out of kettle, then freeze it solid then seal it up?

I do this with other liquids and it is great.

Hmm, maybe I'll do that with some starter wort!

Another thing I thought of is purging the container with CO2 prior (if there were headspace.

Saccharomyces · May 18, 2009

The CO2 purge was discussed on Pol's thread. The O2 permeability of the HDPE is so high, you will get enough O2 through the walls after a few weeks of storage the wort will achieve saturation so it won't make any difference whether you purged or not.

brrman · May 18, 2009

The Pol said:
I no chilled another beer yesterday, actually I sold off my IC yeterday too!

I had a guest over from HBT for a brew session yesterday, who could not believe that I was not chilling my beer. So I pointed him at the tap on my kegerator where my No Chill Haus Ale was, he loved it. He mentioned how CLEAN it tasted... seriously, no chilling works.

I converted at least one person to brewing on an electric HERMS yesterday and possibly two people to no chill brewing.

Brew On!

yes yes - that was me!

I had never even heard of the "no-chill" method. How I have missed those threads is beyond me. I tasted Pol's Haus Pale Ale that was no-chilled and it was great. And it was very clean tasting - an excellent IPA if you ask me.

I have ordered my coolers, Pol! LOL

Saccharomyces · May 18, 2009

All beers were once no-chill, coolships were used to cool the wort overnight before it was moved to open fermenters and inocculated with yeast...

The Pol · May 18, 2009

brrman said:
yes yes - that was me!

I had never even heard of the "no-chill" method. How I have missed those threads is beyond me. I tasted Pol's Haus Pale Ale that was no-chilled and it was great. And it was very clean tasting - an excellent IPA if you ask me.

I have ordered my coolers, Pol! LOL

Where did you order them from? Ace? Uh oh... now you are starting down a long and winding path my friend.

Dionysos911 · May 18, 2009

adamjab19 said:
Ok I was thinking that was the case. I guess a hose (proper temp. requirements) fitted to the end of my funnel with a careful pour will do the trick.

And do you squeze the air out of the cube before completely sealing the container? I thought I read that somewhere.

I am curious if you got a chance to try this out and what exactly you used. I like the idea of no chill but not sure hour I am going to transfer from my pot.

The Pol · May 18, 2009

Adamjab hasnt yet, but I have a cpl no chills under my belt

adamjab19 · May 18, 2009

I just started school and I wont be brewing for at least three weeks. I'll get back to this when I do try it.

thataintchicken · May 18, 2009

I am really intrigued by the no chill technique.

If I could spread a brew day out -- into a brew session then a small pitching yeast session, then I could actually do more brewing with my work schedule.

Using the chilling vessel as a fermentor seems to simplify the process further.

need to hit the supply company website from work to see if I can find those vessels cheaper that US plastics. If I can, I'll let you know.

The HERMS is a long way out for me. With SWMBO being unemployed for two months now, every penny is sacred.

The Pol · May 18, 2009

thataintchicken said:
I am really intrigued by the no chill technique.

If I could spread a brew day out -- into a brew session then a small pitching yeast session, then I could actually do more brewing with my work schedule.

Using the chilling vessel as a fermentor seems to simplify the process further.

need to hit the supply company website from work to see if I can find those vessels cheaper that US plastics. If I can, I'll let you know.

The HERMS is a long way out for me. With SWMBO being unemployed for two months now, every penny is sacred.

The no chill method really is cool. The 6 gallon container, when it is pitched into in about 24 hours, works really well. The HERMS is cool yah, but isnt necessary for GREAT beer, it just makes it repeatable by taking out variables.

I had a couple HBT guys over this past weekend that drank my no chill stuff and they really enjoyed it. I am excited to get some people here tasting it and getting more people interested in it!

McKBrew · May 18, 2009

The Pol said:
The no chill method really is cool. The 6 gallon container, when it is pitched into in about 24 hours, works really well. The HERMS is cool yah, but isnt necessary for GREAT beer, it just makes it repeatable by taking out variables.

I had a couple HBT guys over this past weekend that drank my no chill stuff and they really enjoyed it. I am excited to get some people here tasting it and getting more people interested in it!

Make sure you mark it well for the next time I come over

The Pol · May 18, 2009

McKBrew said:
Make sure you mark it well for the next time I come over

You are welcome any time... I have my Haus Ale on tap and will have a SNPA clone on tap in about 4 weeks!

McKBrew · May 18, 2009

Seriously though, this thread is great.

I'm looking at buying at least one of those plastic jugs now and giving it a shot. Of course I just build a 50' immersion chiller that I haven't even used yet.

chefchris · May 19, 2009

Good think I work in a chemical lab. We have a ton of these cubes sitting around.

Yeah, i'm awesome.

Great thread! This saves me money because now I don't have to buy a new chiller with a pump (no outside water source) and saves money on DME for starters!

The Pol · May 20, 2009

chefchris said:
Good think I work in a chemical lab. We have a ton of these cubes sitting around.

Yeah, i'm awesome.

Great thread! This saves me money because now I don't have to buy a new chiller with a pump (no outside water source) and saves money on DME for starters!

Exactly... not for everyone, but it is an excellent solution for the rest of us.

smellysell · May 20, 2009

Found white ones of these at the local Farm & Ranch supply store. Think they'll work?

The Pol · May 20, 2009

smellysell said:
Found white ones of these at the local Farm & Ranch supply store. Think they'll work?

Is it HDPE #2?

Can you find a way to SEAL the cap air tight?

May be hard to clean out the inside where those handles are too...

If not, then no... I dunno

kharmajavah · May 20, 2009

I've been following this thread for awhile and have been VERY interested in no chill brewing...I live in an upstairs apartment and don't have a faucet outside where I brew, so I have to run my chiller hose upstairs into the laundry room, which makes a mess every time. Although I really enjoy the chilling part of the process, for convenience sake I'm going to give this a shot. Once I get a house and a porch...if I ever finish grad school...an immersion chiller will be a convenient option again.

Anyway...I ordered two cubes this morning, and will probably brew a batch after they arrive as an experiment. One thing I'll be sure to do is use a hop-sock to remove the hops at the end of the boil to avoid messing with the flavor profile TOO much (I anticipate some differences from "crash-cooling," but we'll see). Once everything comes in and I get a chance to brew I'll post back and let the results be known.

Thanks Aussies!

kharmajavah · May 20, 2009

Oh wait! I have a question:

What kind of tubing/hose is appropriate for transferring the hot wort from the boil kettle to the cube? I'm guessing that my usual plastic tubing won't hold up to the heat, and I don't want aerate the hot wort with a straight pour...

The Pol · May 20, 2009

kharmajavah said:
Oh wait! I have a question:

What kind of tubing/hose is appropriate for transferring the hot wort from the boil kettle to the cube? I'm guessing that my usual plastic tubing won't hold up to the heat, and I don't want aerate the hot wort with a straight pour...

I use silicone

smellysell · May 21, 2009

The Pol said:
Is it HDPE #2?

Can you find a way to SEAL the cap air tight?

May be hard to clean out the inside where those handles are too...

If not, then no... I dunno

Is is HDPE, and I figured I could use a stopper like you used in your cube. The handles are the only part I'm not so sure about. I'll probably just go with the US plastics ones, but was just hoping I could pick something up locally.

Wasn't there talk of a group buy on the US plastic ones at some point?

nostalgia · May 21, 2009

/intrigued.

I wonder if you had a stainless conical if you could siphon the near-boiling wort directly in there to let it cool.

The issue would of course be with wort shrinkage during cooling. I wonder if that could be offset by pressurizing the vessel with CO2 first, so the gas would expand as the wort shrinks? There must be some way to figure out the feasability mathematically.

The wort would still need to be aerated afterwards, possibly necessitating more gear.

-Joe

Exploring "no chill" brewing

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