April 11, 2009 Circle City Brew Day

[The Pol]

Yah, the RWS was a cool side effect.

 

[The Pol]

Kegged this sucker last night, on the gas now. There was really not that much trub and sediment in the bottom of the fermentor, and the beer was relatively clear.

Filled the HDPE fermentor with PBW and soaked for a few hours, not a trace of krausen junk left in it. Excellent easy cleanup.

 

[LooyvilleLarry]

Can't wait to hear how it tastes... BTW, your Orange Cascade is scheduled for brew #1 on Friday.

I still have a hard time with getting a day off for a horse race, so I gotta brew !

 

[The Pol]

Un carbed and chilled, it tasted just how the other have... pretty bland and easy drinking for the neighbors.

 

[smellysell]

Is there any reason you couldn't use a HDPE bucket with the no chill method?

 

[The Pol]

Well... you COULD, but you have to remember that with all that cooling comes A LOT of shrinkage. The HDPE container I have has fairly thin and flexible walls, so it can handle the vaccuum.

Those HDPE buckets are MUCH more rigid and I have heard some people say that they do not handle the vaccuum nearly as well. One person said the bucket nearly collapsed in on itself. Whatever that means.

You can try it, if you like it, Id suggest investing $13 in an HDPE container that is better suited.

 

[bakins]

One person said the bucket nearly collapsed in on itself. Whatever that means.

That happened to me. The bucket sides caved in and it just literally looked like it was imploding. Had a heck of a time getting the lid off, too. I bought a couple of heavy-duty 5 gal HDPE containers and will be using those. My no-chill in a bucket turned out fine - I just shook it and pitched some dry yeast the next day. I'm gonna copy Pol's RWS method - I actually came up with the idea in parallel (honest) but haven't tried it. It just seems like a natural compliment to the no-chill method.

 

[The Pol]

That happened to me. The bucket sides caved in and it just literally looked like it was imploding. Had a heck of a time getting the lid off, too. I bought a couple of heavy-duty 5 gal HDPE containers and will be using those. My no-chill in a bucket turned out fine - I just shook it and pitched some dry yeast the next day. I'm gonna copy Pol's RWS method - I actually came up with the idea in parallel (honest) but haven't tried it. It just seems like a natural compliment to the no-chill method.

Okay okay.. but I have the rights to it! Ha ha... thanks for chiming in Bakins. I have my JUST over 2 week old CCB Haus Ale on tap right now. It is a little green yet, but there is no noticeable difference between it and my other attempts at this beer. It is really quite clear too at this point.

RWS rocks, and it is a natural move to make when using this method, for sure.

 

[bakins]

Okay okay.. but I have the rights to it! Ha ha...

Sure

Kids, work, etc. have kept me from brewing last few weeks, so I haven't got a chance to try my new containers, but they seem pretty heavy duty. Hopefully tomorrow doing a wheat beer with a touch of rye. Probably going to move the 15 minute addition to a 0 minute addition, whirlpool for 5 minutes or so, then add the 5 minute addition directly to the "cube." Sound reasonable? Only other no-chills I've done (months ago) only had 60 minute hops (which I almost always turn into FWH).

 

[The Pol]

Sure

Kids, work, etc. have kept me from brewing last few weeks, so I haven't got a chance to try my new containers, but they seem pretty heavy duty. Hopefully tomorrow doing a wheat beer with a touch of rye. Probably going to move the 15 minute addition to a 0 minute addition, whirlpool for 5 minutes or so, then add the 5 minute addition directly to the "cube." Sound reasonable? Only other no-chills I've done (months ago) only had 60 minute hops (which I almost always turn into FWH).

Sounds good... any hops that go into my cube, I credit as a 20 minute addition. This is my guestimate while I experiment. Anything that usually goes into the boil AFTER 20 minutes, I move up to FWH.

 

[smellysell]

Well... you COULD, but you have to remember that with all that cooling comes A LOT of shrinkage. The HDPE container I have has fairly thin and flexible walls, so it can handle the vaccuum.

Those HDPE buckets are MUCH more rigid and I have heard some people say that they do not handle the vaccuum nearly as well. One person said the bucket nearly collapsed in on itself. Whatever that means.

You can try it, if you like it, Id suggest investing $13 in an HDPE container that is better suited.

OK, I was planning on getting some of the same ones you got anyways, was just wondering if a bucket would work in the meantime. Guess I'll just wait since I have been spending too much on my e-kettle and RIMS lately.

You're lucky my wife doesn't know where to find you Pol.

 

[The Pol]

OK, I was planning on getting some of the same ones you got anyways, was just wondering if a bucket would work in the meantime. Guess I'll just wait since I have been spending too much on my e-kettle and RIMS lately.

You're lucky my wife doesn't know where to find you Pol.

I have a feeling that one day my cover will be blown, and I will have to go underground! There are a lot of husbands out there taking my advice lately.

 

[avaserfi]

I found where you linked the HDPE fermenter you got, but cannot find its dimensions on US Plastics. Do you by any chance know have the height and diameter (i.e., is it similar to a 6 gallon better bottle)?

I want to make sure it will fit in my temperature control cooler before trying this out.

 

[The Pol]

I found where you linked the HDPE fermenter you got, but cannot find its dimensions on US Plastics. Do you by any chance know have the height and diameter (i.e., is it similar to a 6 gallon better bottle)?

I want to make sure it will fit in my temperature control cooler before trying this out.

I will go measure... BRB

EDIT: It is 11" wide and 17.5" tall

 

[The Pol]

This is a yougn beer, but it goes down WAYYYY too easily after landscaping.

Three weeks since pitching yeast.

 

[bakins]

I did my no-chill brew today. A simple wheat beer. I collected 1 quart of wort in a smaller HDPE jug I had (honey came in it, much thicker than a milk jug) and then collected 5 gallons in my cube and stuck that in my chamber. I stuck the quart in the freezer while I cleaned, then added my rehydrated dry yeast to it when it had cooled. Was allot simpler than screwing around with my plate chiller and cleaning went quicker. Will post an update when I pitch, etc.

 

[The Pol]

I did my no-chill bre today. A simple wheat beer. I collected 1 quart of wort in a smaller HDPE jug I had (honey cam in it, much thicker than a milk jug) and then collected 5 gallons in my cube and stuck that in my chamber. I stuck the quart in the freezer while I cleaned, then added my rehydrated dry yeast to it when it had cooled. Was alot simpler than screwing around with my plate chiller and cleaning went quicker. Will post an update when I pitch, etc.

Excellent!!!!!:rockin:

 

[bakins]

Pitched my yeast today.

My 5 gal cube. You probably can't tell from pic, but it was "sucked in" somewhat.

I was just going to dump it through my strainer, but 5 gallons of wort is pretty heavy:

I rehydrated my yeast yesterday and pitched into 1 qt of the wort that I had cooled:

Going through the strainer:

Some of the crap the strainer caught. I also left about 1/2" of stuff (mostly hops from "cube hopping") in the cube:

 

[The Pol]

Nice Bakins! Nice!

 

[The Pol]

2 weeks in the keg

 

[bakins]

Okay, did a pseudo-brew-in-a-bag partial mash, no-chill Belgian blonde yesterday. 75% efficiency. Used 1/2 gallon for RWS (Wyeast 1388). Pitched the RWS after about 16 hours (I stick the cube into my milk cooler and it chills pretty quick). It was bubbling like mad after I got home from work (so about 10 hours after pitching). I should have bought the coarser strainer as the medium one gets clogged all the time (see my earlier pics).

No screwing around with lots of hoses and running chilling water. Whirlpool, drain, clean. That's it. Then maybe 10 minutes of work the next day to transfer to my primary. Pol, I can see the appeal of using your chill cube for your primary, just pitch and move on. I have noticed that I leave a 1/2" of trub in my cube, but not sure if that's a big deal and I have cube hopped once.

May be selling a plate chiller soon....

 

[The Pol]

Awesome to hear bakins...

It is faster, fewer hoses, water and messing around. Boil, drain, cool overnight then pitch a healthy starter into EVERY batch, why not?

I have had excellent results with my ferments taking off using this method. My SNPA clone is going to get dry hopped next weekend, sometime in late June or early July I am hoping to have it judged.

I DO like using the cooling tank as the primary, it is easy and it is one less vessel to clean. So far, it seems to work well. Now if it didnt, I wouldnt do it of course.

Keep me posted!

 

[bakins]

I DO like using the cooling tank as the primary, it is easy and it is one less vessel to clean. So far, it seems to work well. Now if it didnt, I wouldnt do it of course.

You just shake it to aerate? What's the height of the ones you have? I may buy one from us plastics.

 

[The Pol]

You just shake it to aerate? What's the height of the ones you have? I may buy one from us plastics.

Mine is 17.5" tall

I just shake the CRAP out of it to aerate.