No chill brewing...

[khannon]

I normally use a plate chiller to rapidly cool my wort. This winter I had to do a few batches indoors, and just could not hook up the plate chiller. I did a pale ale, a bitter, and a blonde this way. They were all recipes that I had brewed with success in the past.

In the no chill scenario, I just transferred the wort into my fermentation vessel(stainless steel), let it cool to pitching temp and pitched the yeast. I use a hop spider during the boil, so not too much hop material. Other than the lack of rapid cooling, and maybe a little more hot break in the fermenter, things were the same.

On the batches that I did not chill, I am getting (I think) a little more bitterness, and the beers don't seem as crisp(?)...

All 3 beers have late addition hops, so maybe I am getting more oil dissipation?

I am going back to using the chiller, just curious if anyone had had similar experiences?

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[RPh_Guy]

More bitterness = increased isomerization from the late hops. Totally expected.

Lacking crispness = ?? Maybe DMS? Poor cold break? Less hop flavor/aroma?

No chill definitely causes a noticeable impact on the flavor from everything I've read.

 

[applescrap]

I have no chilled plenty. The problem lies in the fact that a 60 minute hop addition isnt 60 at all. It will remain at high temps for potentially hours. So even a 5 min addition is more like a 3 hour addition or whatever.

Interestingly enough some have a fix for this problem with fwh. Which makes little sense if you think about it. Planning on what and how you will brew it are critical in no chill imo. Surprisingly I haven't found a whole lot of information on this beyond my own experience and now what you are experiencing. I cant recall where but some of us have discussed this elsewhere.

Last batch I did (winter as well) I did a pilsner or something where I wanted full isomerization of a small amount of hops. I think all other hops need delayed in adding or dry hopped. I put 180 minutes in ibu calculator or whatever full time iso is assumed to adjust. Best of luck.

 

[RM-MN]

On the batches that I did not chill, I am getting (I think) a little more bitterness, and the beers don't seem as crisp(?)...

Of course you are because hop oil isomerization, the cause of bitterness in beer, doesn't stop until the wort cools below 170F which in no chill can take a long time. Your remedy for this is to chill the wort quickly until it is below 170, then let if cool without worrying about it. I set my pot into a tub of water, changing out the water as necessary or adding ice until the wort gets below 170, which in my case doesn't take long.