No chill in a corny keg?

[desertbronze]

I have been fermenting in corny kegs for over a year now. I like it and it seems to work well for me.

I'm wondering if any one has tried no-chill brewing in a corny. Every thread I read lists plastic as the fermenter material. I can't see why this technique would not work in a corny as well.

 

[BuzzCraft]

that sounds like a brilliant idea to me. can't see why not. even if you didn't want to ferment in it, to just be able to dump your hot wort in there and transfer it when you want to ferment would be the sh*t. :rockin:

the only thing i have against no chill is putting boiling hot wort in plastic....i don't care if it's food grade, yada, yada, yada...just doesn't sound like a good idea. a stainless cornie, though! sweet. hopefully, no one can come up with a reason this won't work.

 

[lowlife]

I dont understand how you get it to seal with the suction it would create when it does cool

 

[Tonedef131]

I did, results are here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/side-side-no-chill-results-137209/

 

[XXguy]

I've done no-chill in a corny. Worked out well for me. I just transfer out of the corny using CO2 & saves me the worry of finding a racking cane long enough to fit.

 

[BuzzCraft]

I dont understand how you get it to seal with the suction it would create when it does cool

good point to consider...you could easily plug the poppet valve ports with stainless bolts...i wonder if the top would seal sufficiently on its own.

 

[Brewing Clamper]

I did, results are here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/side-side-no-chill-results-137209/

Very well done! Thanks dude!

 

[desertbronze]

Thanks, guys. That answers that question. The seal will be fine - you're going to break it anyway to pitch the yeast. Once the ferment gets going, you are back to positive pressure.

How much break/trub ends up in the bottom of the keg? Do you use a shorter dip tube for the first transfer? I have one that I have shortened, but you can rack from a primary ferment in a keg with a regular dip tube if you start the transfer very slowly. Very little yeast gets transferred - perhaps very little trub would get transferred.

Seems that you could rack the hot wort into the first keg - filled to the brim - let the break settle out - then transfer to another keg with CO2 and leave the break behind. That would also give you a little more headspace for the fermentation in the keg (not really an issue, anyway, 'cause I remove the gas in post and use a blowoff tube on the external threaded post on the keg).

 

[wildwest450]

Seems that you could rack the hot wort into the first keg - filled to the brim - let the break settle out - then transfer to another keg with CO2 and leave the break behind. That would also give you a little more headspace for the fermentation in the keg (not really an issue, anyway, 'cause I remove the gas in post and use a blowoff tube on the external threaded post on the keg).

Thats a lot of extra work. Why not not just cool the wort and pitch the yeast?

 

[desertbronze]

Thats a lot of extra work. Why not not just cool the wort and pitch the yeast?

Just exploring some options in the homebrewing world. Lets see.

Saves time chilling - 20-30 minutes for me.

Saves water - around 50 gallons for me.

Others report no difference in their finished beers.

That's three reasons right there.

And it's not really any extra work. I was positing that I could rack the wort from the first keg, if necessary. It may not be. Now I rack the chilled wort into the corny kegs and then pitch the yeast after the kegs are in the fermentation chamber. At most, I would rack the beer one time - using CO2 - doesn't get any easier than that.

BTW - love your avatar photo, wildwest450.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

I have seen others posting the same question in the no chill threads and it seems that they had good results from what I remember. I can't see it having a bad seal even under a slight vacuum but who knows. Best way to tell is to pour some boiling water in there, let it cool and then pull the pressure relief valve to see if it held a vaccum. A sure fire test as far as I can tell.

 

[desertbronze]

I don't think it is important that the keg hold a vacuum seal while the wort is cooling. As long as bacteria can't get in, the beer should be ok. For that matter, you could pressurize the keg with CO2 while it cools. Then the seal would hold even though the wort is shrinking slightly.