No Chill Method

[BrewFrisco]

I have been brewing again for a few months now so...I am essentially in the brew equipment procurement stages. I have just about everything to effectively brew extract and partial mashes - except for a wort chiller (which I am going to buy today!)...

I have read through some of the past threads about the science behind no chill brewing and wonder how bad I have screwed up!!!

So I am three batches in right now - Punkin Ale was a no-chill and took 24hours in the primary before I reached pitching temps. This one was not a full boil - more like 4 gal 1 gal of water to reach my target volume.

The second is the Pliny Clone - currently sitting in the primary for just over a week - just pitched the hops for the dry hop portion. Full Boil.

And the third - an oatmeal stout - full boil. 24 hour cool down period.

Now - the first batch (punkin ale) I left in the primary 1 week and the secondary for two weeks - cleared right up, kegged it, and just finished the keg...it was decent drinkable beer - very clear.

I am now concerned about the other two batches. Took a gravity reading and tasted the Pliny when I opened the primary to pitch more hops - although still needs more aging...it was very tasty.

Should I not worry too much or is this 'no-chill' method widely used?

 

[Squirrels]

Aussie's use it all the time along with BIAB. They usually use Cubes to do the no-chill since it is air-tight. The biggest danger is infection, but it looks like you must clean well enough if your first batch turned out. It is perfectly fine as long as you don't aerate the Wort when moving to your primary (possible oxygen damage leading to stale beer). I've been humoring the idea of no-chill, except I have a loving wife who is going to let me buy a blichmann 20 gallon along with a wort chiller. So I won't be pursuing that route.