No chill question

[brewprint]

As winter is getting closer I've been contemplating doing no chill. I've thought about doing this even now.

Do you guys just throw the pot lid on and let it sit for a day before transferring to a fermenter?

Sanitize lid or any other special techniques?

I would be concerned about putting my auto siphon on the rim and knocking crud in.

 

[soccerdad]

I do not "no chill" in the sense of filling a WinPack and setting it aside for a week or a month, but I often allow the wort to chill overnight.

Do you guys just throw the pot lid on and let it sit for a day before transferring to a fermenter?

yep

Sanitize lid or any other special techniques?

yep - and nope

I would be concerned about putting my auto siphon on the rim and knocking crud in.

I whirlpool before putting the lid on and the break material tends to settle in the middle .. so just rest the autosiphon without clipping it

 

[brewprint]

I do not "no chill" in the sense of filling a WinPack and setting it aside for a week or a month, but I often allow the wort to chill overnight.



yep




yep - and nope



I whirlpool before putting the lid on and the break material tends to settle in the middle .. so just rest the autosiphon without clipping it

I don't do a whirlpool. I do BIAB and normally use an immersion chiller and all the crud goes into my bucket. I make 5.5 gallon batches and just use the .5 and trub in the bottom of the fermenter. I tilt the kettle in a way to get everything out.

 

[Pappers_]

This summer, I had trouble using the counterflow chiller and getting it much below 70, and that was running the flow through it very slowly. So, I would run the wort through the chiller initially relatively quickly, get it down to 100F or so, transfer to a sanitized fermenter and put it in the fermentation chamber with the temp set to 65F. Let it sit over night or for a day, then pitch the yeast.

 

[applescrap]

No way just let it sit awesome....no problems i assume. I could be under 3 hours with this

 

[brewprint]

Yep trying to save time and water especially for winter. It'll be a pain running a hose out of my sink faucet to the garage.

 

[andrewf1985]

Throw it in your sanitized fermentor and close it up tight until your ready to pitch. Used to do this before i made an immersion chiller. Some brews would be chilled enough over night, 1 i had took almost 2 days. Was pretty warm and i dont have a fermentation chamber. However, never had any issues

 

[applescrap]

I live in Colorado what would happen if I threw it in the fermenter then just stuck it in the snow.

 

[RM-MN]

I live in Colorado what would happen if I threw it in the fermenter then just stuck it in the snow.

It would take forever to chill. Snow is a great insulator,

If you put it in a tub of water and added snow to chill the water you get a quick chill. Something about direct contact and heat transfer... I forget the rest, I've been drinking beer.

 

[jimmykx250]

I do no chill exclusively. Finish boil whirlpool then drain to my container seal it and pitch the next night. Never had a problem and I normally do a 5.5 gal brew in around 3 hours including clean up. Thats why i do no chill and BIAB otherwise I dont think I would have the time to brew period.

 

[cjones]

I do no chill exclusively. Finish boil whirlpool then drain to my container seal it and pitch the next night. Never had a problem and I normally do a 5.5 gal brew in around 3 hours including clean up. Thats why i do no chill and BIAB otherwise I dont think I would have the time to brew period.

+1 and u could always use gelatin if your worried about chill haze taking to long to drop out.

 

[verysupple]

There seems to be different ideas in the replies here about how to no chill effectively. I'd start by giving this link a read.

I have been no-chilling for a while now and chill haze hasn't been a problem at all. I've also read many, many posts by long term no-chillers saying that while occasionally they do get a batch affected by chill haze, it's no more common than when they were chilling. I suspect no-chilling isn't the cause of the chill haze in those cases because if it was it would be a problem every time. Or at least most of the time.

Happy brewing.

EDIT: Also, if you are worried about chill-haze, then gelatin probably won't help much. Finings like gelatin work electrostatically. For example, gelatin works great for fining out yeast because the gelatin is positively charged and it attracts the negatively charged yeast cells. They clump together and when the clump gets big enough it settles out of the solution according to Stokes' law. Now, the problem is that the particles that form chill haze are positively charged, so they won't be attracted to the gelatine. Try something like PVPP (Polyclar). (source)

 

[ben123]

I no chill exclusively. It is really common in Australia. The point is to put the hot wort in an air proof, food safe container. Fill to the brim and push out all the air before sealing it up.

If you then tip the container on its head the hot wort will sanitize the inside of the container.

 

[applescrap]

I do no chill exclusively. Finish boil whirlpool then drain to my container seal it and pitch the next night. Never had a problem and I normally do a 5.5 gal brew in around 3 hours including clean up. Thats why i do no chill and BIAB otherwise I dont think I would have the time to brew period.

Special container or just regular fermenter? I'm the same that's why I brew so quick. Seal with airlock in there

 

[applescrap]

What the hell is chill haze? I prefer beers cloudy... do I just leave the air lock on.. I'm so excited thank you I have been wondering how to chill inside quicker and was going to buy a plate chiller why would anybody want any of this stuff if it doesn't matter

 

[applescrap]

Oh yeah I was thinking that too wouldn't it sanitize the fermenter

 

[brewprint]

Okay so you guys are transferring out of the kettle as soon as you stop the boil?

Does this affect anything in a negative way like the auto-siphon or the bucket?

I only use plastic for fermentation.

I'm not worried about taking 2 days to chill as that only adds 2 days to fermentation.

Also since it's supposed to be sealed from outside air; do we put the airlock on? I thought that cooling shrinkage may be an issue doing that?

 

[specharka]

There seems to be different ideas in the replies here about how to no chill effectively. I'd start by giving this link a read.

I have been no-chilling for a while now and chill haze hasn't been a problem at all. I've also read many, many posts by long term no-chillers saying that while occasionally they do get a batch affected by chill haze, it's no more common than when they were chilling. I suspect no-chilling isn't the cause of the chill haze in those cases because if it was it would be a problem every time. Or at least most of the time.

Happy brewing.

EDIT: Also, if you are worried about chill-haze, then gelatin probably won't help much. Finings like gelatin work electrostatically. For example, gelatin works great for fining out yeast because the gelatin is positively charged and it attracts the negatively charged yeast cells. They clump together and when the clump gets big enough it settles out of the solution according to Stokes' law. Now, the problem is that the particles that form chill haze are positively charged, so they won't be attracted to the gelatine. Try something like PVPP (Polyclar). (source)

I would be veeeeeeery curious to see the difference between no chill and traditionally chilled wort, ceteris peribus. I wonder if Brulosophy or the like have conducted a study to determine the difference...

http://brulosophy.com/2015/02/09/a-year-of-no-chill-lessons-from-a-secret-xbmt/

So it comes with its good and bad sides. Perfect if you're not interested in hop-forward or crystal clear beer.

 

[verysupple]

I would be veeeeeeery curious to see the difference between no chill and traditionally chilled wort, ceteris peribus. I wonder if Brulosophy or the like have conducted a study to determine the difference...

http://brulosophy.com/2015/02/09/a-year-of-no-chill-lessons-from-a-secret-xbmt/

So it comes with its good and bad sides. Perfect if you're not interested in hop-forward or crystal clear beer.

I thought it would be obvious that there would be differences between chilling and no-chilling a split batch (i.e. ceteris peribus). That's why people who no-chill adjust their recipes and other processes.

I like the brulosophy exbeeriments, but as the author keeps writing, it's just one data point. While he didn't manage to nail those hop forward styles, it certainly can be done using more modern techniques such as cube hopping, hop teas, etc. AFAIK the author didn't try these sorts of techniques. As I wrote above, modern no-chill brewing is different to traditional brewing. Not necessarily bettor, or worse, just different. Kind of like fly vs batch sparging, they both work, they're just different.

As for clarity, this is a no-chilled beer. It's not a great photo and wasn't taken to show off clarity, but you can see through it pretty darn easily. This beer had a kettle fining but no fining post fermentation. Bottled after 3 weeks in primary including 5 days cold crash.

 

[cjones]

There seems to be different ideas in the replies here about how to no chill effectively. I'd start by giving this link a read.

I have been no-chilling for a while now and chill haze hasn't been a problem at all. I've also read many, many posts by long term no-chillers saying that while occasionally they do get a batch affected by chill haze, it's no more common than when they were chilling. I suspect no-chilling isn't the cause of the chill haze in those cases because if it was it would be a problem every time. Or at least most of the time.

Happy brewing.

EDIT: Also, if you are worried about chill-haze, then gelatin probably won't help much. Finings like gelatin work electrostatically. For example, gelatin works great for fining out yeast because the gelatin is positively charged and it attracts the negatively charged yeast cells. They clump together and when the clump gets big enough it settles out of the solution according to Stokes' law. Now, the problem is that the particles that form chill haze are positively charged, so they won't be attracted to the gelatine. Try something like PVPP (Polyclar). (source)

Nice article - but I use Irish moss during boil and gelatin during kegging - never once had a problem - and never once had a cloudy beer. - so I guess I have never had positive charged chill haze.

 

[applescrap]

Homebrew should be a little cloudy shouldnt it am I missing something

 

[applescrap]

If I'm not worried about cloudiness or dry hopping excetera can I just straight no chill no adjusting the recipe

 

[ben123]

Special container or just regular fermenter? I'm the same that's why I brew so quick. Seal with airlock in there

Special container applescrap, commonly referred to here as a 'cube'. It can handle boiling liquid. Benefit is you can keep it as long as you like before you decide to ferment because everything in it is sanitary and air tight.

It's common to have 2 or 3 containers ready to ferment at any time.

 

[Paps]

I've done a `no-chill` on several batches, all have been fine.
I do not put boiling hot wort in contact with plastic though.
( warning-----never put boiling wort into your glass carboys )
I merely place the lid onto my boil kettle (sanitized) and
let it sit overnight, pitching the yeast within 8-12 hours from flame out.
This method does kick up the IBU`s due to the wort slowly cooling through the temp range that people do `hop-stands` at.
But you can use less hops if you don't have much play room in the style you are making. Generally i think it's only a 10-15ish IBU difference. I rely on "Brew Mate" for the number difference.

I generally drink darker brews so clarity isn't a major concern for me but eventually i do plan on building some form of CFC.

 

[RM-MN]

What the hell is chill haze? I prefer beers cloudy... do I just leave the air lock on.. I'm so excited thank you I have been wondering how to chill inside quicker and was going to buy a plate chiller why would anybody want any of this stuff if it doesn't matter

When you have a recipe with hop additions at 10 minutes or less you expect flavors from them in your beer because you will preserve the flavors by quick chilling and will get minimal bittering from them. When you do a no-chill, the wort stays pretty hot for a long time and you lose those hop flavors and gain bitterness. That's why no-chill requires changes in the hop schedule.

If your beers never call for the flavor additions of hops, no chill works quite well. I did some research on the HDPE fermenter bucket and found them to me safe to use at the boiling point (and well above too) so when the wort is done boiling I pour it directly into the bucket and pop the lid on. The wort is sanitary after an hour boil (pasteurization takes seconds at the boiling point) and the lid keeps most of the things floating in the air out. I'll put an airlock on but fill it just until the middle piece is touching the liquid so that when the air pressure in the bucket is reduced from cooling, the liquid isn't sucked back into the airlock but the air must bubble through it. I use a Starsan solution in hopes that that will sanitize the air but I suspect it doesn't matter since there will be little time for any bacteria to grow before the huge amount of yeast you will dump in will overwhelm it.

 

[brewprint]

As far as hop schedule; wouldn't a hop bag and removing the hops compensate for over bittering? Say 15 minutes or so after flame out?

 

[verysupple]

As far as hop schedule; wouldn't a hop bag and removing the hops compensate for over bittering? Say 15 minutes or so after flame out?

Not really. The problem is some of the alpha acids have already been extracted from the plant matter and are in solution. So after you pull out the bag the acids keep isomerising. Depending on the recipe this can have a very small or a quite noticeable affect on bittering.

 

[applescrap]

When you have a recipe with hop additions at 10 minutes or less you expect flavors from them in your beer because you will preserve the flavors by quick chilling and will get minimal bittering from them. When you do a no-chill, the wort stays pretty hot for a long time and you lose those hop flavors and gain bitterness. That's why no-chill requires changes in the hop schedule.

If your beers never call for the flavor additions of hops, no chill works quite well. I did some research on the HDPE fermenter bucket and found them to me safe to use at the boiling point (and well above too) so when the wort is done boiling I pour it directly into the bucket and pop the lid on. The wort is sanitary after an hour boil (pasteurization takes seconds at the boiling point) and the lid keeps most of the things floating in the air out. I'll put an airlock on but fill it just until the middle piece is touching the liquid so that when the air pressure in the bucket is reduced from cooling, the liquid isn't sucked back into the airlock but the air must bubble through it. I use a Starsan solution in hopes that that will sanitize the air but I suspect it doesn't matter since there will be little time for any bacteria to grow before the huge amount of yeast you will dump in will overwhelm it.

So cool thanks

 

[mjohnd]

I love the idea of leaving the wort to cool overnight in the kettle. So simple and easy. I tried it once on a German style wheat beer and it came out great.

But the "standard" no-chill method apparently is to transfer to a cube and squeeze out the air. My question is, what is the point of this? Is there any advantage compared to just leaving it in the kettle (with a tight lid)?

 

[jtratcliff]

Storage in the "cube" with air squeezed out apparently allows for prolonged storage before pitching. Some have reported waiting for months after filling the cube.

 

[mjohnd]

So if you're just no-chilling overnight, there's no advantage to the cube?

 

[jtratcliff]

So if you're just no-chilling overnight, there's no advantage to the cube?

Not in my opinion... It's just an extra transfer to make.

I usually "slow-chill" in the kettle then dump into a bucket fermenter, but I'm going to get some S-type airlocks and just start dumping hot wort straight into the fermenter. They apparently don't suck back like the 3-piece jobbies.

I think @wilserbrewer has even stated in other threads that he overnight chills in the kettle then ferments right in the kettle....

@The_Pol posted a hops schedule adjustment plot for no-chill at some point. I usually use it for my hoppier pale ales...

here it is: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=117111&page=47#post1542375

 

[RM-MN]

Not in my opinion... It's just an extra transfer to make.

I usually "slow-chill" in the kettle then dump into a bucket fermenter, but I'm going to get some S-type airlocks and just start dumping hot wort straight into the fermenter. They apparently don't suck back like the 3-piece jobbies.

I think @wilserbrewer has even stated in other threads that he overnight chills in the kettle then ferments right in the kettle....

@The_Pol posted a hops schedule adjustment plot for no-chill at some point. I usually use it for my hoppier pale ales...

here it is: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=117111&page=47#post1542375

Here's a quick and cheap way to eliminate the suck back of liquid in the airlock. Don't use one. The purpose of the airlock is to keep out particles or bugs in the air. You can't avoid getting air in but the small amount of bacteria will be overwhelmed by the quick growth of the yeast and that small amount of bacteria in the air won't be much hampered by an airlock. To avoid the suckback but keep out the bugs, tape a piece of saran wrap over the opening, leaving one side without the tape. If you think it necessary, slip a litte bit of a cotton ball under that edge to allow the air movement. You could even dip the cotton in starsan solution but I doubt that will make much difference.

I sometimes use the saran wrap covered hole in the fermenter for the entire ferment. Seems to work just fine and it won't get knocked off very easily either nor will it stick up so you can't fit the fermenter in the small refrigerator.

 

[Ninoid]

I brew 20 batch of 23L with No Chill in sealed fermenter and pitch dry yeast for less of 24 hours and place airlock with great success. But, because my fermenter is plastic and will be deformed with very hot wort, I before transfer leave in kettle, with occasional stirring, up to 30 minutes and transfer wort on less of 80'C. In my expirence, this 30 minutes (like hopstand) is as 10 minutes of boil and I adjust recipe or cut boil for 10 minutes. Fo 5 minutes hop addition simple throw hop after 15 minutes of hopstand.

I do not know what about fining because I do not have cold crash conditions. I have tried a few times with gelatin "to warm" and this is not been able to remove chill haze. I have not tried another fining method. Maybe will be try with irish moss but beer clarity is not problem for me.