Performing no chill by leaving wort in kettle overnight

[sibelman]

Papazian simply said, "It is always important to chill the wort as quickly as possible." This basic wisdom from my early brewing days still leaves me uncomfortable whenever my wort sits for hours cooling the last ~10°F (in a closed fermenter) before pitching. It's also uncomfortable to dump many gallons of summertime tap water on the ground or down the drain. In the summer I get both kinds of discomfort.

Clearly, fine beer can be made even with slow wort chilling. But let's not make a virtue of necessity.

 

[hotbeer]

For a less than a couple dollars each you can get some hot fill bladder bags. When you dump your wort in them you can squeeze all the air out and then let the wort cool.

You could even just put a stopper and airlock in them if you wanted to use them as a fermenter.

Just google up Hot Fill Bags Homebrewing and disregard the hits for what's obviously BIAB bags for mashing... unless you want some of those too.

I've not done no-chill, but I've thought about it some. And these are probably the way I'd go.

 

[Drewch]

There's a whole bunch of lambic brewers in Belgium who leave their wort overnight uncovered to cool.

I've done no-chill a few times with no discernable ill effects. But I do small batches (about 6.5 liters) that cool reasonably quickly.

 

[SanPancho]

@CyberFox if you wanna do no chill, then do nochill. dont let anyone here scare you off. i'll tell you one thing no one's saying, your wort will by crystal clear the next morning. its amazing.

there are concerns, but they're fairly easily addressed. pilsner can be an issue. easiest solution? use the lightest 2row you can get instead. barring that, if you just gotta have pilsner, then boil for 90min vs 60m. nearly all precursors are gone at that point.

oxygenation. yes, can be bad. i'd do hybrid- run your chiller for a while until you see the temp drop rate start to get slow, then once you feel its becoming wasteful then just seal it up. as noted above, you can do sliced silicone tubing and clamps. if you go that route, i'd just put your co2 tank at like 1-2psi and just gently fill the headspace for 5min. then seal and call it a day.

have your yeast ready to go and pitch in the am.

the hot fill bags noted above also work well, but you lose the crystal clear wort result. unless you can figure how to have it standing up and then rack out without stirring everything up again.

in any case, pick a non-hoppy recipe, and just do it. if tastes like oxygenation is a problem, then stop. not a big deal.

 

[pvtpublic]

If you drink your batch quick enough, oxygenation is a thing of the past!

 

[CyberFox]

Thanks for the input everyone. Has anyone here had success doing a hoppy beer with no chill? I keep hearing that no chill doesn't work for hoppy beer, but I figured that it would just act like an extended hop stand if you threw hops into the cube. I was planning on trying no chill and adding only a very minimal bittering addition and a flameout addition.

 

[Ninoid]

Thanks for the input everyone. Has anyone here had success doing a hoppy beer with no chill? I keep hearing that no chill doesn't work for hoppy beer, but I figured that it would just act like an extended hop stand if you threw hops into the cube. I was planning on trying no chill and adding only a very minimal bittering addition and a flameout addition.

Try dryhop.

 

[IslandLizard]

Thanks for the input everyone. Has anyone here had success doing a hoppy beer with no chill? I keep hearing that no chill doesn't work for hoppy beer, but I figured that it would just act like an extended hop stand if you threw hops into the cube. I was planning on trying no chill and adding only a very minimal bittering addition and a flameout addition.

See my post in #2:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/thread...-wort-in-kettle-overnight.704231/post-9344732

Try dryhop.

That would be the best way.

 

[mscroggi]

Why not use the container? For $15 you can get one of these.. Put the wort in it as hot as you like.. screw on the lid and let it cool till the next day. North Mountain Supply 5 Gallon Vented Plastic Hedpak/Carboy: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific No fuss. Super easy and effective. Bonus - you have a water jug to fetch your brew water.

 

[Ninoid]

Why not use the container? For $15 you can get one of these.. Put the wort in it as hot as you like.. screw on the lid and let it cool till the next day. North Mountain Supply 5 Gallon Vented Plastic Hedpak/Carboy: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific No fuss. Super easy and effective. Bonus - you have a water jug to fetch your brew water.

I am not sure that plastic does not release formaldehyde at temperatures above 80'C. I'm not happy with hot liquid in a plastic container. This is why I always cool the wort below 70'C before pouring it into the plastic fermenter.

 

[JaggersBrewingCo]

I No-Chill pretty much all the time. After flame goes off the lid goes on. About 12 hours later or so I am pitching yeast. My standard operating practice is that is I use more then 1 oz of hops then I use my hop basket if I use less then one then I don't use it to help combat the IBUs and Hop Utilization. The wort stays in my kettle until I am ready to transfer to the fermenter.

I'll chill my wort if I am using temperature controlled fermentation, but there is still a lag at least with my set up from around 100 degrees on downward.

I will say that some of what I have seen and people say about the disadvantages of no chilling such as infections, and not being able to make clean beer are hear say at best. I have made very clean looking beer, and knock on wood I have had more infections with chilled wort then non chilled.

One of the best things about this method / technique is that it offers another way to do something and something else to learn from.

 

[CyberFox]

Maybe not for hoppier beers.

One thing that always comes to mind with no-chill is that late addition hops will keep isomerizing in the near boiling wort for several hours. That reduces their intended flavor/aroma contributions while adding more bittering (raising IBUs).

Similar for whirlpool hops added at lower temps. Extraction still takes place at lower temps but bittering reactions although reduced, don't stop until below 140F.

You can tweak the recipe somewhat to counteract some of it, such as the IBU increase, but not the other side effects.

I know that the hops will continue to add bitterness over time with no chill. Supposedly the bitterness is not nearly as aggressive as hops added to the boil though. As far as an extended steep reducing flavor/aroma, I thought that was what hop stands were all about. I've heard of breweries throwing their hops in at flameout and whirlpooling for 90+ minutes (Stone comes to mind). I've also read about homebrewers using the same technique and getting really good results from it.

Try dryhop.

Is dry hopping considered more effective than flameout when it comes to flavor? I thought that flameout hops were best for lasting flavor with a little aroma and dry hops were best for aroma with a little flavor.

Why not use the container? For $15 you can get one of these.. Put the wort in it as hot as you like.. screw on the lid and let it cool till the next day. North Mountain Supply 5 Gallon Vented Plastic Hedpak/Carboy: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific No fuss. Super easy and effective. Bonus - you have a water jug to fetch your brew water.

Good suggestion. I actually have that exact container. I was curious if anyone just left the wort in the kettle overnight instead of transferring to the cube.

I am not sure that plastic does not release formaldehyde at temperatures above 80'C. I'm not happy with hot liquid in a plastic container. This is why I always cool the wort below 70'C before pouring it into the plastic fermenter.

I was concerned about that too. HDPE is supposed to be safe up to 248°F (short periods) and its working temperature is 212-220°F. Near-boiling temperatures should be well within the safe zone.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I do it all the time with good results.

Yup that’s what I do as well.

 

[madscientist451]

I've been doing it for years, but usually in the colder months when night time temperatures are below 35-40F. I usually brew in the evening and set the kettle out on the back porch. Dump it in the fermenter in the morning. I haven't noticed any problems.
When its warm out, I use my immersion chiller.

 

[GoodTruble]

I've been doing it for years, but usually in the colder months when night time temperatures are below 35-40F. I usually brew in the evening and set the kettle out on the back porch. Dump it in the fermenter in the morning. I haven't noticed any problems.
When its warm out, I use my immersion chiller.

Do you cover, wrap or package the kettle?

 

[madscientist451]

I just put the lid on, although the first 1/2 hour or so I leave it about 1/2 off to let some of the heat out. Also I let the steam sanitize the lid the last 5 mins of the boil, have it on about halfway then as well.

 

[bobeer]

Has anyone had experience doing the no chill technique by leaving the wort in the kettle to cool overnight? I know that the typical way to no chill is to transfer to an HDPE container, but I've also heard that some just put Saran wrap over the kettle opening and put the lid on. My main concern would be an increased risk of infection, but maybe there's not much to worry about due to the boil beforehand. Please let me know what your experience has been. Thanks in advance!

This is the only way I brew. I have an immersion chiller I built but I don't like using it and lugging around 5 gallons of hot wort to get it outside. I put the lid on after the boil is done and leave it on the stove for about 24 hours for it to cool to pitching temp.
I brew hoppy beers too and I've never had any issues with producing nice resiny beers with lots of hop flavors. When the boil is done I'll cover it with the lid and wait for the wort to reach 180 degrees F then add whatever whirlpool hops then. I dump the hops in and give it a good stir, put the lid back on and leave it overnight. No saran wrap needed.
The next day I open the ball valve on the kettle and dump it into a fermenter and it's the same as any other batch from there on out. I've even left the wort on the stove for 2 days before just due to my schedule and it was fine.

Hope this helps.

 

[mscroggi]

I just put the lid on, although the first 1/2 hour or so I leave it about 1/2 off to let some of the heat out. Also I let the steam sanitize the lid the last 5 mins of the boil, have it on about halfway then as well.

I think I will try this on the weekend. I always do no-chill.. but I have always used a sealed hedpak container. As the wort cools it is going to draw in a little outside air into the kettle. The hedpak is always sunken in a bit due to the vacuum it generates.

This shows just how forgivable the brewing process can be. I have really screwed up some brew processes in the past and I have never had any kind of infection.

 

[CyberFox]

This is the only way I brew. I have an immersion chiller I built but I don't like using it and lugging around 5 gallons of hot wort to get it outside. I put the lid on after the boil is done and leave it on the stove for about 24 hours for it to cool to pitching temp.
I brew hoppy beers too and I've never had any issues with producing nice resiny beers with lots of hop flavors. When the boil is done I'll cover it with the lid and wait for the wort to reach 180 degrees F then add whatever whirlpool hops then. I dump the hops in and give it a good stir, put the lid back on and leave it overnight. No saran wrap needed.
The next day I open the ball valve on the kettle and dump it into a fermenter and it's the same as any other batch from there on out. I've even left the wort on the stove for 2 days before just due to my schedule and it was fine.

Hope this helps.

Awesome input! It's good to hear that you can still make hoppy beer using no chill and that the brewing process is more forgivable than you'd think. It's always good to take precautions, but if you mess up or slack somewhere, it's not worth fretting over. It's definitely good to know that an extreme case like leaving the wort in the kettle for 2 days still resulted in good beer. I imagine that would make some people cringe, but if it works, it works.

 

[Oleson M.D.]

Not doing a rapid chill to pitching temp is a recipe for DMS. At least that is what the experts say.

 

[pvtpublic]

Not doing a rapid chill to pitching temp is a recipe for DMS. At least that is what the experts say.

They also say that it's from lightly kilned malts, such as pilsner. That's because SMM is driven off with longer kilning time for darker malt, like Vienna and munich.

 

[Ninoid]

Not doing a rapid chill to pitching temp is a recipe for DMS. At least that is what the experts say.

Nearly 200 batches, at least half with pilsner malt, all cooled in an open brewing pot to below 70'C (without cooling and stirring) and then in a sealed fermenter for about 24 hours and I never felt DMS. I think that was a problem with DMS before when using poorly processed grain.

 

[Bobby_M]

As a beer judge I can say with absolute certainty that DMS is not a defect of the past.

 

[Mac MacFarlane]

I’ve put my hot wort in 5gal kegs over night to either cool them down and transfer to another fermenter or pitch the yeast the next day in the keg.