What's up with No Chill brewing?

[NikoBrew]

I ferment in corney kegs. Would a Keg work instead of a cube? I'm thinking of attaching a sanitary air filter the the gas out while it cools, then put my airlock on after pitching the next day.

I'm also guessing that 200+ degree wort from the boil kettle is going to sanitize the vessel it's being transferred into. What tubing can handle that kind of temp?

The Fool.

Silicone tubing, can be bought at a plumbing supply shop or morebeer and other places.

[chefchris]

Im sure it wouldve been better otherwise though.

Can you say this for sure? Brewed the same recipe twice using both methods? I have, and like many others, can taste no difference.

[NikoBrew]

Im sure it wouldve been better otherwise though.

Can you say this for sure? Brewed the same recipe twice using both methods? I have, and like many others, can taste no difference.

No I can't. I honestly can't. Tasted great to myself, friends and family. When I went to full boils I was also wondering if I couldn't just run wort via silicone tubing straight into a glass carboy. My LHBS says it would "hurt your carboy" but didn't say why or how or what could happen. I was thinking of just draining to the carboy, sticking it in the fridge overnight, and pitching the next morning. I do have an IC I've made now though so no big deal, would be neat to know though.

[Thirsty Boy]

In a glass carboy - it would very likely thermally shock the glass and shatter the carboy. If not - it would almost certainly weaken it. Carboys are not exactly made out of high quality glass.

It might work - but my guess is that you would have a broken carboy, a big mess and potential burns/cuts within seconds.

Some people no-chill in Corny kegs - some people no-chill directly into their fermenter (In Australia the majority of people ferment in HDPE drums not glass) - some people even just put the lid on their kettle and let it cool overnight.

BUT - quite a bit of thought went into the designing the no-chill in a "cube" process - thought aimed at mitigating the "bad things" that you think might happen if you choose no chill as your method - In my opinion, no-chill in a HDPE container, sealed and with the air squeezed as thoroughly as possible out of it .. combines the best features of the method, with the avoidance of the most possible pitfalls.

The other ways might well work, they do for some people -- But I know absolutely for sure, that award winning beer can be made using the HDPE cube. Oh - and the cube most closely emulates the practice of the commercial breweries who package and sell "Fresh Wort" kits for home fermenting.

So thats how I do it

Thirsty

[NikoBrew]

In a glass carboy - it would very likely thermally shock the glass and shatter the carboy. If not - it would almost certainly weaken it. Carboys are not exactly made out of high quality glass.

It might work - but my guess is that you would have a broken carboy, a big mess and potential burns/cuts within seconds.

Some people no-chill in Corny kegs - some people no-chill directly into their fermenter (In Australia the majority of people ferment in HDPE drums not glass) - some people even just put the lid on their kettle and let it cool overnight.

BUT - quite a bit of thought went into the designing the no-chill in a "cube" process - thought aimed at mitigating the "bad things" that you think might happen if you choose no chill as your method - In my opinion, no-chill in a HDPE container, sealed and with the air squeezed as thoroughly as possible out of it .. combines the best features of the method, with the avoidance of the most possible pitfalls.

The other ways might well work, they do for some people -- But I know absolutely for sure, that award winning beer can be made using the HDPE cube. Oh - and the cube most closely emulates the practice of the commercial breweries who package and sell "Fresh Wort" kits for home fermenting.

So thats how I do it

Thirsty

Great info I may try this out. It'd save a little time on brew day and also spread it out a bit to finish up the next day.
I just found http://www.brewersfriend.com/2009/06/06 ... ue-tested/ with links to buy the right type of containers. Going to see if any local club members want to go in on this.

[Thirsty Boy]

Those containers will work, and are probably appropriate if you are going to try and ferment in the same container you no-chill in. You would need the headspace.

I don't use that type of container and its not my opinion that they are the best type of container. I use this type of HDPE jerry can (willow brand, Kmart)



and a lot of people use a more square rather than narrow version that looks like this


Both these containers allow you to squeeze out excess air and limit the chance of oxidation of the hot wort. Not really an issue if you are going to ferment the next day I guess - But I would prefer to have teh air squeezed out if I was going to be storing the cube unfermented for any period of time. I often leave mine for weeks or months before I ferment them and so I want the air out.

You do it like this (roughly) and that would be harder to manage with a round NC container, especially one with significant headspace.

Mine are 20L nominal capacity (actually hold about 24L) and are perfect for filling a corny keg or a little more.

I also wouldn't bother with putting them in the fridge - its only going to work the hell out of your fridge and it still wont chill them fast enough to get any "rapid chill" benefits .. so why waste the power? I just leave them to chill down at ambient. It'll be cool enough to pitch inside 24hrs - gives you time to grow a starter.

Like I said, there are different ways to manage this - the guy in the link you posted is doing perfectly well, so who am I to say he's wrong. I don't do it like that for a number of reasons that I have detailed.

Oh - and I filled my cubes up with very hot water and allowed them to cool down - several times before I put wort in them. I kept doing it till I couldn't taste the difference between water boiled and cooled in the cube, and water boiled and cooled in a glass beaker (blind triangle tasting) that way I was sure there weren't going to be any plastic flavours transferred to my beer. Other people have not bothered doing this and have had no problems - but I like to be careful.

Thirsty

[NikoBrew]

Those containers will work, and are probably appropriate if you are going to try and ferment in the same container you no-chill in. You would need the headspace.

I don't use that type of container and its not my opinion that they are the best type of container. I use this type of HDPE jerry can (willow brand, Kmart)

Awesome man thanks I'm excited. I'll hit up walmart and see if they have them rated the same way.. I don't think I've ever seen them there but I think we have a kmart nearby.

[brewmatt]

So now I understand that if I No-Chill straight to a bucket for a next-day ferment I shouldn't seal it to prevent implosion. (I haven't done it yet, just taking everyone's word for it.)

Next question, if I "cube hop", do these hops need to be removed before fermentation to prevent grassy or veggie flavors?