# Leaving Wort Overnight



## sean83 (4/3/12)

Hi Guys,

I just brewed my first lager last night.

4kg of Aust Pilsner
500g of carapils 
500g of white rice

20g por at 60 min
10g cluster at 10 - 5 min (no chill went in at 5)

I had to leave the wort overnight in the kettle as I didn't have a clean cube last night (all are full and in use) should have brought one I know but i am just checking that leaving it overnight from about 2.00 in the morning to 4.00 this arvo. Will I be running the gauntlet so to speak with infection etc...

I pitched yeast at 28 and have just thrown it in the fridge should be 12 degrees by midnight / the morning.

Cheers Sean


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## raven19 (4/3/12)

Did you gladwrap the lid on the kettle? (I have done this once with success many moons ago).

Its all about risk management, and your sanitation. But get that wort down to temp asap and pitch as soon as you can imo.


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## iralosavic (4/3/12)

Should be right if it's sealed from air. Whack it on concrete for heat absorbsion. And be sure to resanitise the tap/valve before draining.


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## QldKev (4/3/12)

Get a decent yeast running in there, and chances are you should have many more good yeasties than bad ones.


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## DUANNE (4/3/12)

and in reply to the op, it should be fine as long as the yeast take off pretty quickly. if there were no odd smells or flavours when pitched i would proceed as normal.


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## Online Brewing Supplies (4/3/12)

I wouldnt try to push my luck, you have a 50/50 % chance of a good beer. Why brew if you dont have a container to ferment in ?
I hope all is ok but .................................
Nev


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## Nick JD (4/3/12)

It'll be absolutely fine. I have done bagillions of batches using exactly this technique and never had an issue. 

The wort only spends about a couple of hours at temperatures where wild yeast or bacteria can multiply - and it's in a _sterile _container - because you boiled it insanely for 60 minutes.

I always "flameout" at about 7pm and pitch yeast between noon and 2pm the next day. Never had a bad batch.


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## sean83 (4/3/12)

Thanks,

Hey Nev it wasn't untill after I had finished the boil that I realised I was out of cubes, and generally I would have just thrown one of them in the fermenter and swapped around as per usual, however because I had specifically brewed a lager and only had two packets og lager yeast i had my mind set on following through with brewing a lager.

Definetly covered with gladwrap and got the yeast in there as soon as I could obviously without putting them in too hot of wort. 

Beerhog, mate I did the smell test and it was fine smelt like fresh wort - it was actually better smelling than my last AG so I was feeling pretty chuffed. 

Thanks Nick and Kev hearing that really does set my mind at ease - will obviously be a little more prepared next time - but when you want to brew you just got to do it I guess.

Cheers for the replies guys.

Sean


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## kelbygreen (4/3/12)

Yeah I have done a few that I glad wraped and put the lid back on the heat in the kettle should pasterise most things. I would be recommend it but as a last resort its better then tipping it on the lawn before you start lol. I am lucky I brew in the mornings and I have BCF about 2mins away so if I find out I dont have a cube I can slip down while I wait for convection to settle


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## dr K (4/3/12)

Is there a sanitation problem here or have I just mixed my medications again...worts do get infected, often by wild yeast but most commonly by controlled, as much as we can, yeast. The difference between good brewing bad is, in the end, as much about control, or controlling as best you can than anything. No matter what method of brewing you choose, Kit and Kilo, Fresh Wort, BOP, AG, BIAB, No Chill or even FUCCIK, a method I hvae employed more than once (ferment under controlled conditions in kettle) there are two essentials, sanitation and planning.
The op brewed without having a cube ready, is that a problem, is that a planning problem, is that a control problem or is it a sanitation problem, if the beer turns out OK then there was no problem, I will leave it to others to discuss why, or why not.

K


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## QldKev (4/3/12)

sean83 said:


> Thanks,
> 
> Hey Nev it wasn't untill after I had finished the boil that I realised I was out of cubes, and generally I would have just thrown one of them in the fermenter and swapped around as per usual, however because I had specifically brewed a lager and only had two packets og lager yeast i had my mind set on following through with brewing a lager.
> 
> ...




that's it, _when ya gotta brew ya gotta brew!_


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## kelbygreen (4/3/12)

Dr K I know what you say. I do not think this should be used as a brewing practice nor do I think it should be done. But some times planing doesnt work out and he had to brew or felt like brewing without thinking of how to store or chill the beer before hand. I brew when I have time and sometimes that gets planed late the night before or early the next morning as I can be away one day and back the next without knowledge (why all my kegs are dry, happened last 3 weeks in a row get sent home on a saturday so I get home after lunch and no brew shop open and away 5am on monday for 10 days, if that is the case). I mean things dont work to plan and you brew when you can. 

This method can work and it may work. As I say its not something people should make a regular thing its a once off desperate thing and should only be that to much to lose in there. Although if you want to take the risk its your risk not mine or any one else's


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## DUANNE (4/3/12)

dr K said:


> Is there a sanitation problem here or have I just mixed my medications again...worts do get infected, often by wild yeast but most commonly by controlled, as much as we can, yeast. The difference between good brewing bad is, in the end, as much about control, or controlling as best you can than anything. No matter what method of brewing you choose, Kit and Kilo, Fresh Wort, BOP, AG, BIAB, No Chill or even FUCCIK, a method I hvae employed more than once (ferment under controlled conditions in kettle) there are two essentials, sanitation and planning.
> The op brewed without having a cube ready, is that a problem, is that a planning problem, is that a control problem or is it a sanitation problem, if the beer turns out OK then there was no problem, I will leave it to others to discuss why, or why not.
> 
> K




are you a politician by any chance? the above is all true and good to know but i keep coming back to the question, wich you have very skillfully avoided, why did you specifically point out biab as making everything ok? were you being sarcastic trying to start another 3v versus biab shit fight or were you making an informed statement that biab is much less prone to sanitation issues post boil? any way dont know why i really care but a simple yes no to those two questions would be nice.


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## dr K (4/3/12)

BEERHOG said:


> are you a politician by any chance? the above is all true and good to know but i keep coming back to the question, wich you have very skillfully avoided, why did you specifically point out biab as making everything ok? were you being sarcastic trying to start another 3v versus biab shit fight or were you making an informed statement that biab is much less prone to sanitation issues post boil? any way dont know why i really care but a simple yes no to those two questions would be nice.



This, as Alice said, is getting curioser and curioser....
Beerhog I am not a politician, nor an optician for that matter, but I cannot for the life of me answer the question


> why did you specifically point out biab as making everything ok


, nor indeed can I answer your second question about post boil biab...because frankly, and I have read this thread a few times to ensure my sanity, I have no idea what you are talking about unless its so OT it dares not speak its name.
Beerhog, a few more specific references, in particular to the thread perhaps?
Or will you


> very skillfully avoid



K


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## DUANNE (4/3/12)

i just reread the whole thread myself, couple of posts missing! if youve mixed youre meds then so have I! id love to go back and quote youre first post in this thread but alas its seems it is no more. the ops beer should be just fine and im happy to leave it at that.


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## dr K (4/3/12)

BEERHOG said:


> i just reread the whole thread myself, couple of posts missing! if youve mixed youre meds then so have I! id love to go back and quote youre first post in this thread but alas its seems it is no more. the ops beer should be just fine and im happy to leave it at that.


 Thats easy!
I said


> If your brew was BIAB then it will be Ok


Nothing more..well perhaps a little more, I laughed somewhat more than I should have, had a pee,cooked an unremarkable meal, washed up,read a few chapters of Steinbeck (Cannery Row if you care) and noted that sanitation was important, all, as my meal, unremarkable.

K


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## Nick JD (5/3/12)

kelbygreen said:


> As I say its not something people should make a regular thing its a once off desperate thing and should only be that to much to lose in there.



I am. Read up on traditional coolships.

It's sad how many people here brew by rote and fear, not by actually understanding microbiological processes.


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## jyo (5/3/12)

I have done this heaps of times. I even grabbed a medal using this disgusting practise. Before I became a filthy no-chiller, I would just cover the kettle in sanitised glad wrap, lid on, glad wrap around the lid and leave over night to cool and pitch yeast the next day. Never had an infection doing this. Probably not best practise and I acknowledge that, but it works. 

Cheers!


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## stuart13 (5/3/12)

Mushroom season started early up your way, Dr K?


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## pk.sax (5/3/12)

Season or not, serious question:

Dr K, if you ferment in the kettle, do you worry about the 'hot break'? Or do you manage it somehow?
Cheers for sharing.

PF

PS: any other kettle fermenting people, what to do different?


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## argon (5/3/12)

For those that put cling wrap over the kettle and let it cool, how do you manage the;
1. The wrap not melting from the heat
2. The wrap not being sucked in as the wort cools

Are these issues to be concerned with? Never done it myself, but wouldn't mind knowing if I'm ever caught in a jam.


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## Dazza88 (5/3/12)

i've alfoiled first layr. lid then when not melting hot do cling wrap. 

did it once. worked fine. cling wrap was initially melting.


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## [email protected] (5/3/12)

I no chilled in the pot a few times before getting a cube/jerry.
Cleaned the rim of the pot at FO with starsan, same to the entire lid, lid on pot and cover steam hole with starsand cling wrap.
Waited 15mins or so for the pot to cool down a bit before spraying with starsan then 2 layers of cling wrap around the outside. No melting, the heat makes it cling really well though. Left in sealed room overnight.
Certainly get a nice compact layer of break the next day, makes siphoning out into ferment pretty easy, the beers all turned out very good and as far as clarity goes they were some of my clearest biab beers.

Its a method i would employ again in the future if needed for what ever reason.
But all in all i prefer the proper " NO CHILL" in a cube which i will pitch within a day or 2 anyway.


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## sean83 (5/3/12)

Thought I would do a quick follow up now that i have had a chance for this beer to sit in the fridge overnight. It is fermenting away perfectly - no off smells temp is down to 13 degrees so I am feeling pretty comfortable. Had a quick taste from the tap this morning - and well it tastes like fresh wort so my stress levels are well and truly down now. I doubt i will really use this method again but in all honesty after some reading and also the various feedback from this thread I can see that the risks with leaving wort overnight are not as high as I originally thought. Granted that suitable precautions are taken. Really though with brewing there is some level of risk of infection no matter how stringent or anal you are - I guess it is all about minimising but I dare say i have dodged this one and will hopefully come out with a fairly clean lager, chance to use the new filter as well. 

I should mention this was a BIAB as well

Thanks everyone for the feedback

Sean


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## Rob S (5/3/12)

As soon as the boil finishes I starsan the shut out of the pot and lid, put the lid on & wrap it up with glad wrap & put it straight in the fridge. Never a problem with glad wrap melting, its melt point is higher than the pots heat.

Last brew I left in the fridge for 4 days in the pot like this & turned out brilliant. Can't see how it'd get infected.


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## Markbeer (5/3/12)

Hi

IMO, you don't need a cube.

I no chill in the fermenter overnight, but leave the remaining wort in the kettle as well. 

The next day I do a mini boil with the extra wort I get out of the kettle as it's had 12-16 hours to fall out properly.

This is usually 2 or so litres. Boil for 15 mins with the mass of hops I like, cool, add to main wort and pitch.

Saves an extra couple litres wort and better hop flavour and aroma.

Also splits the cleaning up a bit.

I sanitise my fermenter very well though.

Mark


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