# How Long In No-chilling Cube?



## Fingerlickin_B (5/2/07)

Well, a few people have made mention of marathon storage periods in the no-chill cube/jerry, but thought Id start a poll to see just how long the longest have been for different folks on here  

Do your bitGet Up & Vote :super: 

PZ.

*EDIT* - I just voted 3 weeks and it's still in the jerry, so no idea if it'll be ok


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## Duff (5/2/07)

I've got one there at the moment, Oz Pale Ale, which has been in the cube for around 6 months. Still in good shape (container that is), might get around to fermenting it one day :chug: 

If your sanitation is fine, then the cube and contents will be fine IMO.

Cheers.


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## warrenlw63 (5/2/07)

One week (refrigerated) has been my longest. Still a newb to no chill though. (only 5 x 42 litre batches).  

Hmmmm... Where for art thou Darren? :lol: 

Warren -


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## KoNG (5/2/07)

my longest has been a month or so....
no probs with the brew, but i think we need duff to ferment his for science.


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## bugwan (5/2/07)

My first no-chill (a variation on Warren's 'Back on your bike bitter' - thanks by the way!!) has been sitting for a few days, waiting for this weather to pass before pitching.

Which reminds me, I'd better get that starter.....started.


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## bindi (5/2/07)

72 hours <_< I must have done more the 20 NC with most pitched within 48 hrs, so have not tested the limit of the no chill, only my own impatience.


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## Finite (5/2/07)

1 Week for me. I normaly pitch the next day but sometimes have to wait if I have alot of brews going for a fermenter to free up.


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## deebee (5/2/07)

Need another category in this poll: less than one week.

I'm like Bindi. Never waited more than a couple of days.


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## MVZOOM (5/2/07)

#1 AG in NC for 4 months, #2 AG (kegged last night) for about 8 weeks. Reckon they get better over time?

Cheers - Mike


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## Pumpy (5/2/07)

I mash 40 litre batches split them in 20 litre cubes 
I ferment 20 litres of each and keg 
I have two cubes for fermenting before the others run out as I only have two kegs the whole process works like a cheap watch .

the cubes will last for months 

If you get enough cubes you can hug them !!!

It is not Rocket science all we are doing is making 'Fresh wort kits' 

Its not a Hill 
Get a Thrill 
Break that will 
Do a NO CHILL
Its really Brill' 
It dont cost a Mill'
If your Wasting water your a Pill 
Steady Take a NO Chill 
Nice will a breakfast Grill .

Pumpy


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## jimmyjack (5/2/07)

Pumpy, man I laughed so hard I nearly popped a poopoo valve!! :lol: Your quite the poet mate.

Cheers, JJ


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## PostModern (5/2/07)

Pumpy said:


> Its not a Hill
> Get a Thrill
> Break that will
> Do a NO CHILL
> ...



Dude, don't quit your day job.


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## Darren (5/2/07)

I thought there should be a "don't use no-chill" method unless you dont have a chiller category on the poll 

I wonder how you water saving no-chillers clean your mash tun, boiler, chill cube?

I chill in twenty minutes and use the chill water to clean all my brew gears, including the dirty kegs.

I still dont see the advantage of it unless you dont have a chiller h34r: 

cheers

Darren


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## Batz (5/2/07)

I pitch the next day

Around 12 hours for 23lt batches,takes 24hours to cool a double.

Batz


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## Darren (5/2/07)

I agree, two days at the most. Some peoples shit never stinks  

cheers

Darren


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## Finite (5/2/07)

Darren said:


> I thought there should be a "don't use no-chill" method unless you dont have a chiller category on the poll
> 
> I wonder how you water saving no-chillers clean your mash tun, boiler, chill cube?
> 
> ...





For me:



* You can brew even If you dont have a fermenter spare.

* You can brew an AG beer for a friend who wants to try HBing and they dont have to have a shitty can kit.

* Good when brewing at night and just want to finish and go to bed. Pitching the next day is nice.

* Can save up some wort for a rainy day when you are to busy to brew...AG fresh wort ready to be pitched.

* Drops out extra trub overnight/over time while it sits.


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## tangent (5/2/07)

yeah, about 8-12 hours is my maximum


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## MVZOOM (5/2/07)

Darren said:


> I thought there should be a "don't use no-chill" method unless you dont have a chiller category on the poll
> 
> I wonder how you water saving no-chillers clean your mash tun, boiler, chill cube?
> 
> ...



To be fair, you're using the water because it's running out of the chiller. I'm probably with most Sydney'ites in the fact that I clean with the ABSOLUTE minimum water wastage possible - using the water twice still has a 20m tap running for 10m, which is far, far and away more water than most would use.

Plus the advantages listed... um yeah, it's pretty compelling. 

Cheers - Mike


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## Darren (5/2/07)

MVZOOM said:


> To be fair, you're using the water because it's running out of the chiller. I'm probably with most Sydney'ites in the fact that I clean with the ABSOLUTE minimum water wastage possible - using the water twice still has a 20m tap running for 10m, which is far, far and away more water than most would use.
> 
> Plus the advantages listed... um yeah, it's pretty compelling.
> 
> Cheers - Mike




Mike,

Good points. I find if I adjust my counterflow chiller water intake to just a trickle it works just as well as flat out. If the outflow from your hose is cold it is going to fast. Furthermore, if you plan your brewday around cleaning all of your equipment there is very little wastage of water (kegs, fermenters, buckets, screens, paddles). Mine always gets a third use and that is on the garden. 

As for water restrictions the major uses of water is industry. You can bet your balls they have not slowed. (Dont the mega breweries use 8 litres of water/litre of beer produced? How many litres of water is that?)

Everytime you or your misses flushes the toilet quite a bit goes down then too. If are really worried about saving water you could always shower in the warm run-off :huh: 

There are endless uses for the cooling water. My observations are that most households use more water in one morning than I use for three 60 litre batches of beer. Maybe yours is different?

cheers

Darren


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## tangent (5/2/07)

i gotta agree
people are feeling guilty about watering the pot plants with 8L of water and then having 15minute showers or watering a stupid front lawn that never gets used because there's no privacy out the front.

i use an immersion chiller (no way near as effective as CF) and run 40L of tap water through it into old fermenters, then these get run off onto the vege garden over a few days. That gets me cool enough to transfer but not cool enough to pitch. So the fermenter sits for a few hours in a water bath until I can get it down low enough. 

45L of water that gets reused isn't a big hassle compared with my idiot mate who just bought a pool.


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## sluggerdog (5/2/07)

Usually around a week for me, most has been around 3 weeks.


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## T.D. (5/2/07)

KoNG said:


> my longest has been a month or so....
> no probs with the brew, but i think we need duff to ferment his for science.



No need. I brewed a double batch of pilsner in mid May 2006. I fermented one lot then but it was over 6 months later when I brewed the second half (early Dec). In fact it was the beer I had on tap for our family Christmas get-together. It went down really well. I don't remember it being really any different to the first batch, and I'd say any difference could be attributed to yeast (different type used for the two brews) and fermentation temp etc rather than effects of the time in the cube. Hadn't lost any freshness, to my taste anyway...

Based on my experience I don't think extended time in the cube is of any concern. As Duff said, make sure sanitation etc is good and it'll be fine...


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## Fingerlickin_B (6/2/07)

Looks like heaps of you are leaving your worts for very long periods of time...so I figure a no-chill cube can be compared to a food tin (fruit, etc). 

I guess we are doing more or less the same thing as SPC and the like  

PZ.


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## SpillsMostOfIt (6/2/07)

Darren said:


> Everytime you or your misses flushes the toilet quite a bit goes down then too. If are really worried about saving water you could always shower in the warm run-off :huh:



...of the chiller or the toilet? :blink:


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## winkle (6/2/07)

Mine get put into cubes then sit in the pool o'nite - usually down to 20ish the next morning, so between 12 and 20 hours - can't waste a big heat sink like that.


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## Cortez The Killer (6/2/07)

I've pitched my two no chiller attempts the day after brew day

Cheers


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## Steve (6/2/07)

Quick question if I may so I dont have to read the 50 odd pages on the no-chiller thread. What temp do you put the wort into your cubes?
Cheers
Steve


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## warrenlw63 (6/2/07)

Steve.

Turn the flame off. Wait 15 mins for pellet muck to settle then rack. Never checked the temps but looks close to boiling to me. Anything over 80 degrees would be a good thing I think.

Warren -


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## Steve (6/2/07)

warrenlw63 said:


> Steve.
> 
> Turn the flame off. Wait 15 mins for pellet muck to settle then rack. Never checked the temps but looks close to boiling to me. Anything over 80 degrees would be a good thing I think.
> 
> Warren -




Thanks Warren.....


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## Fingerlickin_B (6/2/07)

Yeah, as quickly as possible with me  

Using a hop sock there's not as much goop in there, so on goes the hose and straight into the jerry.

Sometimes it's so hot I'm aftraid it'll burst h34r: :lol: 

PZ.


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## Jazzafish (6/2/07)

My first no chill came from a Hills Brewers Guild Function... an ESB brewed at Braidwood. 

I was unable to ferment it for 3 to 4 weeks. There was no issues with the end result. Other than that I have waited up to a week... all at room temperature.

How long do you think fresh wort kits sit on a shelf at your local shop? Where have they been before the shop?


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## KillerRx4 (6/2/07)

I checked temp after racking last brewday. Was 25lt wort rested for 25 min after flameout & whirlpooling.

Wort in cube measured 85 degC.


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## browndog (6/2/07)

I drain the kettle straight to the fermenter and let it sit overnight then it is into the fridge in the morning and down to pitching temp by the afternoon. Never any longer than 24hrs here and never had a complaint about my beer. Aside from the break material left in the keg after whirlpooling, by the morning there are huge clouds of stuff visible in the fermenter as a result (I guess) of using koppafloc instead of irish moss.


cheers

Browndog


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## sah (6/2/07)

I do similar to Pumpy.

Calculate brew for 44L volume, but only to fill 2 x 15L cubes. Dilute each with 7L and ferment seperately.

I regularly keep cubed worts for over a month.

On a couple of occasions I've had them for over 6 months and I haven't noticed any problems.

regards
Scott


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## Blackfish (6/2/07)

I did one last night (AG #3)
Flameout +15mins put it straight into the fermentor
about an hour later, just before bed it was at 50 degs

The sides were quite soft and it was starting to look a little pear-shaped :blink: I mean literally like a pear!  

I'm sure it will be fine though


And Dammit I forgot the whirlfloc!! :angry:


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## Fingerlickin_B (25/2/07)

And not a single case of Botulism yet h34r: 

I just tasted my latest no-chill on its way from fermenter to kegyummo APA!

This poll was started before the evils of no-chill really started to surface, but after reading what was said and the results given here, Im more than happy to continue utilising this method. 

Thank you to everyone :beer: 

PZ.


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## Doc (25/2/07)

I brewed a Baltic Porter yesterday and calculated a bit more wort for saving for building up the yeast.
After sitting for 5 mins I slowly filled the cube, then at the end of the kettle filled two PET bottles. They buckled a little but have held up nicely. Should be plenty in that 2 litres to build up enough lager yeast 

Beers,
Doc


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## Gerard_M (25/2/07)

Jazzafish said:


> How long do you think fresh wort kits sit on a shelf at your local shop? Where have they been before the shop?



We are currently brewing 3-4 batches of the Brewers Selection kits per week to keep up with demand. By the time I head off to cricket on a Saturday arvo there is usually only a dozen assorted casks left in the warehouse. Wort Kits would be the one product that your HBS operator doesn't have to worry about gathering dust.
Cheers
Gerard


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## randyrob (25/2/07)

Ahh just the topic i need!

ok i've done 6 no chills and the longest i have left them is 24 hours, now i've reached my dilemma
i did 2 ag's this week. one i no chilled overnight and its currently in my fermenting fridge
and the other is in a corny no chilling until i free up the fermenting fridge. this is probably going
to be next weekend. so this will be my first no chill that is going to be in the corny for a week.

i'm glad to see others are pushing the limits because when i reach equilibrium (got a 3 keg fridge
and only 3 kegs) i will still be brewing and leaving them in the cubes until a keg is nearly empty
and fermenting it in time to fill the keg again!

also are corny's ok for no chilling, i just give it a blanket of co2. is anyone else using them?

Rob.


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## sah (11/12/07)

This afternoon I started fermenting a wort that has been stored in a cube that was brewed up on new years eve.

Yes that's right, nearly 12 months ago!

This is the second half of the batch. The first half was fermented within a couple of weeks and I remember its character reasonably well.

I will report if it shows problems.

regards,
Scott

EDIT: to make sense


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## johnno (11/12/07)

I've got one in a cube that has been sitting there for over 4 months. I am a bit wary of fermenting it as I usually brew in the first 2 weeks of doing a no chill.

I have nearly thrown it on the compost heap a couple of times.

cheers
johnno


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## sah (11/12/07)

johnno said:


> I've got one in a cube that has been sitting there for over 4 months. I am a bit wary of fermenting it as I usually brew in the first 2 weeks of doing a no chill.
> 
> I have nearly thrown it on the compost heap a couple of times.



Don't let the worms and microbes in the compost heap at it.

This is giving away my sporadic brewing habits ... I have fermented 6 months old wort stored in a cube with no noticeable problems from the long storage.

Go for it.

regards,
Scott


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## dr K (11/12/07)

I feel that this is not an entirely apples and apples thread.
Fresh Wort (kits?) from the growing number of commercial breweries that supply them, do not (as Gerard pointed out) accumulate dust in the LHBS. Fresh Wort (kits?) are produced in commercial breweries that survive and flourish by making good quality beer, its not so much about the recipe but the process. Over 12 months ago I gave a (slack) friend of mine a cube of NNL (it could as easily have been NHD or ESB or G&G) wort, he (slacker) finally passed it on to his mate last month who is gobsmacked at how good the beer is. I have not, by the way tasted it, but I have tasted other beers from these (kits?) and have to say with decent yeast, fermentation temp etc they are very good, so good indeed that even a beer-rat like me would heartily recommend them to anyone who wants a simple and effective and cheap way to make great quality beer, out the cube, into the fermentor, a shot decent yeast....mmmm.
In the shed...well thats where the apples may become pears.

K


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## Trough Lolly (14/12/07)

...especially in your shed, Kurtz! :lol:


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## sah (1/1/08)

SAH said:


> This afternoon I started fermenting a wort that has been stored in a cube that was brewed up on new years eve.
> 
> Yes that's right, nearly 12 months ago!
> 
> This is the second half of the batch. The first half was fermented within a couple of weeks and I remember its character reasonably well.



Over the last couple of weeks I've fermented two no chill cube concentrates. One turned out brilliantly, perhaps better than its other half fermented 11 months earlier. The other suffered death by fusel after my fermentation fridge clapped out. Lucky I had a spare fridge in the shed.

regards,
Scott


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## johnno (13/1/08)

johnno said:


> I've got one in a cube that has been sitting there for over 4 months. I am a bit wary of fermenting it as I usually brew in the first 2 weeks of doing a no chill.
> 
> I have nearly thrown it on the compost heap a couple of times.
> 
> ...






SAH said:


> Don't let the worms and microbes in the compost heap at it.
> 
> This is giving away my sporadic brewing habits ... I have fermented 6 months old wort stored in a cube with no noticeable problems from the long storage.
> 
> ...



Well, I ended up fermenting this and was bottled last week. Brother in law came around yesterday and I used him as a guinea pig. He had 7 pints in 3 hours and was still alive today.

Have tasted it and it seems ok. Still do noy want to store for too long though.


cheers
johnno


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## Phrak (29/1/08)

I have a Golden Ale that I brewed back in October 07 that hasn't been fermented yet. Then again today is my first brew-day since October as well!

I really should get around to fermenting that Golden Ale <_<


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