Can You Chill In A Cube?

[Truman42]

Most posts Ive read are about chilling in a pot or using an immersion chiller.

I brew in an urn and was wondering if there was any reason why I couldn/t transfer from kettle to my 23 litre water jerry can, then sit this in a large tub of cool water and keep replacing the water as it gets warm until my wort has cooled?

 

[going down a hill]

The reason why you let it cool without chilling it at all is to kill any bugs in the cube.

Bung it in the fermenter the next day, easy.

 

[Fantoman]

Yeah is definitely possible... Some people have tied a rope and dropped the cube in their pool to cool, I have put it in our outdoor spa to cool...

Some considerations to take though if going to do a slow chill (as opposed to no chill) in a cube...

1. Always Sanitize the cube thoroughly, as you can't rely on the heat/time factor to take care of the sanitation.
2. Put into fermenter and pitch asap after cooling. If it hasn't cooled naturally in the cube, then it is best not to risk storing the cube...

Other than that, it should be fine, likely to take up to an hour or so to cool though and would require swapping of water a number of times...

 

[peaky]

Most posts Ive read are about chilling in a pot or using an immersion chiller.

I brew in an urn and was wondering if there was any reason why I couldn/t transfer from kettle to my 23 litre water jerry can, then sit this in a large tub of cool water and keep replacing the water as it gets warm until my wort has cooled?

Is the 23L jerry can your fermenting vessel? If you're planning to cool the wort in a fermenting vessel then pitch the yeast as soon as it's at the right temp then it should work ok. Running wort into a cube for no-chill is good for fermenting at a later date, but no head space is left in the cube when the lid goes on. If you're able to cool the wort in your fermenting vessel fairly quickly then pitch the yeast you should be ok.

Any cube or fermenting vessel should be properly sanitised before wort touches it anyway.

 

[jasonharley]

Yeah. I chill in a cube and then place the cube in my swimming pool near the outlet vent for maximum circulation

It it a good cheap way to cool especially if you are avoiding overbittering your wort when on a aroma hops schedule

Wait till australian water authorities start charging the real cost for potable water, then everyone will be cube cooling!!!!

 

[peaky]

Wait till australian water authorities start charging the real cost for potable water, then everyone will be cube cooling!!!!

I reckon. I use an immersion chiller but save the water. Soon I'll be pumping rain water though and saving it, better than water that runs through the water meter....

 

[hirns]

That is simply no chill cubing. Be careful of hotside airation and should be fine.

 

[Truman42]

Yes the water jerry can is my fermenting vessel and I was going to chill down to 20C then pitch my yeast.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Simon Gellie]

Yes the water jerry can is my fermenting vessel and I was going to chill down to 20C then pitch my yeast.

Thanks for the advice.

Hi Truman,

It is vital for yeast health (to get healthy yeast replication) that you aerate your wort before pitching your yeast. Boiling your wort will remove most of the oxygen. Most brewers usually pour their wort from a cube from a height, so that it causes lots of splashing to re-aerate it. By fermenting in your jerry can you will miss this step, so it is very important for you find some other method to aerate your wort before you pitch your yeast. Do you have an aeration stone and fish tank air pump?

Cheers

Simon

 

[MaltyHops]

Just get a second cube, pour half of the wort into it, caps on both
cubes and shake the teeth off both of them, then back into one cube
for fermenting.

T.

 

[Truman42]

Last time I just opened the cap to let some air in, shook the crap out of it then pitched my yeast.

 

[manticle]

That works fine (the shaking to aerate bit).

 

[Florian]

Just get a second cube, pour half of the wort into it, caps on both
cubes and shake the teeth off both of them, then back into one cube
for fermenting.

T.

I reckon by the time you have shaken the crap out of both cubes you will have so much froth that you won't be able to fill it all back into one cube without loss.

Better do what Truman suggested and Manticle confirmed above.

 

[Truman42]

That works fine (the shaking to aerate bit).

I did this with my first brew after you suggested it Manticle and it turned out great.

Quick question, which I just asked in another thread but is relevant to this one...When you let the air in why arent we also letting in bacteria that can infect the brew?

 

[Pennywise]

You will let some airborn nasties in, same as when you just transfer to a fermenter. All HB would have some sort of bacteria in it, but if you pitch the right amount of healthy yeast, the yeasties will take over and be dominant. It's all about controlling which bacteria/yeast do the job. In our case we want the yeast we pitch to do it. If you didn't pitch any yeast to a fermenter, something would eventually ferment it...

 

[Truman42]

You will let some airborn nasties in, same as when you just transfer to a fermenter. All HB would have some sort of bacteria in it, but if you pitch the right amount of healthy yeast, the yeasties will take over and be dominant. It's all about controlling which bacteria/yeast do the job. In our case we want the yeast we pitch to do it. If you didn't pitch any yeast to a fermenter, something would eventually ferment it...

Great explanation, thanks.

 

[manticle]

I did this with my first brew after you suggested it Manticle and it turned out great.

Quick question, which I just asked in another thread but is relevant to this one...When you let the air in why arent we also letting in bacteria that can infect the brew?

Pennywise's summary is pretty good. No matter what you do, something airborne will be around. Unscrew the cap to pour into another fermenter or loosen the cap to allow air to get in or chill the wort immediately after boiling. It's a small window though and healthy yeast and sanitary /hygenic practice make it even smaller.

 

[drtomc]

Wait till australian water authorities start charging the real cost for potable water, then everyone will be cube cooling!!!!

Indeed, though I feel obliged to point out that quite a number of brewers here recirculate their cooling water back into their rainwater tank.

T.