Chilling A No-chill?

[Damian44]

Im just wondering who's tried chilling their cubes (ie in pool)?

Im reading Brewing Classic Styles, and JZ says... Its important to chill entire wort rapidly after the last hop addition in order to trap the late hop character.
He was talking about an English IPA.

So if you've tried chilling your cube or such what was the end result?

 

[loftboy]

I haven't tried to rapid chill a cube, but one thing to be aware of is that you most likely won't get the usual pasturisation from the prolonged high temperature of the wort in the cube.

That being the case, you'll have to pitch the yeast by the next day to be on the safe side.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Loftboy is correct - if you chill a no-chill... then it just chilling, so you cant assume that you will get all the side benefits of no chilling, such as the ability to store the wort before fermentation.

Lots of people have chucked their cubes into pools, fountains, dams etc etc and its fine - but there was some anecdotal evidence that this resulted in a higher instance of swollen (infected) cubes if they were stored. So if you plan to do it, make sure you have sanitised the cube and everything else as thoroughly as if it was a fermentor, and have perhaps dont consider that particular cube full of wort as one to leave unfermented in the longer term.

The other thing to consider - is that Jamil's advice is about worts that ARE rapidly chilled, and that the more rapid the better. No-Chill is different in that the cubes are sealed up and volatile aroma compounds cannot physically evaporate from the wort. I'm not saying that there is not an effect on the aroma profile from no-chilling, I think there is... but simply that the straight out advice you will find in most brewing texts about chilling, late hop additions, cold break formation and other chilling related matters, do not necessarily directly translate for beers that are no-chilled.

Thirsty

 

[pint of lager]

Any pool chillers, be absolutely certain about how well sealed your container is. There was a very funny story, I think from the USA accompanied by pictures of a pool contaminated by a stout that was chilled.

Besides losing the brew, they also had to empty the pool as the filter couldn't remove the stout colouring.

Also, as Thirsty Boy has already said, some no chillers have had problems with brews failing in storage after trying to chill in a pool or dam. In this case, get the wort into a fermenter and yeast pitched ASAP. Otherwise follow the normal procedure of no chill. Let it cool naturally, with some rotation of the container to allow the hot wort to contact the handle and lid. Squeeze all the air out.

 

[Brew Bama]

I know this is an old post, so forgive me. My question is: can you use a keg vs a cube for no chill? Furthermore, can you place this keg in a cooler (keezer, kegerator, etc) or will the aforementioned problems arise?

thanks.

 

[MHB]

I knew a brewer who did this, had repeated problems with infection.
As the wort cools you form a vacuum, in a plastic cube the cube just sucks in (given that its sealed) a keg on the other hand will suck in air either through the poppets or around the O-ring in the hatch and bugs get in.
Remember kegs are designed to retain pressure not a vacuum.

People have tried connecting to a CO2 pressure supply as it cools, and probably other variants. I'm sure its possible but just putting the wort in a cube hot, sealing it up and leaving it alone works really well, so why try to reinvent the wheel.

The big advantage of no chill is the pasteurisation that insures sterility, same as caned food or even home preserves.
If you don't do it right it grows bugs and you waste not only the cost of the wort but all the time you have invested.
Mark

 

[Brew Bama]

That’s pretty much what I thought. Thanks.