Chilling And Pitching?

[Truman42]

If I chill my wort and put it in a sanitized cube will it be okay to pitch it tomorrow night?

Everything I've read about chilling has said its best to pitch as soon as you've filled your cube/ fermenter. But I thought I had US 05 in the fridge and it was S04. I'm doing the 10 min IP and it's my first time chilling.

Thanks.

 

[jonw]

Not ideal but it should be ok. Be best if the cube goes in the fridge. I regularly leave chilled batches 12 hours or so before pitching.

 

[seemax]

If you're in such a pickle why would you chill and cube it as opposed to no-chill cube it?

 

[Truman42]

If you're in such a pickle why would you chill and cube it as opposed to no-chill cube it?

Because I'm doing the 10 min IPA and didn't want it to get to bitter by no chilling it. And I've never chilled before so wanted to see how it turns out compared with my no chill brews.

I can put it in the fridge over night so that should help.

Thanks.

 

[bradsbrew]

What sort of chiller you using.

Cheers

 

[tomdavis]

+1 about it not being ideal, but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do!

In the past I have had to put cooled wort in the fermenter (in the fridge) for 24hrs before pitching without any issues.

Just sanitise really well, and make sure you have a good sheet of Glad-Wrap on the top!

 

[Truman42]

What sort of chiller you using.

Cheers

A 10 plate heat exchanger. Which I've had soaking in stars an and boiling water for the last 30 mins same as my cube.

 

[bradsbrew]

A 10 plate heat exchanger. Which I've had soaking in stars an and boiling water for the last 30 mins same as my cube.

Put it in the fridge as soon as your done and it should be OK as long as your clean and sterile. Just remember you are taking away the key component of using a cube prior to pitching which is the high temp it sits at.

Slightly :icon_offtopic: but something for you to consider. I have started using my swimming pool as my cube chiller. I do 3 cubes per batch and during the warmer months have been happy swimming with a couple of cubes at the end of the brewday thenonce they are cool i put 2 of them in the laundry sink with 6 frozen 3L juice/milk containers. All up takes 2 hours to chill the cubes but I have found there is a big difference in the beers. With winter coming I have designed a stand that will allow me to pool chill without getting in the pool.

Cheers

 

[peaky]

My immersion chiller doesn't chill the wort down to pitching temp quick enough for my liking so I always just run from the kettle into the fermenter at about 30 odd degrees then chuck it in the fridge with the intention of pitching the yeast early next morning. Most mornings I forget to pitch because it's early and pre-coffee so I end up pitching yeast after work, about 20 hours after chilling in the kettle.

Works for me :icon_cheers:

 

[kelbygreen]

lol must keep you fit brad swimming with a cube in one hand .

Now this is not ideal but as said if you sanitised and you cleaned well it should be ok. I have had a kettle sit overnight I put gladwrap over it and put the lid back on with no dramas. Of coarse not recommended but it worked for me. If you have a area that may be prone to things that can affect the brew then do things fast and cleanly

 

[donburke]

i'd pitch the s04 and save the wild yeast experiment for cherry season

what was your brew ?

 

[bradsbrew]

lol must keep you fit brad swimming with a cube in one hand .

They float pretty well. And once they have cooled to warm , the kids think its great fun to balance daddy's beer in the pool.

 

[donburke]

Put it in the fridge as soon as your done and it should be OK as long as your clean and sterile. Just remember you are taking away the key component of using a cube prior to pitching which is the high temp it sits at.

Slightly :icon_offtopic: but something for you to consider. I have started using my swimming pool as my cube chiller. I do 3 cubes per batch and during the warmer months have been happy swimming with a couple of cubes at the end of the brewday thenonce they are cool i put 2 of them in the laundry sink with 6 frozen 3L juice/milk containers. All up takes 2 hours to chill the cubes but I have found there is a big difference in the beers. With winter coming I have designed a stand that will allow me to pool chill without getting in the pool.

Cheers

what do you do with the 3rd cube ?

 

[bradsbrew]

what do you do with the 3rd cube ?

3rd cube is the 'control' it gets left to normal no chill.

edit- or its normally the last one to come from the kettle and I run it straight to a fermenter and glad wrap it and add yeast next day or 3.

 

[donburke]

edit- or its normally the last one to come from the kettle and I run it straight to a fermenter and glad wrap it and add yeast next day or 3.

you a fan of sour beers ?

 

[bradsbrew]

you a fan of sour beers ?

In total honesty, I have only had one beer go bad from this method of no chilling in a fermenter and that was because the yeast did not fire after 5 days but the wild yeast did. That beer is still sitting in a keg 18 months on.

 

[Truman42]

i'd pitch the s04 and save the wild yeast experiment for cherry season

what was your brew ?

It was a 10 min IPA. Bloody great aroma when I chucked in 150 grams of Amarillo and a bit of Centennial and cascade to make up my IBU,s. I didn't want to pitch the S04 into this. I kept everything clean and sanitized and it's now inthe fridge so hopefully it will be fine.

Thanks for the advice.

@ Brad... Would use your method if I had a pool. Lol
I have a water tank though so pumped the water from the tank through the plate chiller. It was approx 25C once in the cube

 

[argon]

Something to consider if you find yourself in this spot again. As above whilst notideal to leave wort unsealed without innoculation, keep in mind that the rate of isomerisation drops off significantly after the wort cools to below 80C.

So perhaps in the future chill to just below 80, then into the fermenter to chill to ambient naturally whilst you go get your yeast. Whilst 80C is no good for your yeast or other stuff that may innoculate the wort, it will have some pasteurisation effect. Not as good and as fast as 100C, but extended times in that range will help keep things sanitary.

So it's a minor compromise, in that your chilling your wort just enough so that you won't be adding heaps of ibus and losing flavour and aroma, but you will be providing a hostile environment for any spoilage organisms.

 

[Truman42]

Something to consider if you find yourself in this spot again. As above whilst notideal to leave wort unsealed without innoculation, keep in mind that the rate of isomerisation drops off significantly after the wort cools to below 80C.

So perhaps in the future chill to just below 80, then into the fermenter to chill to ambient naturally whilst you go get your yeast. Whilst 80C is no good for your yeast or other stuff that may innoculate the wort, it will have some pasteurisation effect. Not as good and as fast as 100C, but extended times in that range will help keep things sanitary.

So it's a minor compromise, in that your chilling your wort just enough so that you won't be adding heaps of ibus and losing flavour and aroma, but you will be providing a hostile environment for any spoilage organisms.

How could I control my chill rate so it only drops to just below 80C? I thought that (and was told) that the 10 plate chiller won't drop it to pitch temps, so was suprised it was at 25c in the cube. But the water in my tank is quite cold so thats possibl why.
Would slowing the flow rate of my water through the chiller be the answer? What about pumping the wort through faster instead of gravity feeding it??

 

[Malted]

With winter coming I have designed a stand that will allow me to pool chill without getting in the pool.

Oh so you are going to tie one end of a rope to the cube handle and the other end to the pool fence?