G'day geniuses, I have started using the bladders from kegland which are pre sterilised to hot cube. I used one for the first time last weekend and it worked out okay but I have a couple of concerns, first is I am worried about high bitterness due to it staying so hot for so long, secondly it is hard as hell to get the beer in and get all the air out when the wort is eleventy million degrees and you are holding on to a plastic bag with no insulation because once you get to that point you need to get that lid on before you end up in rhe burns unit. My question is, if the bladder has been pre sterilised and therefore taking away the need to sterilise with heat is there anything stopping me from cooling it down to say 40 with a wort chiller prior to putting it in the bladder? Thanks team.
Cooling prior to bladder
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I use a heavy duty cardboard box to hold the bladder. It's big enough to hold the bladder without it folding as it fills. A 6mm piece of plywood w/cutout holds up the neck of the bladder.
No chill bladder (cube alternative) similar to this.
The only problem people might have with cooling the wort and using the bladder is the environmental issues. The bladders are more or less single use but you could use the cubes over and over.
No chill bladder (cube alternative) similar to this.
The only problem people might have with cooling the wort and using the bladder is the environmental issues. The bladders are more or less single use but you could use the cubes over and over.
It takes about 25 bladders to equal 1 cube worth of plastic. Personally I doubt many people get 25 brews out of a cube. You don’t need cleaners and sanitisers either, which both have environmental impacts, so it’s probably pretty moot environmentally. If you wanted to, there are ways to recycle soft plastics, I think most supermarkets have bins for plastic bags.
The thread YAPN linked to is worth a look, couple of tips there to make filling easier.
Mark
The thread YAPN linked to is worth a look, couple of tips there to make filling easier.
Mark
If you chill it to 40c before sealing the bag the wort will not be sterile and cannot be stored for very long, it will start spontaneous fermenting within a few days.
If you are going to chill then best to chill to fermenting temp and add yeast.
JDW81
I make wort, the yeast make it beer.
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I'd be wary about chilling before sealing, it's a recipe for contamination IMHO. In my book you either chill and pitch ASAP, or cube hot and pitch at a time that suits you. There's no real middle ground which is safe.
If you're worried about bitterness then just change you hop schedule around to limit the extraction. A few things that have worked for me over the years are:
1: Usual 60 minute bittering addition (you won't get a huge amount more extraction from cubing) and count anything going into the cube as a 15-20 minute addition (this is what worked for me, 15 minutes for a 19L cube, 20 minutes for anything bigger).
2: For late hops you can either go with a hop tea in a clear coffee plunger or the argon method (a small volume boil with 2-3L of your wort and your late hops at the usual schedule, the cool in an ice bath).
3: My preferred method: Small 60 minute addition (say 30% of your bitterness), then a massive cube hop (or whirlpool if you're using the bladders) with the remainder of your bitterness. You'll end up using a lot, but the results are worth it. Great hop flavour and aroma, and a very smoother bitterness.
JD
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