I Hate No-chill

[jbirbeck]

Not for the first time I've had a beer spontaneously ferment in a no-chill cube sealed up tightly, spotlessly clean or new. I rarely no-chill now having done it a few times and there have been a few too many occasions when the beer has decided to start fermenting.

I prefer to use my chiller and get the ferment underway but a couple of weeks back I did up an Alt and decided to no-chill because it was getting late and I'd had enough. It has happily sat in the laundry cupboard for the best part of a month, untouched, undisturbed. but obviously something wasn't right...today I get the call that my cube of Alt has split and is spewing Alt all over the laundry...F%$^ing C%^t

no Chill sucks. F U No-Chill, F U Aussie disposals and your useless cubes.

Saving a few minutes on brew day will cost me more time cleaning up the mess.

 

[WarmBeer]

10 no-chills under the belt. Not a single swelling cube.

I refute your anecdote, and replace it with my own.

 

[zebba]

You know that just because you are no chilling doesn't mean you have to leave it in the cube for a month... You coulda put it in the fermenter the next day, for example... derp.

 

[wakkatoo]

I would like to add to yours. 12 no chills (so 22 total with our two combined), with no swelling.

Can't say I've got my cubes from aussie disposals tho, picked them up at a local supplier for what I remeber to be a pretty cheap price.

edit - doh, forgot to add Warmbeers post.

 

[Supra-Jim]

Did it split due to a spontaneous ferment or was it just a cube failure? The cube could have been stress due to the contraction of the cooled liquid and over time this stress led to a split/failure?

Cheers SJ

 

[Bribie G]

Mine's bigger than yours. Nyah Nyah - well over a hundred no chills and stopped counting yonks ago, but never a spontaneous ferment yet. However I have never kept a cube for more than around 48 hours - usually hassling to get it into the fermenter. I guess that once you have had a wild fermentation then that cube is for the tip, which is sad at twenty bucks each :angry: I wouldn't take the risk of throwing another twenty bucks of ingredients into it.

 

[peaky]

I have done 6 no chills without a drama but I usually just run into a fermenter now I have an extra fridge with temp control etc.

Maybe I'm missing something here but, why the hell would the cube swell?

Edit: must've posted about 10 seconds behind BribieG, your post popped up after I'd clicked to reply. Spontaneous fermentation aye? How does that happen?

 

[brando]

I'm getting lazier the more I brew, and have just experimented with the "no-no-chill method"...

... just pour hot wort straight from my BIAB urn into the fermenter, then into the fridge (@at 18 degrees) until morning, then pitch the yeast.

I know this breaks lots of rules, but the ESB I'm drinking was done this way and tastes great!

 

[jbirbeck]

10 no-chills under the belt. Not a single swelling cube.

I refute your anecdote, and replace it with my own.

Noted and accepted. Obviously a flaw at my end. Still hate it. I'll go back to chilling and add to the 150+ chilled brews of mine

You know that just because you are no chilling doesn't mean you have to leave it in the cube for a month... You coulda put it in the fermenter the next day, for example... derp.

Quite right, but the supposed benefit of it is that it is in a sealed sterile environment...therefore I can keep it in the cube for a month to make way for other beers that tickle the fancy at the time. now in what sense are you using derp?

I would like to add to yours. 12 no chills (so 22 total with our two combined), with no swelling.

Can't say I've got my cubes from aussie disposals tho, picked them up at a local supplier for what I remeber to be a pretty cheap price.

Blah. come and grab some of my wild yeast, its a beaut, gets through cubes . Maybe I should start filtering through an old tea towel and not bother cleaning anything before it goes in the cube.

 

[fraser_john]

Maybe I should start filtering through an old tea towel

This made me laugh, good for a Friday.

Sorry about your no-chill luck, hooray for CFC's and plate chillers.

<edit my own terrible spelling!>

 

[jbirbeck]

Did it split due to a spontaneous ferment or was it just a cube failure? The cube could have been stress due to the contraction of the cooled liquid and over time this stress led to a split/failure?

Cheers SJ

spontaneous ferment...leading to a cube failure. Could have had a minor flaw in the cube to begin with but it was all nicely sucked in last I checked all of two days ago. the Alt was due to go into a fermenter this weekend. Had fridges tied up with other beers the last few weeks, and had run out of kegs...Brew got done when it was convenient.

 

[jbirbeck]

This made me laugh, good for a Friday.

Sorry about your no-chill luck, hooray for CFC's and plate chillers.

<edit my own terrible spelling!>

Best beer ever is a chilled beer disappointed to lose the Alt...but it does make way for a weekend of brewing good beer, running it through a chiller and having it fermenting before the day is through.

 

[JestersDarts]

Surely it is the infections that you are hate, not the no chill method?

 

[zebba]

Quite right, but the supposed benefit of it is that it is in a sealed sterile environment...therefore I can keep it in the cube for a month to make way for other beers that tickle the fancy at the time. now in what sense are you using derp?LOL

LOL - I actually thought it meant something else! Retracted!

I thought, erroneously after some investigation, it gave the reply some kind of tongue in cheek feel. Didn't mean to call you a... you know.

 

[gunbrew]

I have done the same a few times (pour hot wort straight from my BIAB urn into the fermenter)

My new favourite is finish the boil in the birko.
Put gladwrap over the top and leave to cool to room temprature over night.
Transfer to fermenter next day.
Worked a treat for the last 4 brews.

I'm getting lazier the more I brew, and have just experimented with the "no-no-chill method"...

... just pour hot wort straight from my BIAB urn into the fermenter, then into the fridge (@at 18 degrees) until morning, then pitch the yeast.

I know this breaks lots of rules, but the ESB I'm drinking was done this way and tastes great!

 

[petesbrew]

I'm getting lazier the more I brew, and have just experimented with the "no-no-chill method"...

... just pour hot wort straight from my BIAB urn into the fermenter, then into the fridge (@at 18 degrees) until morning, then pitch the yeast.

I know this breaks lots of rules, but the ESB I'm drinking was done this way and tastes great!

Glad to see I'm not the only one who no chills into the fermenter.
I even go as far as to put a bottlecap over the airlock hole to stop bugs getting in.

 

[Stuster]

Over 100 no-chill beers with no failures until this also recently happened to me. It was a batch done at an ISB big brew day a few months back. This one had been sitting around for a while and only started to swell now the weather has warmed up a bit. I did notice it in time and loosened the cap so now I am hoping for a delicious spontaneous sour.

 

[JestersDarts]

I have done the same a few times (pour hot wort straight from my BIAB urn into the fermenter)

My new favourite is finish the boil in the birko.
Put gladwrap over the top and leave to cool to room temprature over night.
Transfer to fermenter next day.
Worked a treat for the last 4 brews.

How does this go with your trub? do you find it helpls leave it in the kettle?

 

[jbirbeck]

Surely it is the infections that you are hate, not the no chill method?

nah its the method :lol:

LOL - I actually thought it meant something else! Retracted!

I thought, erroneously after some investigation, it gave the reply some kind of tongue in cheek feel. Didn't mean to call you a... you know.

I had to look it up and thought it was a bit off...

Glad to see I'm not the only one who no chills into the fermenter.
I even go as far as to put a bottlecap over the airlock hole to stop bugs getting in.

I used to do this, or a slow chill to the fermenter when I did smaller batches until I hit problems with infections later on. The current house I'm in seems to be a hotbed of infections.

Over 100 no-chill beers with no failures until this also recently happened to me. It was a batch done at an ISB big brew day a few months back. This one had been sitting around for a while and only started to swell now the weather has warmed up a bit. I did notice it in time and loosened the cap so now I am hoping for a delicious spontaneous sour.

when its happened and I've caught it - bit of a re boil to kill off the nasties and ferment as usual. Works a treat. This one went too far and split the cube.

To be fair its only the thrid time its happened and I've saved the previous two brews with a boil. Had a few no-chills over the years that have worked as well.

 

[Siborg]

I've never had a problem, except for the first time where I didn't adjust the hop schedule and ended up with a harsh, bitter, amarillo bomb.

I rinse with PBW, starsan and then the boiling wort. Probably overkill, but I've left a cube for around a month with no swelling. So well worth it.