I Hate No-chill

[MHB]

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.

I'm probably going to get called names and have Nick accusing me of having an agenda involving separating you from your money, but frankly Aussie Disposals, let me guess they were the cheapest place you could find.
I have no idea how many dozen no-chills I have done, and have over the years sold hundreds of fresh wort kits essentially the same thing, without any trouble.
Points being the cubes were all good quality Australian made and not a cheap knockoff.
You get what you pay for, losing 1 brew more than makes up what you saved.

MHB

 

[jbirbeck]

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.

Same process for me.

I'm probably going to get called names and have Nick accusing me of having an agenda involving separating you from your money, but frankly Aussie Disposals, let me guess they were the cheapest place you could find.
I have no idea how many dozen no-chills I have done, and have over the years sold hundreds of fresh wort kits essentially the same thing, without any trouble.
Points being the cubes were all good quality Australian made and not a cheap knockoff.
You get what you pay for, losing 1 brew more than makes up what you saved.

MHB

Aussie disposals - most convenient at the time.

You do get what you pay for, never been happier when I part with my money for a quality piece of kit...always disappointed when i take the cheap option. But in this case really not fair to point the finger at cheap cubes as I've had 'quality' aussie made ones do the same. The only difference is I was there to save those before the cube split. Something is getting into my cubes. I'll chill and ferment.

 

[HoppingMad]

Have 8 cubes. Have been using them in rotation for 3 years without issue. Even done some awesome lagers using them (yes shock horror - no DMS either - a common thing those chillers accuse cubes of nurturing).

Like Bribie though I don't let a cube of wort hang around long. Around a week is all I can deal with but normally 2 days max as well. I get too eager to get them fermenting.

Mind you I must add that I clean the bejesus out of them. First with a Karcher pressure washer to remove danglies, then bleach and thorough rinse. A clean cube = a clean beer.

Keep on cubin' I say. Oh yeah - and 4 of mine are Aussie Disposals, so your post does make me a tad nervous. But so far they're in one piece.

Hopper.

 

[gunbrew]

Exactly what happens,
Turb all settles overnight and clumps together below the tap level.

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

 

[argon]

I recently got a swollen cube first one ever first infection in an AG brew thatd make 1 out of about 30+ batches

Not sure what happened. Luckily I do double batches into 2 cubes. Cube 1 was fine no infection, however the second had swollen up.

I pitched the swollen one anyway just to see what would happen. When I opened the cube it had a small ring of gelatinized clearish/whitish gunk on the inside of the lid and opening.

I did the usual method of filling and squeezing as much air as possible, sealing up, then tipping on the side to pasteurize the lid. Same method Ive always been using. Soak in PBW then starsan the cube and lid, shake it all around and leave it for at least 30 mins. Open the cube up just at flame out, pour out sanitizer, shake as mush foam out as possible, then drain the kettle into it so not sure where it picked up the infection.

Only thing I can think of is that the lid didn't seal properly... although it didnt leak and I had a hard time getting it off at pitching.

I ended up fermenting and kegging and it came out fine... had a slightly sourish dryer finish to the other batch. Funnily enough i actually preferred it over the non-swollen version.

In your case it's obviously lost, cause it's on the floor... but not always is it worth tossing on the garden. I did end up binning the cube though, just to be safe.

 

[stux]

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.

Just put gladwrap over your birco and ferment there , then you can keg straight from the kettle...


--

If you're getting a lot of infections in your cubes, check their threads, does your cube have a drilled bung hole?

There is probably something wrong with you sanitation practises.

 

[cdbrown]

I've done 30-odd no chills without any problems, even with extended storing times (2-3months). After each use they get filled with hot water and some napisan for extended soak, most of the time I'll just leave it like that till I need it and then give it a good rinse out paying attention to the bung which always has crud collected in there. I brew when I have the time and most of those occasions theres something already fermenting so no-chill is the best solution for me.

 

[MHB]

Snip
Aussie disposals - most convenient at the time.
You do get what you pay for, never been happier when I part with my money for a quality piece of kit...always disappointed when i take the cheap option. But in this case really not fair to point the finger at cheap cubes as I've had 'quality' aussie made ones do the same. The only difference is I was there to save those before the cube split. Something is getting into my cubes. I'll chill and ferment.

Fair cop, just in my experience the only time I've seen people have trouble is when they have used cheap cubes. Bit like the Bunning's fermenters, personally I have trouble internalising the concept of a fermenter that won't seal.
For me it comes down to an allocation of values, I find it so hard to fit brewing into my schedule that when I get the opportunity I'm not taking any chances or cutting any corners.
Good cubes, well cleaned and sanitised filled with wort at over 80^oC and I can't see how you can have too much trouble.

MHB

 

[geoffi]

I've put down scores of no-chill brews; never had a problem. A few I have left in the cube for several months. Still no problem. I clean thoroughly after use, store with sod-met, and before use rinse with boiling water and a final squirt of iodophor. Any cubes that look in any way nasty get napisan for a few days until they sparkle.

If you're having issues, it's about your process, not the method.

 

[schooey]

I have two NC cubes that have been in my garage for nigh on 20 months... still as sucked up and puckered as they day they were put there... Good cubes and good sanitation are a must, IMHO...

I shall admit that I swing both ways though; I wouldn't part with my chiller plate. But NC is just damn convenient when you want a short brew day, pitch tomorrow brew.

 

[argon]

I have two NC cubes that have been in my garage for nigh on 20 months...

I recently pitched a Baltic Porter that had been sitting there for close to 12 months... best beer i've ever made i reckon.

 

[ekul]

MHB- I got my cubes from aussie disposals and they've been the best ones i can find. They also happen to be the cheapest. I've bought a few other, more expensive ones and have had troubles with the lids not sealing. But the aussie disposal ones seal up great. I think my disposal cubes are from australia too.

I was getting some infections and the nochill has sorted this right up. Would be nochilling right now but my hops haven't arrived yet, looks like it will be monday.

 

[geoffi]

My recommendation for anybody wanting some reliable no-chill cubes is to get yourself a few fresh-wort kits. You get the cube and the beer.

 

[argon]

My recommendation for anybody wanting some reliable no-chill cubes is to get yourself a few fresh-wort kits. You get the cube and the beer.

+1 on this.. good value when you include a cube. Ros will be doing 20L FWKs soon. So i'll be grabbing a couple of new ones when he releases them.

 

[winkle]

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.

+1
(I guess it should be +100+ :unsure: )

Cubes come with Golden Grove bulk wine :icon_cheers:

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

I'm going to be quite critical, but I do not intend to be offensive.

MHB (and others) touched on the subject of what NoChill really is. Thousands and thousands of cubes of fresh wort and malt extract have been made and sold commercially around the world over the years. Every jar of jam you buy is NoChilled, as is every jar that you are given (by a grandma, anyway). Willow Australia posted a bumper profit in recent years due to home brewers using cubes to NoChill beer. (Okay, I made that bit up.)

Brewing is as much about sanitation as it is anything else. If you get an infection in a NoChill cube, I reckon there is something wrong with the cube or your process. If there was something wrong with the cube and it infected your beer, there is something wrong with your process, because you will sort it out *before* you put hot wort in there.

If you get an infection via your chiller, or the ball valve you can't be bothered cleaning, or your fermenter, are you going to complain that you hate fermenters or ball valves or plate chillers? Why blame *this* proven process?

Hard lovin'. That's all the love I got to offer.

 

[manticle]

I had a blue willow cube that showed a split when it was empty and got retired but generally speaking I love NC.

Borrowed a plate chiller recently to see the difference for myself but find it hard to imagine myself changing.

Bad luck on your alt though RK.

 

[Rodolphe01]

I hate fermenting because this one time i got a lacto infection

No chill probably isn't ideal, but I do it because I have access to free cubes, and no access to free copper etc.

 

[Fourstar]

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

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

better make that 81 AG no chills and no spontaneous fermentations. i have however dumped one from a cube when i did not rinse the thread/cap area after squeezing properly. covered in black mould. the wort smelt fine however, just didnt want to risk it.

 

[matho]

I love my CFC I have tried no chill a few times but with my CFC getting 25 l of wort down to pitch temp in 15 min no chill is more of a hassle for me. I can see the benefits of no chill when you can do big batches cube them up and ferment at your own lesiure but for me doing small batches once a month it's great to have everything done and dusted at the end of the day the yeast in the fermenter doing it's thing

Cheers matho