Late Hopping And No Chilling Guide

[loikar]

yeah i know :huh: I felt bad until i tasted the first quick chilled IPA :icon_drool2:

You can imagine my disappointment when I did the same, only in reverse....

 

[dexter.rose]

Argon,

A user from homebrewtalk.com pointed me over to this thread after I said I wanted to try something very similar. Looks like you've already done the tests and have enjoyed the results.

Are you still doing your late hopping method with "No Chill" brewing?

Is there anything with the method that you are thinking about changing?

Thank you,
Jason Mundy

 

[argon]

G'day mate. Yes I still do the exact same thing, if so inclined, to no chill wort. Although it's less likely these days as I have acquired a plate chiller.

But if I get the opportunity to brew and have to no chill due to other factors, I'll certainly be puting this method into practice, as I feel the results are well worth it.

 

[The_Dog_42]

Looks like I'll raise this one from the dead.

I was considering a different method of using the no-chill method and the cube in particular for late hopped beers. Boil brewing water, with salts added, put it into the cube and allow the vacuum to develop. Put it in the freezer on brew day, brew up the recipe as normal and use the semi-frozen sanitized water to cool the wort. You wouldn't need a full 5 gallon cube for water either, a 1.5-2.5 gal cube would work very well.

There are a few things that kill some advantages of No-chill, but it doesn't remove all the advantages. The main disadvantage is you would have to have space in your fermenter available in the next 24 hours (yes, I've let mine sit overnight to get to proper pitching temps after doing a less polished variation on this method.) and in your freezer. You also have to account for the top-up water in the recipe.

The advantages are being able to retain an "original" recipe, without the difficultly in cleaning a CFC or plate chiller. You also save time, because, at least in my experience with Texas ground water, the frozen couple of gallons achieves near-pitching temperatures very quickly compared to 10+ minutes on a plate chiller and 30+ with an IC. This method also favors water restricted areas, because the overall amount of water used should be nearly the same as a no-chill method.

Am I overlooking something?

 

[manticle]

How do you use the water to chill the batch? Is it smaller volume, higher gravity and you are diluting with it? I'm not sure I follow your intention.

 

[The_Dog_42]

Guess I didn't make my intention clear.

I was thinking that this would basically act as top-up water. Brew a higher than desired SG, and use the no-chill container to store, sanitized, ice water. Perhaps not ideal, but it may be another way to maintain hop flavor and aroma in a recipe.

 

[manticle]

Worth trying I guess but I can imagine the amount of water required to chill that much would be quite a good portion of the liquor.

 

[Andrewbarnes83]

For any users of this method, do you find that you have to use more hops to compensate for the smaller boil volume?