So how'd it turn out in the end??
I ended up doing quite a few NC beers with 10min additions, all cube hopped additions, 60 40 20min bittering additions and the rest in the cube.
out of all of them there was one i was kind of happy with:
20L Batch
94.3% pale
5.7% Caramunich 1
200g of cascade in the cube
London ale III #1318
This one was drinkable apart from lacking on bitterness.
So my findings on the NC method?...
too many variables and dicking around involved to get a nice beer. Too many adjustments required depending on the type of beer you're brewing.
For example:
it's a good method for stouts, porters, Alt's etc, or for any malt driven beers.
For a single NC\ferment vessel, IPA's, bigger APA's or hop forward beers, it's a pig of a method.
the cube additions basically sit and stew in the cube. as the beer ferments, alcohol also strips the vegetal flavours from the hops which contribute to the harshness of the beer.
High AA hops and therefore high cohumulone levels are deal breakers with this method for me. Whereas lower AA's such as noble hops etc seem to work better.
your aroma will be muted without making up for it via a small boil or french press or something at a later time.
SO, depending on the style of beer you're making, depending on the hops you're using, depending on the quantity of hops required, depending on when you add the hops, it's all a bit of a juggling act.
The NC method will work, but if you're expecting to make the same beer as your mate with the chiller, you're going to be disappointed.
If you insist on NC, and insist on using cube additions, my suggestions having done *some* experimenting with NC are:
- As soon as it's at pitching temp, rack it off any hops and into your fermenter
- Don't ferment with the hops in the cube. Ideally, even for people with chillers, dry hop once the ferment is complete and dry hop while CC'ing the beer in order for the alcohol to strip the lupulin and not any vegetal flavours.
- Adjust your hop additions in relation to the AA levels as well as time, the more AA the more bitterness (and cohumulone) you're going to get.
- Forget your aroma addition until the next day, then do a mini-boil and add your flame out then.
- have a chat to Smurto and Philip about HopHash (sorry fellas )
- stop ******* around with all the above and see NigeP62 for a plate chiller.
I have since bought a plate chiller from Nige @ brewadelaide.com for $130 and have made a Schwarzbier, a Landlord and have a Hoppy APA cooking now.
No adjustments made to the recipie for NC, they are smelling and tasting great and just how I remember when I was using the immersion chiller.
My recommendation is to invest in a chiller.
BUT!!
I was up at (the great) Butters house the other week and tasted his AAA, while not a hop forward beer, it was well balanced.
His beer was NC'd and had no hop additions changed to allow for NC, and pretty much contradicted my findings on NC.
Although I haven't spoken to him about it yet, I want to perform an experiment with him where we both brew the same recipie twice, one chilled, one no-chilled. I'm sure he'll be keen.
I also want to include this in a Triangle tasting session DrSmurto and I have had planned for a while now in regards to AG Vs Extract.
We've both had a lot going on at the moment (especially me) so when we'll get to do any of this who knows, but the NC and the AG Vs Extract debates needs to be settled (at least in the minds of a few of us) once and for all.
Cheers,
BeerFingers