New to this forum, hoping to learn more about no-chill

[MadCactusBrewer]

I'm an intermediate home brewer in Arizona, USA. With our high temperatures and concerns about water I'm hoping to benefit from the knowledge of Aussie brewers on the topic of no-chill brewing. I'm very interested in the hop calculations and related topics.

 

[philrob]

Welcome to AHB. Any questions, just ask.

 

[S.E]

I'm very interested in the hop calculations and related topics.

Also, if you search the forum there is already a lot of info.

Here is a thread to get you started.

Hot Cubing Hoppy Beers

 

[MadCactusBrewer]

Thank you!

 

[akx]

Welcome. No chill is awesome. Good luck!

 

[Hangover68]

I've been using the no-chill method since moving to AG brewing and find it works well for me. Less gear to clean and spreading brewday over into the next day is no issue.

 

[JDW81]

I'm an intermediate home brewer in Arizona, USA. With our high temperatures and concerns about water I'm hoping to benefit from the knowledge of Aussie brewers on the topic of no-chill brewing. I'm very interested in the hop calculations and related topics.

Theres lots of information on here regarding no chill, although it is pretty simple once you get your head around the process.

Theres a few methods for getting late hops into no chill, but to summarise they are:
- Do a mini boil for your late hop addition
- Calculate your cube hops as a 15-20 minute addition
- Do a small bittering addition at 60 minutes and then a big cube hop to get your late flavour and aroma.

I did lots of trial and error, and the best results for my set up were a mini boil and the big cube hop.

Another great thing about cubing your wort is being able to split it into a number of different cubes for a few different beers. I'd often make 100L of a simple base wort with a clean bittering hop and then split into 4-6 different cubes (usually with a mate). I'd then use that base wort to make a variety of beers (from pale ale to stout), with some steeping grains and different hops.

You can also cube, let cool slowly and then ferment at a time that is convenient to you.

Theres a brew strong podcast on no chill as well I think (or one of the JZ/JP shows from the brewing network).

JD

 

[wide eyed and legless]

I think the biggest downside of not cooling is DMS. Yes lots of people no chill, i have myself in the past but it seems that DMS never seems to be mentioned. SMM the precursor to DMS is still converting to DMS as the wort cools, one of the reasons for a vigorous boil to drive off DMS and rapid cool to prevent SMM conversion. I don't recall any off flavours relating to DMS then again I am not a prolific brewer of lagers (lager malts being the bigger culprit)
So does the DMS get scrubbed during a robust fermentation? Does pressure fermenting prevent DMS being scrubbed as it would in a loosely sealed or open fermenter?
https://byo.com/article/wort-chilli...us boil will,it quickly eliminates this risk.

 

[TwoCrows]

I have cooled 2 beers via immersion chilling in 12 years. All my beer's have a 60 minute and some have flameout hops and then package in a cube , leave the elements on @ 90 OC if needed whirlpool. Then transfer. Lager or Ale's all have turned out very nice.
Thank you.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

I have cooled 2 beers via immersion chilling in 12 years. All my beer's have a 60 minute and some have flameout hops and then package in a cube , leave the elements on @ 90 OC if needed whirlpool. Then transfer. Lager or Ale's all have turned out very nice.
Thank you.

Anecdotal evidence doesn't really cut it, on brewing forum we see the, 'I have been doing this for years' as a proof to a method being tried and tested, remember one man's meat is another man's poison. Taste buds only take a couple of weeks to acclimitise to a taste. When I was using no chill it taught me what astringency was like, so much so that I didn't actually mind an astringent beer. My taste buds had adapted.
I am not saying it is wrong, but the scientific evidence says it is. Breweries chill their wort quickly after boiling but the added incentive is to get the yeast pitched quickly and fermentation started.

 

[MadCactusBrewer]

Thank you, everyone, for commenting. I brew small batch (10L mostly) and haven't done many IPA (the American style, like West Coast) and other heavily bittered beer styles. Sorry, that's just my taste buds being in charge and they don't adapt easily. I do enjoy NEIPA type beer with mostly late hop additions. That's the ones I worry about for doing no-chill. I'm very confused about how to accomplish those late additions without having to experiment with multiple batches. My first no-chill was a Festbier that had 60 and 10 minute hop additions. I cut 20 minutes off the first one and added a reduced amount of the second one in the cube. I'm not sure that's the correct way to do it but the beer turned out well.
I found a chart online that I tried to decipher. The original hop addition at 20 minutes said at "Transfer" for no chill. The 15 and 10 minute ones said "FWH 30m IBU". I don't know what that means. The remaining additions (5 and 0 min) go in as aroma dry hop. So, for this somewhat experienced immersion chill brewer, how would you interpret that no chill description?

 

[wide eyed and legless]

I found a chart online that I tried to decipher. The original hop addition at 20 minutes said at "Transfer" for no chill. The 15 and 10 minute ones said "FWH 30m IBU". I don't know what that means. The remaining additions (5 and 0 min) go in as aroma dry hop. So, for this somewhat experienced immersion chill brewer, how would you interpret that no chill description?

FWH is first wort hop, so the hops added before the boil at around 80C.
Have a gander at The Argon Method, there is a thread on here, or was about adding hops.

 

[MadCactusBrewer]

FWH is first wort hop, so the hops added before the boil at around 80C.
Have a gander at The Argon Method, there is a thread on here, or was about adding hops.

I'm familiar with FWH but the part that isn't clear to me is how adding the 15 min boil flavor hop before boil (as FWH) would equal the same hop flavor as 15 min boil. I'm thinking the amount for FHW addition will be smaller than the original 15 min addition? I probably need to delve into some hop science. I use Brewfather for my recipes but they haven't made it easy to convert recipes to no chill or I haven't figured it out yet. I read about the Argon Method in many of the threads here and it looks interesting. I may try that.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

I'm familiar with FWH but the part that isn't clear to me is how adding the 15 min boil flavor hop before boil (as FWH) would equal the same hop flavor as 15 min boil. I'm thinking the amount for FHW addition will be smaller than the original 15 min addition? I probably need to delve into some hop science. I use Brewfather for my recipes but they haven't made it easy to convert recipes to no chill or I haven't figured it out yet. I read about the Argon Method in many of the threads here and it looks interesting. I may try that.

Read this article, there is no perfect scale for adding hops, I was using Tinseth and started using the SMPH method as I wasn't satisfied with the amount of bitterness from Tinseth but SMPH gets closer to the mark if not a little over. The author also reworked the Tinseth method in collaboration with Glen Tinseth so have a read and give it a go. I havent checked if he covers no chill as it wasn't in my interest.
A Modern Method for Calculating IBUs - Brew Your Own
https://jphosom.github.io/alchemyov...mph-model/alchemyoverlord-blog-content31.html

 

[MadCactusBrewer]

A Modern Method for Calculating IBUs - Brew Your Own
IBUs and the SMPH Model

Thank you! I'll be reading this for sure. Appreciate the links.

 

[TwoCrows]

Good luck on your brewing adventure.
You have stated you like NEIPA style beers. Go and get the best chiller you can afford. Hot cubing/ no chill is not for you.

If you like beers that have a 60 minute addition and for some reason you wish to extend your boil for 90 mins or no chill it will not affect your IBU's.

 

[MadCactusBrewer]

Thanks. I have a counterflow and immersion chiller for use in winter when the water temperature isn't over 30C. I would like to do the no-chill method for both saving water and the water temperature problem. I'll stay away from those late hop recipes. Learning a lot more on this topic from you guys down under than the "local" home brewing forums.