grott said:
I have never done this but would love to build up stock over winter. Couple of questions 1) is ambient temperature critical when storing the cubes? 2) do you normally store say15 litres of wort and add the rest when fermenting? 3) the cube is filled to "overflowing" ie no air or use co2?
1) Probably not best to store them too hot for too long... I keep mine in the shed, but on the lowest shelf in the hopes it is cooler there over summer. Don't let them freeze
2) You can get a bunch of different sized cubes, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 etc. You can mix and match, brew over-gravity and top up with water, split a big cube over multiple fermenters, ferment *in* in cube... many many options!
3) Always best to squeeze out as much air as you can, and ensure that you leave the cube on it's side for a while after filling, so as to ensure hot contact with the handle/lid space. Also means you are now brewing to a particular
volume, not gravity... so be aware this can affect the brew day. I make 60/90 min additions, but then (usually) no more until flame out, although sometimes I make a guess for 10min, based on assumed boil-off. Cube or kettle 0min hops tend to count for ~15/20 min additions in no-chill brewing anyway, can let kettle temp drop to say 80 to get better flavour/aroma & less bitterness out of your cube hops.
Edit: Beaten by weal!
Yes, light is a factor... but also save yourself from a burned crotch/knees and put the cube up against a chesty/fridge/solid wall/etc and just press in the side with a (booted) foot (no thongs ya mug!).
In the event of spillage, I tend to spray it off the threads with a liberal amount of starsan so there is no sugary goodness on the outside to harbour moulds/infections.