No Chill Hop Utilization

[Bribie G]

Personally i think for the length of time I have the cube open, in a consealed draft-free area im quite safe. I quickly add my hops, I then reseal the cube once more and purge all air out (as much as possible) of the cube as well.

I have yet to have a batch go belly up (6 so far with this method). The chances of it picking up something would probably be less than that of those who religiously no chill in their fermenter h34r: .

There's cubing and cubing - 80 percent of the time I use cubing as a cooling method and pitch ASAP. On the other hand I cube a brew into four 5L wee cubes and store them for up to 2 months and add a cube to my regular partial brew.

Sure you go to extremes with a cube that you want to store for months, as you would also do with a jar of homemade pickles or preserved cumquats or whatever. However doing things to a cube that is only going to last 24 hours isn't any different to opening a fermenter and chucking in a hop teabag etc and has probably fewer attendant risks due to the high temperature in the cube.

 

[Ross]

We just had a club brew day at Eagle Heights brewery, & i picked up the last 2 cubes, full of trub & hops. Managed to fill one fermenter out of them, but there was a good 5L of solid hop & other matter. will be interesting to see if this has any detrimental flavour or increased bittering against the other beers when we taste test in April.
Will report back....

cheers Ross

 

[Fourstar]

However doing things to a cube that is only going to last 24 hours isn't any different to opening a fermenter and chucking in a hop teabag etc and has probably fewer attendant risks due to the high temperature in the cube.

I store these cubes (some have been for up to 1 month~). All of my cubes and anything that is involved in the brew process post kettle gets a hefty cleaning regieme with sodium percarbonate. a heavy rinsing and iodophored. that also includes my cubes and their lids and openings (bits that people forget often.) If im storing for 24 hours so i can get down to pitch temperature or im sotring it until i get my yeast i ordered, no batch is different with my preperation.

Does this keep me safe? Maybe.

I wish i could agree with you Bribie regarding throwing in a hop teabag in during fermentation compared to pre fermentation. Pre fermentation its an ideal breeding ground for bacteria and we have to be diligent to ensure we dont get infections especially whe the wort gets to body temperatures. During and especially the final stages of fermentation are quite safe IMHO. Its an anerobic environment laden with alcohol and a very low ph. In fact any bacteria entering our wort at this stage has to battle against on average 7-10 million cells of yeast per millileter. Personally i dont think it stands a chance. people have been brewing in open slate fermenters for centuries.... Samuel Smith still does today and produces exceptional beer. The yeast are our pawns in the battle against bacteria during fermentation.. and we end up with several billion of them when the shows over. :icon_cheers:

Personally i just dont like the idea of my wort sitting in 'open air for several hours without any yeast attacking it... its asking for bacteria to build up and take over. I think allot on here would agree with the act of no chilling direct to fermenter as being on a knifes edge.

Cheers Bribie! :icon_drunk:

 

[clarkey7]

We just had a club brew day at Eagle Heights brewery, & i picked up the last 2 cubes, full of trub & hops. Managed to fill one fermenter out of them, but there was a good 5L of solid hop & other matter. will be interesting to see if this has any detrimental flavour or increased bittering against the other beers when we taste test in April.
Will report back....

cheers Ross

Mine is kegged and carbonated....tasted it tonight. Is a very tasty drop (mine done with Wyeast 1098 Bristish Ale Yeast).

....Quite bitter due to not hitting the expected efficiency during the mash. Nothing to do with No-Chill. :icon_cheers:

PB

 

[PostModern]

I store these cubes (some have been for up to 1 month~). All of my cubes and anything that is involved in the brew process post kettle gets a hefty cleaning regieme with sodium percarbonate. a heavy rinsing and iodophored.

Could be time and temperature working in your favour. ie, 3 mins at 100C or 30 at 70... I personally don't open a cube from near boiling, perhaps 80C until I pitch anywhere from 24 hours to 3 months later. I reckon opening a cube any amount of time after its started cooling is risky, but your record speaks for itself. Interesting...

 

[clarkey7]

Has anyone from the RED, BLUE or other team actually heard of, read about, asked or tried to get a beer tested in a laboratory and/or by a sensory analysis team for IBU's in relation to which chilling method is used (split wort - half no chill - half rapid chill)?

If not - why not?

What were the results?

PB :unsure:

 

[reVoxAHB]

Has anyone from the RED, BLUE or other team actually heard of, read about, asked or tried to get a beer tested in a laboratory and/or by a sensory analysis team for IBU's in relation to which chilling method is used (split wort - half no chill - half rapid chill)?

If not - why not?

Well, for a start, lab analysis is big big bux and we're lowly little homebrewers. What's a sensory analysis team?

reVox

 

[Fourstar]

I reckon opening a cube any amount of time after its started cooling is risky, but your record speaks for itself. Interesting...

I had the exact same philosophy PoMo. Now im happy to 'chase the dragon' the get taht elusive hop aroma in my no chilling. I must say i am very diligent with my sanitation when it comes to this. I can only guess that the cube still has enough thermal mass to help pasturise any extras ive added and cancel out any radicals ive introduced. I like to live dangerously... in a clean kinda way!

 

[katzke]

Well, for a start, lab analysis is big big bux and we're lowly little homebrewers. What's a sensory analysis team?

reVox

Those are the blokes that get paid to drink beer at the brewery. Seems the robots, as good as they are, are still not as good at detecting good tasting beer from bad. Fancy lab to test what a lab can test then a blind tasting room to tell what people think.

Least that is how they do it at our local craft brewery here in Oregon. Last I looked they are like the 16th largest brewer in the USA.

 

[clarkey7]

Well, for a start, lab analysis is big big bux and we're lowly little homebrewers. What's a sensory analysis team?

reVox

Well I kind of figured that the cost would be out of the reach of the little guy....
But I also figured that someone must have tested it somewhere in the world and that one of us might have heard about the results.

I guess the big guy doesn't care about No-Chill as he is using more traditional brewing methods.

KatZke - Your right that a sensory team is more sensitive than a Gas Chromatograph (and other fancy lab gear) for many compounds, but bitterness units is not one of them.

PB :icon_cheers:

 

[katzke]

Well I kind of figured that the cost would be out of the reach of the little guy....
But I also figured that someone must have tested it somewhere in the world and that one of us might have heard about the results.

I guess the big guy doesn't care about No-Chill as he is using more traditional brewing methods.

KatZke - Your right that a sensory team is more sensitive than a Gas Chromatograph (and other fancy lab gear) for many compounds, but bitterness units is not one of them.

PB :icon_cheers:

Right on the sensitivity. Remember the reason they use people to taste beer is machines can not tell you how it all goes together. Regardless of what the machine says it still gets down to what the customer thinks of the product.

 

[Scruffy]

I guess the big guy doesn't care about No-Chill as he is using more ECONOMICAL brewing methods.

EFA

 

[Maxt]

I'm glad I stumbled upon this, because I sold my chiller when I was getting out of brewing (silly move) and since no chilling, especially with high alpha acid flame out hops, I have found my beers to be waay more bitter than planned.

I will be going back to a chiller, but after reading some of Jamil's stuff, I also wonder if normal chilling is quick enough to protect the hop character and balance of some beers.

I think no chill works for early hop addition beers, or beers that have the flameouts calculated as 15-20min additions, but for me it's too much guess work.