No chill question

[Reedy]

I did my first AG brew on Sunday after getting a Grainfather for xmas (no looking back now).

I used the 'Mr Simcoe Pale Ale' Grainfather kit for simplicity & everything seemed to go reasonably well except my post boil volume was closer to 21L than the 23L stated in the recipe (no idea why, open to feedback/suggestions).

As I wanted to conserve water, I opted not to use the chiller & instead transferred the hot wort to a Craftbrewer 20L cube (cleaned with Starsan) 20mins after the boil finished (i.e. had to leave it that long for the 50gm simcoe addition at flameout). Wort was 85c at transfer.

I made sure the hot wort contacted the entire surface of the cube including the lid & handle, squeezed out as much air as I could, sealed it up tight and left it to cool overnight.

Had a look this afternoon (24hrs later) and there appears to be some 'solids' floating in the wort.

All hops (10gm @ 60mins, 50gm at 0mins) were added in a kegking SS hop filter, with deltafloc (whitlfloc) added to the wort at 15mins. No whirpool as I read it's not required for Grainfather(?)

Any idea what this could be? I'm not too worried and will still pitch yeast tomorrow (no time this arvo unfortunately), just keen to learn & improve wherever I can.

Thanks.

 

[manticle]

Hop debris and/or protein break.
Normal if that is the case. Smell ok? (I recommend opening to smell only if pitching within an hour or so).

 

[Reedy]

Thanks Manticle, I was hoping that might be the case. Glad it wasn't anything to do with not adjusting the timing of the 0min hop addition due to no chill (will do some more research on that before the next brew day).

Do I need to try & avoid transferring the hot break/hop particles into the FV? In the past, I have poured FWK's into the FV from a reasonable hight to aerate the wort, but will just siphon if necessary.

 

[manticle]

You should leave hot break behind in the kettle. Cold break may form in the cube - that is not really a worry.
Neither is hop debris but again I try and leave most of that in the kettle unless cube hopping.

 

[stm]

Making sure you get good aeration/oxygenation is probably more important than trying to keep a bit of cold break and hop debris out of the fermenting vessel.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Making sure you get good aeration/oxygenation is probably more important than trying to keep a bit of cold break and hop debris out of the fermenting vessel.

Not if your going to store the cube for a bit

 

[Bribie G]

I think he meant after it comes out of the cube, Stu.

 

[Reedy]

I tipped the cube into a FV & pitched 2 packs of west coast ale yeast this afternoon. There was no off smell, and OG of 1.050 was right on the money.

The only issue is it was only 19L, whereas the recipe stated it should have been 23L.

Used the correct volume for both mash & sparge, correct times/temps etc as per the recipe, so not sure why the difference in volume (and yet, still the correct OG).

Any ideas of what I have done wrong or can improve next time?

 

[Topher]

Those cubes hold at least 22l becuase they stretch when hot. That might account for your missing volume.

 

[Reedy]

20L Cube wasn't full (even accounting for expansion) when I filled it and I had to squeeze quite a lot of air out of it. FV filled to 19L mark today.

 

[danestead]

You got more evaporation than the recipe you followed. Adjust your volumes for next time. Also, wort shrinks 4% from boil to pitch temp. That is pretty close to 1L for your sized batch. That could be where you lost another litre into the fermenter.

 

[Reedy]

With regard to moving the 0min hop additions to the cube (rather than the kettle), how do people add these? Just loose in the cube, or in a hopsock? How long can/should you leave them in the cube

I used a hop spider in the boil, and removed it 20mins after flameout (taking most of the hop debris with it). As I intend to no chill for the forseeable future, will doing this work (i.e.without having to change the timing of hop additions)?

 

[Blind Dog]

I fill the cube and then chuck the hops in loose. In software to calc IBUs that's either a 15 min boil (if the wort is at 90C or so) or a 20 min steep (if the wort is 80C or so). Haven't detected grassy or other off flavours yet, and some cubes sit for a fair few weeks, even months, before being fermented

 

[Reedy]

Thanks for the reply Blind Dog.

So just to clarify, any hop additions from say 15 mins through to flameout are just added all at once directly to the cube, regardless of the temperature?

 

[Rocker1986]

So just to clarify, any hop additions from say 15 mins through to flameout are just added all at once directly to the cube, regardless of the temperature?

It all depends on your personal taste preferences. There is no "one size fits all" approach that works for everything. Experiment with different methods and timings and find what works for you for each style, and then stick with that.

 

[Panoramix]

Hallo,

I'm sure someone must have done it: What's the impact of leaving, let say some fruit, after boil, a in a no-chill cube for a couple of weeks prior fermentation?

Good Idea, big no no, or no real impact?

I'm thinking Cherry stout...

 

[Reedy]

I'd like to try a cherry stout myself, however from what I've read, it's better to rack the beer onto fresh cherries in a secondary vessel after fermentation has finished and leave it for a while.

Anyone have suggestions on amount of cherries & timeframe for say a 20L batch?

 

[lobedogg]

I'd like to try a cherry stout myself, however from what I've read, it's better to rack the beer onto fresh cherries in a secondary vessel after fermentation has finished and leave it for a while.

Anyone have suggestions on amount of cherries & timeframe for say a 20L batch?

No experience with cherries specifically, but about a kilo for a 20L batch seems to be the recommended norm for most fruits. Usually for about a week in secondary.
Having said that, my kumquat saison could probably have done with about half that, but they're a pretty full-on fruit in comparison.

 

[barls]

I'd like to try a cherry stout myself, however from what I've read, it's better to rack the beer onto fresh cherries in a secondary vessel after fermentation has finished and leave it for a while.

Anyone have suggestions on amount of cherries & timeframe for say a 20L batch?

go for frozen cherries as they will release more flavour in there.
id say 500g - 1kg for a month and see.