No Chill

[Tao]

Most of the reading I have done on this method requires a cube, why? Can I just use my fermenter?



-Sorry if this is in the wrong section or already covered. I have read the no chill wiki.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

You can seal a cube up air tight but you cant get the same air tightness with a fermenter

 

[Jakechan]

Gday Tao,

Opinions seem to be pretty strong on here about the old no chill method.
Ive only done it twice now and for both times I used my post mix keg and floated it in the swimming pool, it worked great.

However, there seems to be a lot of reasons why the cube is the go, and I personally have no opinion on this either way.

The problem with the fermenter seems to be with keeping bugs and infection out, but then you have an airlock on it anyway. Stay tuned, I'm sure you will get some proper advice shortly.

Cheers,
Jake

 

[Goofinder]

You can no chill into the fermenter, I have done it. However I would only recommend it if you are only waiting until it cools (eg. overnight), and don't have a cube as I reckon the action of pouring from the cube into the fermenter to aerate the wort makes a huge difference.

 

[clean brewer]

By using a cube or jerry can, you are able to squeeze it after filling to push all the air out and then sealing with the lid airtight.. The whole idea is for the boiling wort to pasteurise the cube with no air in it to starve off infection..

Probably wont get the same effect with the fermenter(airtight) and all the air out, also with a cube, once its cool enough to pitch yeast, the wort can be poured into the fermenter to oxyegenate the wort.

Cubes/jerry cans only cost $13-$20 and then you can have a brew no-chilled ready for when the other fermenter is empty..

 

[wambesi]

Just like the guys have said before most people use a cube, however there are people that do it in their fermenters and their kettles.

One aspect of the cubes is once cubed with as little air as possible and precautions taken it can be stored for quite a while. I don't normally like to store them more than a week or three but others have successfully used them after months and months with no ill effects as it seals up real nice.

Other ways could be prone to infections however it all depends on your sanitisation and where it is.
You do what you can, but cubes are pretty cheap (if not free, I picked my 5 up from Hutch on here when he didn't need them) so another reason people use them. Also good for lagering/conditioning after fermentation as they're smaller and can fit better into fridges etc.

 

[jonocarroll]

+1 for most of the above; you can squeeze a cube to remove air, rotate to pasteurize, seal to keep. Aerating when pouring to the fermenter is handy.

My biggest (though not particularly big) concerns with doing this would be;

- how well you could seal it, and if you do seal it with an airlock, sucking back the fluid as it cools. Having sanitizer in there is safe, but if it all gets sucked back in somehow you wouldn't have an airlock anymore.
- the heat-resistance of the fermenter plastic - I don't think it's quite as thick, and lifting it while hot may be an issue
- the chance that some yeast cells hide in there, don't get boiled, then go to town on the wort when it's at a bad temperature. I'm not about to lose sleep over this one, but I've heard it could be an issue.

 

[Cortez The Killer]

The benefit I get from no chill is being able to make the wort and store it for a while before having to pitch yeast

Racking to a fermenter doesn't allow for storage as yeast must be pitched when pitching temps are reached, same goes with the rapid chilling of the wort in a keg in a pool

There are any problems with any method so long as everything is sanitary

The advantage of the cube is storability

Cheers

 

[Jakechan]

Racking to a fermenter doesn't allow for storage as yeast must be pitched when pitching temps are reached, same goes with the rapid chilling of the wort in a keg in a pool

Well, provided I dont mind a keg being tied up in this manner I would much rather my unfermented wort sit in a keg which has had the air purged out with CO2. However, in any case I like to pitch yeast straight away.

Actually, the keg in the pool thing isnt even no-chilling, its actually chilling! It only takes an hour at most to get the wort down to pool temp.

Cheers,
Jake

 

[wambesi]

Well, provided I dont mind a keg being tied up in this manner I would much rather my unfermented wort sit in a keg which has had the air purged out with CO2. However, in any case I like to pitch yeast straight away.

Actually, the keg in the pool thing isnt even no-chilling, its actually chilling! It only takes an hour at most to get the wort down to pool temp.

Cheers,
Jake

But what's your pool temp? 18-20deg?
If higher then you would still (ideally) need to cool it further for ales (and even further for lagers)
Not a bad idea and others do it as well. If I had a pool I may also, but I'm happy with the cube.

 

[Jakechan]

But what's your pool temp? 18-20deg?
If higher then you would still (ideally) need to cool it further for ales (and even further for lagers)
Not a bad idea and others do it as well. If I had a pool I may also, but I'm happy with the cube.

Temp during these 2 times was 28 then 26.

2 options then. Either whack the keg in the fridge to lower it further or straight to fermenter which goes into esky with ice bombs till it drops to yeast temp.

Cheers,
Jake

 

[browndog]

Most of the reading I have done on this method requires a cube, why? Can I just use my fermenter?



-Sorry if this is in the wrong section or already covered. I have read the no chill wiki.

Tao, if you do not want to store your wort for any period of time before fermenting, then IMHO going straight into your fermenter is the BEST way to no chill for the following reasons.

1) You are effectively sanitising your fermenter with your hot wort.

2) By eliminating the cube you have less chance to introduce infection in the brewing chain of events.

3) Less time spent cleaning and sanitising unnecessary equipment.

If you leave your fementer to cool overnight then get it in the fermentation fridge in the morning, there is little chance of anything going wrong. I carry out the following enhancements.

1) I have a plastic sandwich bag stuck over the tap and airlock with rubber bands to keep the nasties out.

2) When I rack to the fermenter, I have a hopsock in there to filter out any hops or break material.

cheers

Browndog

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

I just ferment in the cube. Much easier and safer than racking to a another fermenter

 

[Tao]

Thanks for the advice. Im using no chill because I have moved to the city and no longer have a rainwater tank to run my copper chiller off so storing the wort is not my aim.