No Chillin 20 Liters In A 25 Liter Cube

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Robbo2234

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Hi all

I am about to do my first AG BIAB and noticed that my cube is 25 litres, my concerns are that I can push out 3 or 4 litres of air when I fill the cube but when the wort cools it will contract and squeeze the cube even further any one done this before?

or should I just have a blue pill and a good lie down?
 
i reckon you'll be fine. squeeze most of the air out and make sure you get every bit of the cube soaked with hot wort to kill any nasties. (ie lay down on both sides for 10min each)
 
I do that all the time.
I usually pitch the yeast the next day, and no problems so far. As above, esp. if it will be a while before you ferment, starsan and hot all over.
 
If you have CO2 purge the cube first
 
Assuming the is clean and sanitized, Just make sure that everything is shut tight. Test the seals by laying cube on side and check for leaks.
 
Hi all

I am about to do my first AG BIAB and noticed that my cube is 25 litres, my concerns are that I can push out 3 or 4 litres of air when I fill the cube but when the wort cools it will contract and squeeze the cube even further any one done this before?

or should I just have a blue pill and a good lie down?

The blue pill is a bad move in my opinion... best to stick to the red pill..... B)
 
Thought little blue pills gave u a tent pole when u lay down
 
yeah I don't have a sky hook so I am gonna let the bag drain of the tent pole!!!
 
Depending on the type you can squeeze all the air out, then seal up the lid tight... a towel over it with a good knee in the side will do it
 
Depending on the type you can squeeze all the air out, then seal up the lid tight... a towel over it with a good knee in the side will do it


try my unpatented method. :ph34r:

After filling, lean the cube against a step at an angle with the cap on the top.
Push on side of cube (the side opposite the step) with your knee & loosen cap to release pressure. (note - jeans keep your knee from burning ;) )
Tighten cap when all air is out (or you've gone as far as you are game)
tighten cap again
lay cube on side to get hot wort into handle.

too easy - works a treat when cubing 150+litres on brew days B)
 
try my unpatented method. :ph34r:

After filling, lean the cube against a step at an angle with the cap on the top.
Push on side of cube (the side opposite the step) with your knee & loosen cap to release pressure. (note - jeans keep your knee from burning ;) )
Tighten cap when all air is out (or you've gone as far as you are game)
tighten cap again
lay cube on side to get hot wort into handle.

too easy - works a treat when cubing 150+litres on brew days B)
i use this method. works well.

btw croz when are we brewing at your place again???
 
me too - up against a wall or something, lid on to "just" seal, tilt back, knee into side to put a small amount of pressure into the situation, loosen lid a little to let air leak out, when some wort comes out and there is no air left, tighten down lid.

It'll cost you 20ml of wort and you will get rid of almost all air. Pic follows.

IMG_0121.jpg


In your case, with LOTS of airgap - it'll still work but you'll have to squish your cube a fair bit. If you dont want to - thats OK - just follow the sanitise and seal advice from earlyer in the thread. A word of warning though. Air expands when it gets hot and wet. So .... before you tighten the lid over a "big" air pocket, give things a bit of a shake, get that air all nice and hot & wet. Otherwise when you tighten the lid and lay the cube on its side, there is a small chance that the air will heat up, expand and generate pressure inside the cube. Which might make it leak or pop off the lid.

You'll be good though.

TB
 
i use this method. works well.

btw croz when are we brewing at your place again???

dunno. its a bit difficult to organise when i'm livin 400km away from the brewery :(
 
Those blue willow no chill cubes take a fair squeeze. I have put a 15L batch in one before, was probably only about 5cm thick at its narrowest point from all the squeezing.
 
Hi all

I am about to do my first AG BIAB and noticed that my cube is 25 litres, my concerns are that I can push out 3 or 4 litres of air when I fill the cube but when the wort cools it will contract and squeeze the cube even further any one done this before?

or should I just have a blue pill and a good lie down?

I've done this plenty of times with no problems at all. I always pitch within a couple of days though just to be sure. I've only left cubes that are completely full for any length of time.

Sanitisation is the key. A nice clean cube and you'll be sweet.

How bout you try fermenting in the cube as well, takes out another infection risk as you're not transferring to another vessel.

JD
 
You could always just scale up your recipe to 25L and bottle a few, unless that pushes the limits of your bag/pot.
 
I'll do it similar to TB, but instead of the knee I use a foot (with shoes on).

Also, instead of leaning against a wall I lean the cube against a door frame or similar, something I can hold on to with my hands to apply enough pressure to push all air out of the cube.

I reckon holding the cube sideways is the go as you get absolutely all air out.

EDIT: I have often used the 23L Jerry cans (as in TB's picture) with only about 16-17L of wort. The two sides of the cube almost touch in the middle, it's that much compressed, but seems to be no issue for the cubes, they always recover well from that position.
 
Thanks All, My major concern is the compressing the cube the contraction of the hot wort and then the cube cracking under pressure.

the cubes look like they will take a lot of beating up so I will push out the air and give it a go, I will report back after the weekend!
 
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