Usa's New Fascination With No Chill

[blackbock]

Hello UncleMule,

The container in those links look like they are made of very thin material which wouldn't be up to the job.

The 'cubes' that people talk of are HDPE plastic containers of similar thickness to a plastic jerry can (in fact some people use the jerry shaped ones...) The main requirement being that they are made of a food safe plastic which won't collapse when boiling hot wort is filled into them.

I'm sure there must be hundreds of photos of them on this site, search for 'no chill' and 'fresh wort' and you're sure to come across them.

 

[technocat]

I can't agree more.

I'd love to get a plate chiller, but I simply can't justify the use of water to cool my beer when we are on stage 4 water restrictions (Geelong) and the beer is perfectly fine being no chilled.

More people should consider this when using chillers IMO.

James

James probably getting off topic, but should be said that it defies belief that people on water restrictions don't consider water tanks as an option. With climate change looking like a permanant feature in our life time water tanks will be mandatory. My own personal veiw is that the no chill operation is fraught with danger and open to potential infection. If you feel the need to crash chill wort and get it into the fermenter in an instant using Immersion, Plate or Counterflow chillers, consider a couple of 200L drums, and a small water pump. These can be bought clean and in good condition from our local tip shop for as little as 5-10 dollars each. Living in the rural enviroment we have water storage just under 40,000L so pumping water through a chiller and back into the tanks is not a problem. Agreed running water down the drain is wastefull but with a little ingenuity this water can be used over and over to suit the purpose,

 

[Mantis]

Just checked a 20l Willow cube and there's no recycling triangle anywhere, just a date stamp for 12 07 which is when it would presumably have been made.

I have emailed Willow.

Also I see they have a 30 L fermenter style container that looks interesting, might see if Bunnings stock them and how much as one of my fermenters will need replacing soon.

View attachment 25168

My two cubes from a local outdoors store also do not have the recycling triangle. I just have to hope they are ok I suppose.
Brews out of them have been great but I have pitched the next morning each time, so only like 18-20hours in the cube.

 

[Simon W]

UncleMule:

Usually:

Sometimes:

EDIT: for those wondering about the recycle codes... if you can find one:
http://www.ides.com/resources/plastic-recycling-codes.asp

 

[Bribie G]

Willow emailed me back:

Hi Michael,

In regards to your question of what grade plastic is used in our Carry Cans it is HDPE - I hope this answer your question

Regards
Andrew

Andrew Kimpton-Cheong
National Sales Manager
Willow Ware Australia Pty Ltd
Tel 03 8346 0463
Fax 03 9338 6741
Mob 0449 902 566
Email [email protected]
www.willow.com.au

 

[PostModern]

James probably getting off topic, but should be said that it defies belief that people on water restrictions don't consider water tanks as an option. With climate change looking like a permanant feature in our life time water tanks will be mandatory. My own personal veiw is that the no chill operation is fraught with danger and open to potential infection. If you feel the need to crash chill wort and get it into the fermenter in an instant using Immersion, Plate or Counterflow chillers, consider a couple of 200L drums, and a small water pump. These can be bought clean and in good condition from our local tip shop for as little as 5-10 dollars each. Living in the rural enviroment we have water storage just under 40,000L so pumping water through a chiller and back into the tanks is not a problem. Agreed running water down the drain is wastefull but with a little ingenuity this water can be used over and over to suit the purpose,

Of course you can use water over and over. The world's water cycle is proof of that. No chill isn't just about saving water. It also saves time, lets you store wort until you have yeast ready, and it allows you to brew when you have the time and ferment as needed. I'm sure I've mentioned this in previous posts, but I'll say it again. I once brewed almost continuously for a week as part of a long holiday. I ended up with full kegs, full fermenters and a pile of cubes of wort. For the next 5 months, I didn't need to fire up the brewery, I just tipped a cube of wort into a fermenter as needed. It was very liberating to have as much beer ready to go as I liked without having to spend a quarter of every weekend tied to the brewery.

I don't know how you think it invites infection or invites danger. Does jam making and canning do likewise?

 

[matti]

One thing that is brough up quite frequently is trub going through to the fermenter when no chilling.

This was MHB's responce in another thread Quote "Getting too much break material into the fermenter is not good, apart from hops the trub contains lots of condensed protein and lipids that can redissolve in the brew, both head negative and bad for the storability of the beer" End of quote.

It happened to me when I brewed an APA.
Luckely APA's hides these flaws rather well.
One could detect in the final end note of tasting an astringency that wasn't meant to be there and it was not from excessive dry hopping.
The feed back was good and no bad comment about it.
Then again we were taking in Pumpy's delicious snacks at the time.

If you were to attempt brewing lager and no chill, I believe it is essential to minimise the trub going into the no chill cube and leave the majority of the trub in the NO-chill cube/jerry can.

A little trub going through can be used by the yeast but too much may taint the flavour profile of the lager.

Matti

 

[PostModern]

Why is trub only a problem with no chill? I have a pickup tube and whirlpool the wort before running off. I only get cold break which forms in the cube, same as using a CFC.

 

[matti]

I guess you are right providing you have the right Equipment and set up, you can mimimise the hot break completely.

You might just get a bit hazier beer and have to use more adjuct to clear it
Real Beer

 

[PostModern]

Speaking of which, I forgot to add kettle finings when brewing a stout last night. At least I won't see the haze

 

[Bribie G]

Love that whirlfloc.
Using an Urn the tap outlet is actually a fair way off the bottom of the kettle so it's easy to floc a good mat of trub onto the bottom and then get crystal clear wort into the cube, then when it gets to the tipping stage I can stop right at the stage when break is about to come through.

Got it down to a fine art.

 

[technocat]

Of course you can use water over and over. The world's water cycle is proof of that. No chill isn't just about saving water. It also saves time, lets you store wort until you have yeast ready, and it allows you to brew when you have the time and ferment as needed. I'm sure I've mentioned this in previous posts, but I'll say it again. I once brewed almost continuously for a week as part of a long holiday. I ended up with full kegs, full fermenters and a pile of cubes of wort. For the next 5 months, I didn't need to fire up the brewery, I just tipped a cube of wort into a fermenter as needed. It was very liberating to have as much beer ready to go as I liked without having to spend a quarter of every weekend tied to the brewery.

I don't know how you think it invites infection or invites danger. Does jam making and canning do likewise?

Not sure how Jam and canning got into this but I guess it sure shortens the odds.

 

[Pollux]

Love that whirlfloc.
Using an Urn the tap outlet is actually a fair way off the bottom of the kettle so it's easy to floc a good mat of trub onto the bottom and then get crystal clear wort into the cube, then when it gets to the tipping stage I can stop right at the stage when break is about to come through.

Got it down to a fine art.

Actually, I have a question for you on this topic there Michael, do you whirlpool to make a cone of trub or let it settle to the base of the urn and then allow the height of the tap to basically separate the wort? And are you using a pickup tube at all??