Users Of The "no Chiller Method"

[Stuster]

I'm with sluggerdog. My no chill beers have come out clear. I'm surprised that yours hasn't after polyclar and filter have done their jobs. What yeast did you use? How long was the beer fermented (and CCed?)? :unsure:

 

[jimmyjack]

Jimmy, I don't want to knock you however I don't think your clarity problem is to do with the no-chill method, I have done around 15 no chill brews now, 11 of them being german pilsners, all came out crystal clear..

no your not knockin me, I am suprised that mine didnt come out clear either. I drained straight into the fermenter and let it cool over night, admittedly there was not much cold break in the bottom. I then put in fridge to get pitching temp and then pitched us 56. fermented fine and sat in primary for two weeks. I racked to corny for further two weeks. The only thing that makes since to me is the fact that I did not ditch alot of the cold break from rapid chilling. Oh well I will give it one more shot.

Cheers, JJ

 

[browndog]

Hi JJ,
Mate, how long after flame out are you racking to your fermenter? Mine sits for about 15min or so after flame out and I am amazed how clear the wort is when transfering to the fermenter and how much break material is left in the kettle. This break material is also very well defined and solidly formed (if you get my drift) Maybe the haze is a different issue. :blink:

cheers

Browndog

 

[Fingerlickin_B]

I did my first no-chill on Saturday and on Sunday around midday I marked the level of wort on the jerry can with a texta as I was worried it might leak (wort dropping under the marks would either indicate a leak or infection as both might cause expansion of the somewhat squeezed jerry).

As I used a jerry can I was also concerned about the fact that I couldn't purge all the air out by squeezing and this will have to sit for at least a week before hitting the fermenter.

Today the level is noticably higher than the marks I made, yet the temperature seems pretty much the same (only testing with the back of my fingers though).

My assumption is that, should an infection have taken hold, then it would certainly be lower by now due to farts from the bugs causing the jerry to expand, since it has been almost two days since I "cubed" it...would that be about right and it's fine? :huh:

PZ.

 

[jimmyjack]

no your not knockin me, I am suprised that mine didnt come out clear either. I drained straight into the fermenter and let it cool over night, admittedly there was not much cold break in the bottom. I then put in fridge to get pitching temp and then pitched us 56. fermented fine and sat in primary for two weeks. I racked to corny for further two weeks. The only thing that makes since to me is the fact that I did not ditch alot of the cold break from rapid chilling. Oh well I will give it one more shot.

Ok second no chill. This time added Koppaflak to the boil, drained straight from boiler to fermenter and sit for 24 hrs, Very clear and lots of break at the bottom. So much break I had to rack to another fermenter. Fermetned for 9 days and CCing at 3 right now. Probably one of the clearest beers Ive brewed. I believe my first attempt was cloudy due a number of issues not related to the "No Chill Method"


Cheers, JJ

 

[PostModern]

My assumption is that, should an infection have taken hold, then it would certainly be lower by now due to farts from the bugs causing the jerry to expand, since it has been almost two days since I "cubed" it...would that be about right and it's fine? :huh:

If an infection takes hold, the cube/jerry/whatever will blow out like a balloon.

 

[Fingerlickin_B]

If an infection takes hold, the cube/jerry/whatever will blow out like a balloon.

Yeah, that's kind of (read: exactly) what I was trying to say with regards to my thoughts...thanks man :beer:

PZ.

 

[Weizguy]

The shape of the cube will indeed balloon.
As mine did with an Altbier that showed great promise, it was more of a plastic beach ball with a handle. Lucky my lid leaked and some of the foam spilled out, on the carpet, rather than spraying the entire room with foam, from an explosion.

Seth the Pressure-bomb Altbier maker

 

[browndog]

I've done about 15 or so NC brews and with every one when I racked to the fermenter after whirlpooling the wort was always crystal clear exept last friday when the wort was noticeably cloudy. The only difference was that I used coppaflock in place of the irish moss I normally use. Anybody had a similar experience?


cheers

Browndog

 

[jimmyjack]

I've done about 15 or so NC brews and with every one when I racked to the fermenter after whirlpooling the wort was always crystal clear exept last friday when the wort was noticeably cloudy. The only difference was that I used coppaflock in place of the irish moss I normally use. Anybody had a similar experience?

Hi Browndog when I used Koppaflak mine was cloudy going into the fermenter as i sucked up all of the break materials. The next morning you could see the break moving downwards. I let it sit for an extra 5 hours and then racked to another fermenter. It is crystal clear now!! I also boiled extremely hard for 90 minutes. So much so that i boiled too much liquid and had to dillute

cheers, JJ

 

[Ross]

I've done about 15 or so NC brews and with every one when I racked to the fermenter after whirlpooling the wort was always crystal clear exept last friday when the wort was noticeably cloudy. The only difference was that I used coppaflock in place of the irish moss I normally use. Anybody had a similar experience?
cheers

Browndog

That's because Koppafloc works so much better than irish moss. If you are no chilling, there should be plenty of break in your cube/fermenter the next day, as the cold break won't have formed before you transfer.

cheerds Ross

 

[Fingerlickin_B]

I no-chilled my transfer hose!

On Saturday I did a brew and got a blockage when transferring to the jerry can.

Couldn't for the life of me find where it was...I stuck skewers up the ass of the tap/pickup and all sorts of things.

I even thought I was having a siphon problem, as it came late in the drain when the kettle volume was low, so I cut the hose shorter.

Lost my grip on the cut off length (read: pretty much most of the hose) and it slipped down into the jerry.

I know it shouldn't be a problem, but at least it'll be a good test of my plumbing sanitation regime :lol:

PZ.

*edit* - Oh yeah, and the blockage was a hop flower in the reduced-bore hose tail on the outlet side of the tap

 

[Fingerlickin_B]

And after four days in a jerry the once perfectly clear hose looks like this:



Looks even greener in real life...almost glows in the dark :blink:

Just spent the last few minutes sniffing it. Mmmmm, hoppy :chug: B)
PZ.

 

[Linz]

So,

you're dropping the hot wort into the cube and sealing it....

..then leave it stay where its filled for overnight or so?

..or...

..rushed off to the fridge to chill there???

 

[Fingerlickin_B]

That was my initial worry Linz....as I didn't have fridge to cool the cube in.

Turns out some guys on here are leaving their wort at ambient temps for weeks before hitting the fermenter.

FWIW, mine were (only done two so far) at room temp for about four days each before transferring to the fermenter and pitching yeast. Both smelled and tasted fine from the cube and no signs of problems yet...although they are both still in primary

PZ.

*edit* - I left out the fact that although some folks seem to wait for it to cool to around 80deg, I just did mine pretty much as soon as the boil was finished (a tea towel and oven mits really help if you don't want to burn yourself on the cube...also I squeezed it between the front of my knees and the wall as I was worried about the boiling hot jerry springing a leak between my legs ).

 

[Linz]

ta

 

[Jye]

Ive tried to keep up with this thread so if this has already been covered just point me to the post

Does anyone use their wort to step up a yeast starter? I imagine it would be useful when make a 2L+ starter, so you can pitch the entire starter instead of chilling and decanting.

Cheers
Jye

 

[nifty]

Ive tried to keep up with this thread so if this has already been covered just point me to the post

Does anyone use their wort to step up a yeast starter? I imagine it would be useful when make a 2L+ starter, so you can pitch the entire starter instead of chilling and decanting.

Cheers
Jye

Hi Jye, I do.

I fill a 1.5 litre glass fruit juice jar, then fill the cube. I store the jar in the fridge untill I need it.

While the cube is no chilling, I kick off the starter, and step it up using the wort saved. I boil the wort before using it.

cheers

nifty

 

[warrenlw63]

Probably makes sense given the fact I racked my no chill from cubes to fermenters last night and tossed out round about 3 litres of good wort. <_<

Warren -

 

[Hogan]

While the cube is no chilling, I kick off the starter, and step it up using the wort saved. I boil the wort before using it.

cheers

nifty

No need to reboil the wort as it has already been through that process. Leave the lot in the kettle overnight, rack off the next day to your fermenter and set aside your 2lts for the starter. Even when its cold the temp the day after the boil will still be around 23c. (26c in current Sydney temps) Pitch your yeast to the starter and keep your wort at pitch temp until the stater kicks off.

Cheers, Hoges.