Users Of The "no Chiller Method"

[Steve]

I dont see myself getting through 80L of beer in the next few weeks.

girls blouse :icon_chickcheers:

any way I would say from the time they are fermented.
Cheers
Steve

 

[SJW]

Who started this thread off again :angry:
Its like a drug this thread, if its on the "latest threads" I just need to read.

Steve

 

[kabooby]

Sorry to disapoint Steve. I can start an argument if you want :lol:

 

[Jye]

NI know wheat beers are best drunk when fresh so does this mean from the time they are fermented or from the time they are brewed.

Fermented. You dont want to loose the aromatics that the yeast produce... yummers :chug:

 

[SJW]

Sorry to disapoint Steve. I can start an argument if you want

I'm never disapointed bud. Just dont mention Botulism

Steve

 

[deebee]

Sorry to disapoint Steve. I can start an argument if you want :lol:

Why not? Experience has shown this is definitely the right room.

 

[braufrau]

How long does this no-chill caper take?
The kettle has been sitting on the stove for 18 hours now and its still warm. I'd like my stove back!

 

[AndrewQLD]

How long does this no-chill caper take?
The kettle has been sitting on the stove for 18 hours now and its still warm. I'd like my stove back!

Depends on the ambient air temp and the volume of wort, 24 hours should see it down to room temperature. I hope you have your kettle well sealed? Any reason why you didn't transfer to an ait tight cube and seal for cooling?

Cheers
Andrew

 

[lucas]

if you're chilling in you're kettle, best bet is to take it away from the heat source (though it's a bit late now). there's always a lot of heat left in the stand/element, so it's good to get it away from there.

if the kettle is small enough to stick in the sink, I'd give it a bath in cold water, stirring the water occasionally to get it cool as quick as possible. Im not so comfortable with the idea of completely ambient chilling without a well sealed container

 

[braufrau]

I'm going off this no chill thingo.
It saves a bit of time on the day but then the brewing day goes on and on for another 24 hours.
Anyone know where I can get some cheap copper tubing?

 

[Weizguy]

G'day braufrau,

Sorry if this seems harsh, but you seem to have missed the point of "no-chill".

As I see it, the object is to allow the wort to cool naturally (that's the bit you're doing), but in the sanitary milieu (nice word) of an internally-pasteurised jerry can.

The heat pasteurises the inside of the plastic, which one has hopefully cleansed and sanitised beforehand.

I have cooled wort in the kettle overnight, and it's akin to playing Russian Roulette with your beer. If there are any opportunistic organisms in the area (wild yeast, bacteria, other mould and fungi, dogs etc), your beer may be contaminated by them as it cools and becomes vulnerable.

If I was using the technique you've employed, I'd probably bring the beer to the boil again for, say, 10 minutes and then rack (while hot) into a sanitised fermentor, and cool that in a sink/bathtub. Ensure that the airlock contains just enough sanitiser or boiled water to cover the bend and then plug the top of the airlock with a clean cotton ball. Insurance? Yes!
An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure, which in this case would mean a whole new batch of ingredients, coz you can't "undo" an opportunistic contamination.
I understand that re-boiling will wind back any late hopping you have employed, but you'll still get a drinkable beer, rather than potential drain cleaner.

My 2 cents/ ounce of prevention
Beerz
Les

 

[Stuster]

I agree with lucas. I think it's much better to use a sealed container for no chilling. It can take a long time to cool down in the summer (as you are now finding out unfortunately). I know there are quite a few Americans who do the no chill thing in the kettle, but I wonder what ambient temperatures are. Anyway, no help now. I'd stick it in a bath of cold water now and try to get it to pitching temp asap.

 

[Adamt]

I liberally spray the inside, uncovered sides of my kettle, outside of my kettle (particularly near the top) and the lid with phosphoric acid solution before lidding it and leaving it outside overnight. This is not ideal by any stretch of the imagination but it removes need for me to rack near-boiling wort; and I haven't had a no-chill related problem so far, particularly no oxidation. My kettle seems to seal fairly well as a crapload of condensation drips when I pull the lid off in the morning.

 

[braufrau]

Sorry if this seems harsh, but you seem to have missed the point of "no-chill".

As I see it, the object is to allow the wort to cool naturally (that's the bit you're doing), but in the sanitary milieu (nice word) of an internally-pasteurised jerry can.

The point of no chill is to add an extra racking step and buy an extra bit of equipment! Well in that case I did miss the point!
I thought it was to save an extra bit of equipment and time on brew day! Silly me!

There are a minority of no chillers who just let the wort sit in the kettle but so far, whether I get an infection or not, I've found the
whole thing a bit stressful. So either I get a chiller or go back to carrying the kettle full of boiling wort to the laundry.

 

[Weizguy]

The point of no chill is to add an extra racking step and buy an extra bit of equipment! Well in that case I did miss the point!
I thought it was to save an extra bit of equipment and time on brew day! Silly me!

Hahaha...no, there is some time-saving on the day, which creates the opportunity for you to pitch yeast on another day. At your leisure, if you will.

I don't believe that there was mention of "no extra equipment involved". :lol: Just less chilling equipment, and cleaning thereof.

We are emulating the "fresh wort" producers in our own way, and doing it (mostly ) quite well. Myself, I have have about 90 litres of wort sitting here waiting for me to get off this forum and culture some yeast. To wit, an altbier (brewed by me to split with Ms Thirstywench), a classic English pale ale, a Vienna lager and a highly late-hopped German pils (HAG pils- 2006).

So, the benefits are:
No chilling equipment required on the day;
Time saving re no-chilling of the wort;
Pitch yeast later when the yeast is sufficiently active (cells/ml/Plato);
Save the wort for when you have no time to brew;
Convenience/ laziness factor

(* makes a mental note to check the no-chill wiki, and see if it can be linked the top of each page on this thread).
Beerz
Les out

 

[braufrau]

Well for me the attraction was not having to invest in a wort chiller.
I wasn't contemplating it until there was a thread about chilling in the kettle which got me thinking.
I was also swayed by the convenience factor but now I see, for the way that I brew and the infrequent brews that I do, its much better
to get it all over and done with on the day.

I wonder if there's a no chiller who will sell me their old wort chiller???

 

[user 384]

I think it's time to re-visit the work of Louis Pasteur. Pasteur was the original no-chiller. He showed us that we don't need an airtight container or worry that wee little beasties will climb into our wort. He showed that just as long as damaging organisms can't fall into our wort, all will be sweet.

Pasteur devised a long swan-necked flask. Air could reach the flask through the opening but dust particles and microorganisms could not, because the curved neck served as a trap. Pasteur placed some fermentable broth in the flask, heated it to pasteurise the contents then let cool (just like no chilling). What he found was the broth stayed sterile. In fact there are some of his original experiments in the Louis Pasteur museum that are over 100 years old and the contents are still sterile.



The work of Pasteur is worth considering when we start to hypothesis about what we must and must not do in relation to no chilling.

Cheers

MAH

 

[Darren]

MAH,

Where would we find a 20 litre swan-necked flask?

cheers

Darren

 

[Kai]

Darren,

I find a plastic water container with the lid screwed tight is a good substitute. Come over one brew day and I'll walk you through the process if you're interested.

 

[andreic]

When I was contemplating AG brewing, buying or making a chiller seemed like a big deal (and expense)... then I saw "the no chill method". $40 for 3 of the blue 20L jerrycans from kmart (on special) - that's 3 no chill beers and still a lot cheaper than buying a chiller. The jerrycans are around $20 when not on special - still much cheaper than a chiller.

I have done 17 AG brews now and have never used a chiller! Never had an infection problem. Happy customer here

cheers