Wort Chill Method

[domonsura]

How many copper miners in South America we may save in the process,?? that just makes me feel good !!

Pumpy

None Pumpy.....they'll be mining it regardless of if we buy it or not..... (Yes, I'm a cynic, and anyway.......my plate chiller uses very little copper.......)

 

[Cortez The Killer]

I've only ever no-chilled and can't see the attraction to other methods

But at the end of the day it's personal choice

No-chilling does have its perks though
- minimal outlay
- minimal time required
- minimal water required (ie sanitisation only)
- storability of the wort for extended periods
- ability to make wort in bulk for later fermentation
- portability of wort in the cube

and I suppose I could come up with some more if I thought about it

Most of the IBU's have taken to no-chilling their beers - without reported ill affects

With regard to the diminished hop presence in aroma / flavour - I've taken to putting my final hop addition into the cube before filling (though I can't say that my beers appear to be lacking in flavour - nor have other no-chill beers I've tried)

I believe that with minimal adjustment to the hop schedule it is possible to more than compensate for any loss from not immediately chilling

Cheers

Edit: It is interesting to see that a little under ~36% no-chill and I'd imagine with time further brewers will be heading down this path - as AG brewing gains popularity

 

[kevnlis]

Does anyone know what temp hops stop isomerising? Is there a scale of how much bitterness is added at a certain temp? Say you ice bath chilled your wort right down to 70C before you ptu it in the no chill cube would that be enough to stop the hops from continuing to add bitterness and losing the flavour components?

 

[bonj]

I would think that dropping the wort to 70 would have adverse affects on the worts ability to resist contamination.

 

[troydo]

you should be cubing your wort as hot as possible! it helps to paturise the small amount of air and the plastic as i understand it anyway!

then again i always pitch within 2 days

 

[Julez]

I "no chill" myself, although I'm not sure how good my method is....only up to AG #2 at this stage, so the first one I put straight from the kettle into my fermenter and cooled it down overnight in the beer fridge. Obviously there is a fair amount of head space compared to none in a cube. My first brew tastes great after two weeks in bottles, so I hope that's indicative of a successful "no chill"!? Anything I should be worried about doing it this way? Any tips gladly received.

Cheers :icon_cheers:

 

[Julez]

I "no chill" myself, although I'm not sure how good my method is....only up to AG #2 at this stage, so the first one I put straight from the kettle into my fermenter and cooled it down overnight in the beer fridge. Obviously there is a fair amount of head space compared to none in a cube. My first brew tastes great after two weeks in bottles, so I hope that's indicative of a successful "no chill"!? Anything I should be worried about doing it this way? Any tips gladly received.

Cheers :icon_cheers:

Answering my own question here after my brew day today - I definitely won't put fermenter with hot wort in the fridge to chill next time. It works fine in terms of the chilling (takes about 6 hrs), but because the wort temp inside the fermenter is warm/hot and the fridge air is cold, it causes the air lock to suck water backwards into the fermenter. So I'm going to need that cube for my next no chill after all. Also should make life easier for when it comes time to transfer from cube to fermenter, so wort is at a suitable temp and I can aerate like a maniac :beerbang: .

Where can I get myself a cube in Brisbane area? Do HB shops sell them?

Cheers, Julez.

 

[NickB]

I got my cubes from a camping shop, but the jerry style plastic cubes I use for NC just came from BigW or Kmart. The 20L (which actually holds around 24L) goes for around the $20 - 25 mark....

 

[Julez]

I got my cubes from a camping shop, but the jerry style plastic cubes I use for NC just came from BigW or Kmart. The 20L (which actually holds around 24L) goes for around the $20 - 25 mark....

Ah bewdy, thanks for that

 

[user 1153]

No chill for me.

18 brews with no problems.

I just can't bring myself to waste water. If the water levels ever return to their "non restricted" levels then I'd consider it.
(or if I ever get a water tank I suppose)

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

I've long considered that chilling with water straight from the tap is an excess I wanted to avoid, so I NoChill'd. I'm currently exploring the differences between the beer when chill'd and NoChill'd (which I am doing with a metric shedload of ice I make in the freezer).

People have spoken about how they have dedicated chilling water or a pool or a high altitude lake. Lucky bastards.

Consider that you can use the water in some other way after you have chilled with it. Consider (for the sake of this argument) that you might use 100 litres of water for a 23 litre batch. The exact numbers are irrelevant, though.

If you brew twice a week, you're using a lot of water. If you brew twice a year, in the context of your total water usage it becomes background noise.

So, I think you need to factor in how often/much you brew as well as all the other factors.

 

[Back Yard Brewer]

No chill for me.

18 brews with no problems.

I just can't bring myself to waste water. If the water levels ever return to their "non restricted" levels then I'd consider it.
(or if I ever get a water tank I suppose)

I am still getting my head around this "no chill" method. How about giving me your details in step form. Do you put the wort straight from kettle into fermenter,do you let it cool then transfer to fermenter for cooling e.t.c The reason I ask is that in the past 6 AG's that I have made two have taken on a funky or infected taste.This has only happened and I say only, when my yeast has taken around 24hrs or more to kick in.I have been using a CFC for all my AG's. Nowadays I make sure I have rehydrated my dry yeast before pitching or made a starter from a fresh Wyeast. My cleaning techniques have not changed during the last 6 AG's. I have also made the same style beer with the same malt bill and hop.Yes I am an APA fanatic.

BYB

 

[gibbocore]

Hi guys, rather than start a new thread, i was having a search and wanted to know if anyone does a recirculating chill?

i was thinking of installing a copper coil inside my kettle that would recirculate a closed circuit of water pumped from the bottom of an esky housing around 8 frozen 2l water bottles through the coil and back out over the top of the ice bank using an old washing machine pump or something.

I gather my main obstacles will be keeping the ice frozen or keeping the water in the esky at a usable temp for long enough. I just want a push button solution for my herms.

 

[razz]

I'm using the Mr.Malty method Gibbocore. Although he uses a CFC I use a plate chiller. What are you using at the moment?

 

[gibbocore]

i'm currently using an immersion chiller. It uses a disgusting amount of water.

 

[chappo1970]

Gibbo,
I've been toying with this idea for a while now. I have a mash master plate chiller which works great in pulling the wort straight from the kettle, say 80C or so, to 27C (tap water temp in Brissy) in about 15mins. My problem is pulling that extra 10 to 17C for pitching, which BTW takes about 4-5hrs in the fridge set at 4C.

Originally I hooked up a pond pump with the plate chiller and used a 60lt garbage bin to act as an ice bin. I recirculated thru the plate chiller returning the HE water to the bin. 6 bags of ice later I ended up with wort at 24C, I had gained 3C :lol: . So I guess that yes it's difficult to keep the HE water at an usable temp.

My next experiment will be to have the tap water running thru 20m of copper coil (ex immersion chiller) in the same manner but not recirculating, just tap water running thru the iced water coil to the chiller plate and the HE water going to the garden as normal.

Sorry probably hasn't helped your quest.

 

[razz]

If you can recirc the wort through a pump and back into the kettle whilst using the immersion chiller you will cool much faster and use less water.

 

[gibbocore]

i have a water agitator for the HLT that i could easily place into the kettle to create a gentle whirlpool? This might work.

 

[razz]

As long as you are moving the wort against the coil it will be more efficient than your current setup. If you go down the ice bath path it usually helps to use water only to remove alot of heat first and then use the ice to get to the temp down to pitching temp.

 

[daemon]

I no-chill, it's easy to do and I've never had a problem. As I'm not a heavy drinker, it means I can make a few batches at once (when I have time and all the gear out) then just grab a cube to ferment when required. It means I basically have a few fresh wort kits on-hand and made to my specifications