No Chill Cubes

The Cat · Oct 17, 2024

MrRook said:
I've been doing this for years with no issue: seal the lid with plastic wrap and into the cellar overnight.View attachment 104921

I do similar these days and have not found off tastes or infections as yet.

Larse · Oct 17, 2024

aero-spaced-out said:
Likely would yes
It's kinda how I handled it last night with my initial cooling period being expedited by the somewhere messy IC.
Thinking about cubes bc it opens up the potential for me to do brews after work and still have time to clean

Considering I was set up properly and on time when I arrive home lol

You cooled to 40° and were probably very hands on by the sound of it. If you just let it cool naturally to around 50° and clean up while waiting, all you'd be left to clean would be the kettle. Might be an efficient way of doing it.

foxy · Oct 18, 2024

aero-spaced-out said:
Hello,

I've had a disaster of a first brew in my backroom with no running water. Steam condenser didn't work as well as I though it would with a large capacity pump which was inconvenient but manageable.

The biggest sticking point was cooling.
I tried using my immersion coil chiller and this ended up being incredibly inefficient and messy.
I managed to get it down to about 37°C before transferring to my fermzilla for the evening and pitched the yeast this morning.

I will not be using this method again in this setting. Which lead me to the no chill method.

I'm looking at these:

https://www.bluestarpackaging.co.uk...-evident-cap---30-recycled-content-3810-p.asp

Also looking at the 20L from Malt Miller too and a couple of 1/2L ones too from Bluestar to maximise my yield.

Anybody able to share their experience with no chill?
It's rather deflating that the money I spent on the cooling equipment is effectively wasted in my current setting but needs must you know?
Once I get a different place with better room and running water access it'll come into its own again.

Only use HDPE cubes if you really want to cube the wort. But I agree with what a couple of others have said: leave it in the kettle until the next day. The kettle is sanitised, so there are no worries there.
The other issue is the hops, some will say to use the 40 minute in place of 60 min, 10 minute in place of 30 minutes 20 and later add after flame out or in the cube.
It makes more sense to calculate the hops at 80 minutes, not 60 minutes and the same with other additions. Isomerisation at 90C is half of what it is at 100C. Brewers Friend or the like will help calculate the additions.

MashBag · Oct 18, 2024

jof said:
I think @MashBag is a minimal effort AG brewer, even fermenting in the kettle (which I might try at some point)
At one point I think he was using a standard fan pointed at the kettle to increase the cooling rate as a simple alternative to a fancy chiller.

Just to complete that... Its the extractor fan. After boil I remove the 4" hoze and then aim in at the kettle. Works like a charm. Beer is cool after lunch and i nip back & sprinkle.

peebee · Oct 18, 2024

MrRook said:
I've been doing this for years with no issue: seal the lid with plastic wrap and into the cellar overnight.View attachment 104921

That's not "no-chill"! That's "no-chill".

Now, pay attention and understand the difference!

Next we'll have @MashBag explaining where we'll find the boiler's on/off switch. (What you mean he already has and I'm not paying attention? ... Cheeky so-and-so.).

MashBag · Oct 18, 2024

Have you forgot your tablets

Ps. Have you seen my other thread? I know you know the answer.

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/cleaver-priming-sugar-required.105940/

peebee · Oct 18, 2024

The piccie of my no-chill cubes with "anti-bulge" plates attached and overly complicated fillers, ready to go, as promised earlier:

Don't actually need those "complicated" tee-pieces on the fillers: The "Y" splitter like on the "Hop Missile" (a Chinese rip-off of the Blichmann Hop Rocket) with two filler tubes does the same job - i.e. fill two or more cubes without interuption (I brew 45/65L batches). The air vents (blue pipes here) are needed because the cubes are filled while sealed. Needs a pump on the boiler (if it's an impeller pump the cubes simply stop filling when full ... they can't overflow).

The "Hop Missile" replaces the purpose of "whirlpool" and "steep" hops (which you can't use with no-chill cubes 'cos the cubes must be filled straight after the boil).

Now @MashBag's reminded me, I'm just off down the tablet Chemist for a resupply.

gavp1979 · Oct 18, 2024

Sorry I can't help with no-chill but I am interested to know how you managed to use your immersion chiller with no running water?

jof · Oct 18, 2024

gavp1979 said:
Sorry I can't help with no-chill but I am interested to know how you managed to use your immersion chiller with no running water?

You could run it like a siphon, cold bucket up high draining to another.
But you would have to be careful holding the pipes in place so it doesn't spurt over the floor or overflow.
And controlling the flow rate so it doesn't empty too quickly.

gavp1979 · Oct 19, 2024

jof said:
You could run it like a siphon, cold bucket up high draining to another.
But you would have to be careful holding the pipes in place so it doesn't spurt over the floor or overflow.
And controlling the flow rate so it doesn't empty too quickly.

But with the amount of water that an immersion chiller uses you would need a lot of bucket refills! After saving the first couple for cleaning you couldn't really reuse the water because it would be warm after going through the chiller so you would need to constantly get rid of them and without running water I wouldn't expect a sink to pour them into.

I am not having a go, I was genuinely wondering how the OP had managed.

MashBag · Oct 19, 2024

gavp1979 said:
Sorry I can't help with no-chill but I am interested to know how you managed to use your immersion chiller with no running water?

Run it on a bucket of ice and a pond pump.

Pipe it up to a rainwater butt.

Run it to and from a well.

MashBag · Oct 19, 2024

gavp1979 said:
.... I wouldn't expect a sink to pour them into.

I am not having a go, I was genuinely wondering how the OP had managed.

I have two sinks without running water. How dare you

gavp1979 · Oct 19, 2024

MashBag said:
Run it on a bucket of ice and a pond pump.

Pipe it up to a rainwater butt.

Run it to and from a well.

Fair enough, I hadn't considered using an ice bucket to cool and re-use the water

MashBag said:
I have two sinks without running water. How dare you

Sorry Mashbag

Nucbrewer · Oct 20, 2024

I have two immersion coils the first will be in the kettle the second in a bucket which I will pour bagged ice from the supermarket into with a submersible pump in a third bucket which will be the reservoir. Plan is to pump the water through the cold coil before it goes to the kettle coil then the water is returned to the pump bucket. No idea how it’s going to work but wanted to see if I could save water. I can run a hose to the garage but don’t have a drain there so it’s a pain emptying buckets of wam water away.

Larse · Oct 20, 2024

Nucbrewer said:
I have two immersion coils the first will be in the kettle the second in a bucket which I will pour bagged ice from the supermarket into with a submersible pump in a third bucket which will be the reservoir. Plan is to pump the water through the cold coil before it goes to the kettle coil then the water is returned to the pump bucket. No idea how it’s going to work but wanted to see if I could save water. I can run a hose to the garage but don’t have a drain there so it’s a pain emptying buckets of wam water away.

The water from the kettle coil will be very hot at the beginning. It'll probably melt your ice in no time. Maybe leave the kettle sit for an hour and cool naturally to a more manageable temperature before running through your ice bucket?

Nucbrewer · Oct 20, 2024

It will be a fermentation bucket full of ice I thought it would be an interesting experiment as I can revert back to the hosepipe feed if it’s not working. My main focus is to reduce the amount of waste water so I may be better off starting from the hosepipe and collect hot water for cleaning then introduce the second coil after I have dropped to 80 degrees for whirlpool hop addition.

peebee · Oct 20, 2024

Is this discussion about "no-chill" started to get decidedly "warm"? Or is it just me?

"Immersion chillers" and "bagged ice"? Beats all my attempts to bump threads off-subject and hi-jack 'em. I'll have to try harder ....

I'll trouble the Mods to see if this change of direction can be splintered off into its own thread (which others with no interest in "no-chill" might read and contribute to) ...

MashBag · Oct 20, 2024

peebee said:
Is this discussion about "no-chill" started to get decidedly "warm"? Or is it just me?

Lol. We were thinking along the same lines.

The only water you need to use is in your coffee. Leave it to cool on its own! Saves no end of water.

Important notice:
Your marriage is at risk if you do not keep your your **** out of the kitchen at teatime or other mealtimes secured on it. ... This is a lifetime agreement and the terms an not negotiable.

Agentgonzo · Oct 20, 2024

MashBag said:
Absolutely. Try it you might like it.
Half filled cornies are next.

What is the benefit of half filling a cornie?

MashBag · Oct 20, 2024

Big gas space. No co2 cylinder required.

No Chill Cubes

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