Disadvantages of No Chill

[samale]

I brewed using the no chill method for over 4 years. I have only recently been gifted a wort chiller. I also brew raw ales with no boil or chill. @BeerCat is leading the way with raw ales on the forum.
You should give it ago so you can compare with chilling, you maybe surprised. As stated above you may have to adjust hop schedule for certain style's. My next raw ale will be a stout.

 

[BeerCat]

I brewed using the no chill method for over 4 years. I have only recently been gifted a wort chiller. I also brew raw ales with no boil or chill. @BeerCat is leading the way with raw ales on the forum.
You should give it ago so you can compare with chilling, you maybe surprised. As stated above you may have to adjust hop schedule for certain style's. My next raw ale will be a stout.

Thanks for your kind words, the only real disadvantage i see are hopstands but you can always add cold bottled water to bring it down. That's one of the advantages of no boil.

 

[trueblue]

As I have a good counterflow chiller which gets the wort from boiling to pitching in around 20 mins I can't see any reason to try no chill. Also as I have a good idea when the wort is ready I can manage my yeast so it is pitched at high krausen.

 

[samale]

As I have a good counterflow chiller which gets the wort from boiling to pitching in around 20 mins I can't see any reason to try no chill. Also as I have a good idea when the wort is ready I can manage my yeast so it is pitched at high krausen.

It's a case of each to their own then

 

[Ajhutch]

I do no chill for anything other than very hoppy styles as I don’t like to use any more water than I have to, and my setup is all too higgledy piggledy to easily save chilling water for cleaning.

For me it’s normally a case of putting the cube in the fridge and pitching next day. I’ve never had a noticeable infection that I would put down to the no chill, but it is absolutely the case that risk is heightened and you have to be careful.

I tried it once on an IPA and the beer wasn’t great, I think it’s best to do your hopstand with a hop spider or similar, if the hop matter goes into the cube you need to reduce the amount so you don’t over bitter but then you get less hop oils.

As mentioned previously, it can cause a chill haze but I don’t think I get it very much worse than when I used to chill everything.

 

[An Ankoù]

Also as I have a good idea when the wort is ready I can manage my yeast so it is pitched at high krausen.

You've lost me on that one. Do you mean your yeast culture is at high krausen?

I've done a number of not-quite-chill, even with hoppy beers. I think you need to take the edge off by bringing the wort down to about 70C quite quickly. After that, it can cool down in it's own sweet time, but otherwise the hope flavours tend to evaporate.

 

[Nicks90]

I tried it once on an IPA and the beer wasn’t great, I think it’s best to do your hopstand with a hop spider or similar, if the hop matter goes into the cube you need to reduce the amount so you don’t over bitter but then you get less hop oils

Just use the extended boil time bit on brewersfriend under "no chill" and put in 15mins. Oh and use a hop bag or spider and drag them mofos out after the 15mins is up! Seems to be fairly accurate and allows you to alter the hop schedule to suit.

Alternatively if you are really worried you won't get those late hop flavours, wait a couple of hours until you are sure the wort has cooled well down from the boil {less than 80} and drop your hops in and leave them overnight / till it's at pitching temp.

 

[Ajhutch]

I've done a number of not-quite-chill, even with hoppy beers. I think you need to take the edge off by bringing the wort down to about 70C quite quickly. After that, it can cool down in it's own sweet time, but otherwise the hope flavours tend to evaporate.

That’s a good idea and wouldn’t use much water.

 

[samale]

For IPA's I add a small addition at flameout and let it sit until it drops in temp. I transfer from my boiler to my cube at 80 degrees, this is when I add the rest of my hot side hops. These will stay in the cube in a hop bag until I transfer the next day to my fermentor.
I then dry hop around day 10. I have had some very good reviews from beer I have sent out using this method.

 

[samale]

Another advantage is that you can get very little turb in the fermentor. As you filter twice

 

[foxy]

I have put this link up before, plenty of people 'no chill' over here I have read of some who have kept a cube of wort for a couple of years. If its late I will chill my wort as usual put the lid on the kettle, sanitise and cling wrap the kettle. Finish of next day.
The link I am putting up another thing you can do is pour the trub and wort from the dead space, (could be 2 litres of heavily sugared wort in there) into a jug place jug in the fridge and it will settle out pour the wort into a saucepan boil and add you late addition hops. If you are going to ferment the following day that is.
Late Hopping And No Chilling Guide

 

[cheeseyfeet]

I no chill all of the time and store in HDPE 20l jerry cans. Sometimes I'll keep the wort in there for weeks as it lets me brew when I can (double length at times) and then have wort to ferment when stocks are starting to get low.

I've had good results from cube hopping, where I'll get half my IBUs from hops put directly into the cube and then the boiling wort racked into it at flame out. I find that the flavour contribution is great from this.

A night on my garage floor gets the wort to 16-18 degrees c every time.

Another bonus is that pouring the wort from the jerry can once cooled into the fermenter naturally oxygenates it.

Never had an infection.

 

[samale]

I no chill all of the time and store in HDPE 20l jerry cans. Sometimes I'll keep the wort in there for weeks as it lets me brew when I can (double length at times) and then have wort to ferment when stocks are starting to get low.

I've had good results from cube hopping, where I'll get half my IBUs from hops put directly into the cube and then the boiling wort racked into it at flame out. I find that the flavour contribution is great from this.

A night on my garage floor gets the wort to 16-18 degrees c every time.

Another bonus is that pouring the wort from the jerry can once cooled into the fermenter naturally oxygenates it.

Never had an infection.

I use a cheap 23litre fermentor with no holes on the lid for an airlock. It has a tap which gives you the advantage of more trub settling to the bottom. Giving you as much clear bear as possible

 

[trueblue]

You've lost me on that one. Do you mean your yeast culture is at high krausen?

I've done a number of not-quite-chill, even with hoppy beers. I think you need to take the edge off by bringing the wort down to about 70C quite quickly. After that, it can cool down in it's own sweet time, but otherwise the hope flavours tend to evaporate.

10 mins into my boil I take a litre of wort and crash cool. Pouring off the spent wort from the starter and adding the fresh wort and put onto the stil plate. By the time the boil is finished and the wort cooled the fresh starter is begging to be pitched. I was told of this method from a more experienced brewer probably over 25 years ago with his argument being it acclimatises the yeast to the beer it is going to ferment and decreases the lag time which it does.
For clarity I did say in my OP no chill increases the risk of infection not you will get an infection.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I did no chill for years but had a high rate of infection especially in the summer months. I'd had enough so I made a chiller from copper coil and I've had no infection since I made it in 2014. However I'm not on a water meter so that maybe a consideration for a lot of people.

 

[Saisonator]

The worst thing I would say is having to alter hop schedules compared to normal brewing methods.

 

[trueblue]

I did no chill for years but had a high rate of infection especially in the summer months. I'd had enough so I made a chiller from copper coil and I've had no infection since I made it in 2014. However I'm not on a water meter so that maybe a consideration for a lot of people.

I am on a water metre and use the water I use for washing everything at the end.