No chill

[dad_of_jon]

I cheat as I generally extract brew/mini mash /hop tea. I do a reduced boil volume 6-8 litres of a 21 litre brew length. A couple of near freezing bottles of water to hand to make a temp adjustment. Last time I checked cold water from tap it was 14c. My process means chilling not required. On the odd occasion I need to pitch yeast in high 20's+ I boil a bit more water.

 

[MashBag]

Peeling back the insulation will have helped too.

You should look into detachable cooling fans like the things they stick on CPUs only bigger and collar shaped.

Yeah, insulation always get peeled back to the handles, so the timing is a true comparison.

I will plug the fan into the inkbird, it was 18c when I went back to it, so ended up having to give it heat it before pitching.

For fermentation there may be options here for temperature control.

 

[Twostage]

Yeah, insulation always get peeled back to the handles, so the timing is a true comparison.

I will plug the fan into the inkbird, it was 18c when I went back to it, so ended up having to give it heat it before pitching.

For fermentation there may be options here for temperature control.

How far below target was it ? I've pitched a few degrees south recently with no ill effects.

 

[MashBag]

To be honest I could have done.

 

[MashBag]

Another success with the fan.
98c down to 80c in 15mins. That's a gain, I normally allow 30 mins.

 

[peebee]

A very opportune wake-up of this thread.

As I always state, this subject is very much defined by some as to be a description of a process that we were doing in the 1970s (just leaving the boiled wort to cool naturally), and the name by others, of a process "invented" by the "down-under" bunch to package boiled wort, let it cool in its own time, and keep it safe until pitched with yeast at a later date.

I'm very much in the later camp. And I'm still struggling with my "adaptions" to allow me to fill multiple "no-chill cubes" (I brew 40 and 60L batches) without having to keep an eagle eye on it. It interfaces with a "Hop-missile", so I don't have to worry about time (and temperature?) for hop steeps. This assembly fits to the cap on a "cube" (the 4mm adapter connects to a venting arrangement to allow filling while sealed):

 

[MashBag]

One Pc fan underneath.
Insulation peeled back, with another fan behind.
Finished boil @ 09.00 when I came home after lunch 24c@ 14.00

Same brew yesterday but not fan assisted was still 38c @ 20.30.

This morning exactly 24hrs after boil 24c.

So fan assisted "no chill" significantly reduces the cooling time.
From 24+hrs to 6 hours in a 10c ambient.

 

[MashBag]

This is the main fan.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/39466442...JqzRlhvQpi&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

[jambop]

I use twin immersion chillers and save the water for the garden. In the summer I can only cool to about 27C but in the winter I can cool down to 20C no problem with a lot less water. The first thirty litres I keep for clean up as it is very hot. The rest goes in the garden water butts. I used to worry about wasting water but I do not now . I have a great idea for using brown water from the gutters which goes into a water butt that holds 300L it could be pumped directly through the chillers and out into another empty water butt and just recirculate ad nauseum... not got round to setting that up yet

 

[Twostage]

This is the main fan.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/39466442...JqzRlhvQpi&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Crikey, I was imagining those computer fan things.

I use a big, mains powered floor standing fan to push the water vapour out of the shed during the boil. Maybe...

 

[MashBag]

I use twin immersion chillers and save the water for the garden. In the summer I can only cool to about 27C but in the winter I can cool down to 20C no problem with a lot less water. The first thirty litres I keep for clean up as it is very hot. The rest goes in the garden water butts. I used to worry about wasting water but I do not now . I have a great idea for using brown water from the gutters which goes into a water butt that holds 300L it could be pumped directly through the chillers and out into another empty water butt and just recirculate ad nauseum... not got round to setting that up yet

I thought I was getting confused with the phrase "fan assisted no chill cooling" I edited that one out. Not sure you read the title

Joking aside. Water butts are a great idea. But struggle in the summer it they are in the sun. I no chill just cos it saves soooo much time.

 

[Twostage]

I thought I was getting confused with the phrase "fan assisted no chill cooling" I edited that one out. Not sure you read the title

Joking aside. Water butts are a great idea. But struggle in the summer it they are in the sun. I no chill just cos it saves soooo much time.

This talk of water butts has reminded me that I've got a huge one that was originally going to catch water for the horses the girls had at the time. Not sure what its capacity is but it must be 6 foot high and 5 foot diameter. Its on the North side so is nearly always in shade. Might just give it the once over.

 

[MashBag]

Always worth popping some copper in them too as a fungicide. Only a little thing, but I don't fancy water butt water anywhere near my beer.

Sorry but my inner bleach queen is getting all shouty and red in the face

 

[jambop]

Always worth popping some copper in them too as a fungicide. Only a little thing, but I don't fancy water butt water anywhere near my beer.

Sorry but my inner bleach queen is getting all shouty and red in the face

Would you let Ethylene glycol near your beer? The water never gets near the beer it is pumped through a copper pipe submerged in the beer.

 

[MashBag]

Would you let Ethylene glycol near your beer?

Good choice.
No.
I don't rate that particular substance, at all.

 

[Paul Quinn]

I know this part of the thread is quite old, and everyone seems to have given their two-penneth on the subject of cooling, but I would like to ask if anyone can find fault with a cooling method I have come up with. If it has already been put forward then I am not as clever as I think I am, but I can live with that.
I like to think it is cheap, simple and eco-friendly, three things I have personally been called.
Freeze tap water in plastic containers, take out when frozen. Vacuum seal the blocks leaving space for expansion in the bag when they thaw, and toss them back in the freezer. When ready, chuck into hot wort, and hey presto. Take out the bags of water, wash and re-freeze for next time.
All responses welcome.

 

[The Baron]

Plenty have done that using mainly 2 litre pop bottles usually not directly in the wort(although some have) but usually used in large buckets around the FV etc.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Vacuum seal the blocks leaving space for expansion in the bag when they thaw

They'll actually shrink when they thaw.

But as baron says, it's a proven method.

 

[Paul Quinn]

They'll actually shrink when they thaw.

But as baron says, it's a proven method.

Yes, they will shrink, my mistake. Glad to hear it is an approved method, thanks.

 

[Paul Quinn]

Thank you. Very encouraging.