None chilled wort brewing

[Andyhull]

Hi all,
Just a couple of questions:-

1, Is there a way to AG brew without chilling?
2, If i don't chill the wort, what effect will it have on the brew?

Thanks

Andy

 

[Vossy1]

Chilling overnight is quite popular on the US and Aus forums will few ill effects on the beer reported. Non chilling means you don't precipitate the proteins out of solution as quickly as you would do by chilling. This is purported to lead to potential chill hazes and reduction in storage life of the beer. Having read about it, few of the brewers who do it seem to suffer with chill hazes and if you're making your beer for quick consumption and don't intend storing it for months you'll be fine.
If you do suffer from chill hazes there are ways to sort it, best deal with that at the time as it may not be a problem for you :thumb:

 

[jonnymorris]

You're also leaving your lovely vat of wort available to other organisms that might be interested before you introduce your organism of choice, i.e. yeast.

Not a problem if careful but still a higher risk.

 

[RobWalker]

Chilling overnight is quite popular on the US and Aus forums will few ill effects on the beer reported. Non chilling means you don't precipitate the proteins out of solution as quickly as you would do by chilling. This is purported to lead to potential chill hazes and reduction in storage life of the beer. Having read about it, few of the brewers who do it seem to suffer with chill hazes and if you're making your beer for quick consumption and don't intend storing it for months you'll be fine.
If you do suffer from chill hazes there are ways to sort it, best deal with that at the time as it may not be a problem for you :thumb:

You do get a cold break with the no chill method - and you can syphon off the junk the next day if you want to. Compared to low volume extract where you mix with cold water like I do, that's still an improvement on a lot of brewing methods imo!

As for bacterial infection, the wort itself will sanitize anything it touches, so many just make sure the hot wort touches every surface. For this reason, 5 gallon food safe jerry cans are a popular way. Fill it up, seal, shake it about and everything is sterile. I personally dump it into a sanitized FV, put it under airlock and yeast it the next day. Works fine, but I would suggest using the water bath method a few times to get it down to a temperature you can handle.

 

[Vossy1]

You do get a cold break with the no chill method

Just checking you didn't think I said you dont :lol:

Non chilling means you don't precipitate the proteins out of solution as quickly as you would do by chilling

 

[RobWalker]

fair enough, that's beyond my knowledge what you said up there - hahah.

 

[charlie_mead_face]

what i have been doing is freezing a 5lt bottle of spring water and crushing it befor adding it to the wort to get the temp down

 

[Vossy1]

air enough, that's beyond my knowledge what you said up there - hahah.

I'm starting to think it's beyond mine....sooo rusty regards brewing

what i have been doing is freezing a 5lt bottle of spring water and crushing it befor adding it to the wort to get the temp down

One of my friends used to do something similar though he used ice cubes, worked for him very well, never had problems with infections...I'd just be too paranoid :lol:

 

[RobWalker]

from what I hear the worry there is that bacteria isn't killed by freezing, it just lies dormant, so the water is pretty much unsterile.

but then again, i've never heard of anybody having a problem with unsterilized spring water!

 

[artiums_enteri]

Someplace jamil Zainachef's head is spinning and John Palmer is pointing at "How To Brew" with his jaw hitting the floor.

My main issue with no chill is the formation of DMS which I just spent 60-120 minutes boiling off and rogue bugs getting into the wort. I expect to have a lag time of no more than 4 hours, but that's just me. If it works you, brew sting brother!

 

[dave_h]

1st post on the forum, seems a very good site, lots of info

I have done this for around 6 AG beers and will continue to do so. Its quite popular in Oz and they call it “No Chill”.

After you have whirlpooled simply drain your wort into a sanitised 20l water jerry can (minimising splashing), squeeze as much of the air out as you can, put the lid on and slowly turn the jerry can around so the hot wort sterilises any dead space.

The wort still needs to be above 80C, then leave it too cool.

Some people have left it for over a month before fermenting but I have only left it for a couple of days.

You do lose some of the late aroma from your hops and it gets a little bit more bitter, I normally throw in my 10min hops at flame out and then dry hop a bit.

The fantastic, free, Brewmate software has a No Chill button to adjust your hops .

I have not had any chill haze or DMS problems

It’s shortens your brew day a bit and costs less, you can also make a starter with the same wort.

 

[RobWalker]

good info dave cheers! didn't know that about no chill, will deffo compensate when I string together my BIAB/no chill/cheap keg set up as i'm after max quality on a budget! :