Wort Chiller - Is it really necessary?

[Clint]

What would you name the biggest wort chiller owner?
Dixy Normous....?

 

[samale]

What would you name the biggest wort chiller owner?
Dixy Normous....?

 

[DocAnna]

This is turning into a **** measuring contest. The question was asked is it necessary to have a wort chiller. The answer is no

Excuse me - present company excepted!

 

[foxy]

Is a TV or washing machine necessary the answer is no. But like them a wort chiller does make life (and brew day) easier.

Depends on the equipment being used, when I was using 'no chill' it made brew day a breeze.
If one has a kettle with a tap, a helix, and a cube or jerry can, and enough room in the kettle for a full volume mash. Then there is nothing easier.

One meter of helix, all that is needed for 'no chill'

Fully drains the kettle, leaving all the hop debris and hot break behind, drains easily due to the higher viscosity of the wort.

Final runnings, nothing but wort and cold break get into the cube/fermenter.

Run the wort into a 25 litre cube, which has 3 litres of head space making it a 28 litre capacity, ideal for 21 & 23 litre brews. Run the wort in at 80 C, bog standard HDPE is OK for that temperature. Swill it all around the sanitised cube making sure it goes inside the hollow handle, leave to cool overnight and pitch yeast direct into cube.
A male screwed barb would need to be fitted to the cap with a short length of hose and a JG tap, when yeast is pitched add another length of hose into a blow off bottle with sanitiser.
Makes for a very short brew day.

 

[PhilBrew]

This is turning into a **** measuring contest. The question was asked is it necessary to have a wort chiller. The answer is no

Excuse me - present company excepted!

... well, you say that now ... but post 55 in this thread (link) reads very much like a self-measured (unverified) declaration of 11 inches

We can switch to the pi$$ing contest metaphor if you prefer, either by volume or highest up the wall ... but its important that those who indulge in playing these game, recognise their involvement

Cheers, PhilB

 

[Binkei Huckaback]

As I've recommended elsewhere on the forum, the OP should peruse some academic papers and make up their own mind. Failing that, take note of how professional brewers brew. I am sure a decision can then be made based on scientifically you need a wort chiller and what is best for your situation (cost/risk analysis).

Whilst there is undoubtedly an awful lot of extremely useful informtation on thus forum you would never be able to acquire anywhere else, as with any forum on any subject or hobby, there will inevitably sometimes be opinion dressed up as fact. Remember the old addage 'put 5 brewers in a room and you'll get 6 answers'. Well, not exactly, but I'm sure you catch the drift.

Please note, I'm not saying one opinion is any more valid than another. I'm not.

 

[DocAnna]

... well, you say that now ... but post 55 in this thread (link) reads very much like a self-measured (unverified) declaration of 11 inches

We can switch to the pi$$ing contest metaphor if you prefer, either by volume or highest up the wall ... but its important that those who indulge in playing these game, recognise their involvement

Cheers, PhilB

Fair comment on my post, and I've tried to steer clear of comments about gender and in hindsight I should have just stayed out of this one rather than making what looks like a flippant comment. I think I'll stick to a 'who has the biggest grain bill' metaphor, particularly since I currently have two 25kg sacks of grain at the moment in my car .

Anna

 

[Buffers brewery]

Fair comment on my post, and I've tried to steer clear of comments about gender and in hindsight I should have just stayed out of this one rather than making what looks like a flippant comment. I think I'll stick to a 'who has the biggest grain bill' metaphor, particularly since I currently have two 25kg sacks of grain at the moment in my car .

Anna

A case of SOHF me thinks. I got it

 

[BeerGuy2020]

My 3rd question of the day. I don't have a wort chiller and have been avoiding the purchase (as I may go from my current set-up to a hopcat or similar). I just let the beer cool naturally before pitching the year the following morning.

Is this a fundamental mistake and I either need to get a wort chiller or take the next step ASAP?

PS. I went with a very basic system first as I wanted to truly understand the process. I'd just like to get good use of this kit before upgrading and making some of it redundant.

How Do ,
Adequate Cooling of Wort post boil is a MUST in brewing ,
Cheers
Edd

 

[Dro]

Don't daunted by it (or all the arguing about process :) ). BIAB in particular is dead simple, there's just a little bit of a learning curve to get it straight in your head. Use an app like Brewfather for your recipes.

Thanks JT, sounds fascinating and like to learn.

 

[aamcle]

Foxy, have you moved on from No Chill if so why?

Somebody commented on literature and what the pros do, things that may or may not apply completely to low volume home brew.

Two points
the Ausi's manage very well with no chill
It wasn't many years ago when BIAB wasn't supported by the "experts" but it works.

Aamcle

 

[foxy]

Foxy, have you moved on from No Chill if so why?

Somebody commented on literature and what the pros do, things that may or may not apply completely to low volume home brew.

Two points
the Ausi's manage very well with no chill
It wasn't many years ago when BIAB wasn't supported by the "experts" but it works.

Aamcle

The reason I moved from 'no chill' was purely to try and get more accuracy with the hops, mainly for competition brewing. There is a vague chart to follow, which is a 20 minute delay with additions. But not an accurate scale once it gets down to cube and dry hop. I was happy with the way my beers turned out. There are even those who say that they got a better beer letting a wort age for a year. I never did that, the yeast was pitched within two days.

 

[aamcle]

I move on to a GF when my DIY recirculating Biab leaked once too often and I haven't NoChilled since.
I to wasn't that convinced I could get the hope right, now I'd probably only use NoChill for beers with few late hops.

Atb
Atb.