BIAB no-chill

Anth M

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Hi all,

Does anyone do no-chill BIAB? Currently I do 10L batches and I cool it by transferring to a pot sitting in an ice bath in my sink. It works well but the ice bags cost $8 (my freezer isn't big enough to make ice blocks) and it's another step/cost I'd like to remove if possible. I've been reading about no-chill and wanted some feedback. I'm thinking to leave the wort in the kettle overnight, then at room temp transfer to FV, aerate and pitch yeast. Good/bad idea?

Cheers
 
I don't do either so I guess I'm of no use, just watch for the dingo's eating your baby! ;)
 
Hi all,

Does anyone do no-chill BIAB? Currently I do 10L batches and I cool it by transferring to a pot sitting in an ice bath in my sink. It works well but the ice bags cost $8 (my freezer isn't big enough to make ice blocks) and it's another step/cost I'd like to remove if possible. I've been reading about no-chill and wanted some feedback. I'm thinking to leave the wort in the kettle overnight, then at room temp transfer to FV, aerate and pitch yeast. Good/bad idea?

Cheers
Have you got HDPE water drums over there? That's what we use here in Aus. Or at your local Home brew store you'll find the ready made Wort kits will most likely be HDPE plastic drums then you get a beer on top of your No Chill devise.

I've no chill brewed a few times maybe 8 all up and I've just moved my bittering hops to 30 mins to go to account for extended utilization times from the slowly cooling hot wort I add my flavor hops to cube on transfer and aroma goes on as dry hops for IPA style brewskies.

As for cooling overnight in kettle its doable I recon theoretically you've just sanitized you kettle by a 60 minute boil. Just make shore you deal it up nice and snug so no spoilage bacteria can make it's way into that delicious delicate fresh microbial supporting fresh wort;).
 
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So overnight in a kettle you've got a couple of risks. Sucking in some unexpected microbe, most of which won't make a difference. The ones that do make a difference range from the harmless, but flavour changing, like lactobacillus to the sending you to emergency sometime later like clostridium botulinum.

If you've got a bit of room in the freezer you can fill up empty soft drink bottles with tap water and freeze them, then add them to sink for the ice bath. Though for 10 litre batches you'll probably need quite a few. Especially when the tap water warms up in summer. It stopped working for me when I got above 6 litre batches, but I don't have much spare freezer room.

Edit: though there's plenty of no chill brewers out there that make excellent beer. Most of them use the food grade cube approach that trialben mentions
 
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Like you I am considering the no chill method. I used a cooling coil last time. It took ages and a lot of water and still didn't get down to pitching temps... Plus, it was a logistical nightmare, as much as anything else.
I was also doing smaller batches and cooling in a bath, but I have up-scaled and no longer can do the bath manoeuvre.
Out of interest, did you swirl your pot and stir the water in the opposite direction? I found this helped and I just used a handful of ice cubes and replaced the water as it warmed up. I usually got mine down to pitching temps in about 30-45 minutes this way. Although, I do remember having to leave mine overnight a few times too...
I think the no-chill method has quite a fan base.
 
. Most of them use the food grade cube approach that trialben mentions

Just wondering what the 'cube' method is. I've heard of it, but don't know where a 'cube' comes in. I'm probably missing something obvious... I was assuming it was a term for leaving the wort in the kettle, but that doesn't sound cube-ish...:confused:
 
Thanks Trialben. Like Anth M, I am thinking about the no-chill. I thought about brewing outdoors (no condensation issues), sterilise the lid of the kettle and put it on and just leave it to cool in the kettle. Then, empty it into my fermentors (mine are a bit cube-like, as it happens) then leave them outdoors to cool further. Pitch and away we go. Not sure if this is the usual way, but I'll trialling it this week with my Oatmeal Chocolate Satsuma stout.
 
I do no chill BIAB. After the boil I transfer the hot wort to a 7 gal sanitized bucket and toss it in the fermentation chamber (a single tap kegerator with a temp controller) overnight, then aerate and pitch the next day. I have to adjust my hopping because any late additions continue to isomerize for a bit, but I haven't had any issues with this method otherwise. 10 liters should cool to room temp without a fridge on its own overnight too.
 
Have you got HDPE water drums over there? That's what we use here in Aus. Or at your local Home brew store you'll find the ready made Wort kits will most likely be HDPE plastic drums then you get a beer on top of your No Chill devise.

I've no chill brewed a few times maybe 8 all up and I've just moved my bittering hops to 30 mins to go to account for extended utilization times from the slowly cooling hot wort I add my flavor hops to cube on transfer and aroma goes on as dry hops for IPA style brewskies.

As for cooling overnight in kettle its doable I recon theoretically you've just sanitized you kettle by a 60 minute boil. Just make shore you deal it up nice and snug so no spoilage bacteria can make it's way into that delicious delicate fresh microbial supporting fresh wort;).
Hi Trialben,

I have one of those standard 15L plastic fermentors, My LHBS says it's HDPE. The plan was to dump the boil straight into that then put in ice bath but I did a test by dumping 10L of boiling water in it and it got a bit soft so I didn't proceed any further. I now dump into a cheap SS pot from BigW then pour that into FV - it's just an extra step that's a wee bit annoying. The cube could be worth checking out.

Tks for your help.

I'm in sunny Melbourne btw !!
 
So overnight in a kettle you've got a couple of risks. Sucking in some unexpected microbe, most of which won't make a difference. The ones that do make a difference range from the harmless, but flavour changing, like lactobacillus to the sending you to emergency sometime later like clostridium botulinum.

If you've got a bit of room in the freezer you can fill up empty soft drink bottles with tap water and freeze them, then add them to sink for the ice bath. Though for 10 litre batches you'll probably need quite a few. Especially when the tap water warms up in summer. It stopped working for me when I got above 6 litre batches, but I don't have much spare freezer room.

Edit: though there's plenty of no chill brewers out there that make excellent beer. Most of them use the food grade cube approach that trialben mentions
Thanks Mark, that's good advice. The cube could be a goer when I'm skilled enough to modify the hop times. Btw do you do anything with Ph for this Melbourne water of ours?
 
Like you I am considering the no chill method. I used a cooling coil last time. It took ages and a lot of water and still didn't get down to pitching temps... Plus, it was a logistical nightmare, as much as anything else.
I was also doing smaller batches and cooling in a bath, but I have up-scaled and no longer can do the bath manoeuvre.
Out of interest, did you swirl your pot and stir the water in the opposite direction? I found this helped and I just used a handful of ice cubes and replaced the water as it warmed up. I usually got mine down to pitching temps in about 30-45 minutes this way. Although, I do remember having to leave mine overnight a few times too...
I think the no-chill method has quite a fan base.
Hi Green Man,

Tks for your reply. Yes I do the brewers-coordination-challenge (that's what I'm calling it anyway) of stirring in opposite directions - you're right, it's very effective. I'm heading into my first Aussie summer doing BIAB so gonna be interesting.
 
Thanks Mark, that's good advice. The cube could be a goer when I'm skilled enough to modify the hop times. Btw do you do anything with Ph for this Melbourne water of ours?

The wife has a pH meter for kombucha, so five minutes after starting the mash I check it and then add some phosphoric acid to adjust it. Doesn't need a lot most of the time. If she hadn't bought the pH meter it'd be on my list, but pretty low down. It's not like the extract times drop off a cliff if you miss your pH, it's just that it can be a bit slower to do the conversion. I leave my mash 60-90 minutes anyway, so I expect it wouldn't make much of a difference.

I'll always add calcium chloride and gypsum as the water is ridiculously clean. Also adding a bit of a camden tablet to drive off the chloramines that are in the water some of the time.
 
I do no chill BIAB. After the boil I transfer the hot wort to a 7 gal sanitized bucket and toss it in the fermentation chamber (a single tap kegerator with a temp controller) overnight, then aerate and pitch the next day. I have to adjust my hopping because any late additions continue to isomerize for a bit, but I haven't had any issues with this method otherwise. 10 liters should cool to room temp without a fridge on its own overnight too.
Hi Beer_Pirate,

Good tip mate, reckon I'll be doing similar when I've got more brews under my belt. Gotta watch the $$ too, I keep buying things as I tweak my process and it's piling up in the garage.
 
Hi Trialben,

I have one of those standard 15L plastic fermentors, My LHBS says it's HDPE. The plan was to dump the boil straight into that then put in ice bath but I did a test by dumping 10L of boiling water in it and it got a bit soft so I didn't proceed any further. I now dump into a cheap SS pot from BigW then pour that into FV - it's just an extra step that's a wee bit annoying. The cube could be worth checking out.

Tks for your help.

I'm in sunny Melbourne btw !!
Well your in the sweet spot I recon for Homebrewing in Australia keg king and Kegland are both located in Victoria and I'd recon not to far from Melbourne. I'm sure you can get hold of a 20lt cube for same amount of dollars. If doing smaller batches I know them fresh wort kits are 15lt from HBS. I was down Melbourne early on the year and just loved the water it was so clean right out the tap! Dont move to QLD you'll need a bank of filters to get the crap out the water lol! Lovely pilsner water I recon down there and you know it is coming onto Pilsner weather.

Then again it's always pilsner weather:p!
 
Well your in the sweet spot I recon for Homebrewing in Australia keg king and Kegland are both located in Victoria and I'd recon not to far from Melbourne. I'm sure you can get hold of a 20lt cube for same amount of dollars. If doing smaller batches I know them fresh wort kits are 15lt from HBS. I was down Melbourne early on the year and just loved the water it was so clean right out the tap! Dont move to QLD you'll need a bank of filters to get the crap out the water lol! Lovely pilsner water I recon down there and you know it is coming onto Pilsner weather.

Then again it's always pilsner weather:p!
Funny you say that, I'm off to see the Grain & Grape boys tomorrow - gonna do a pilsner on Saturday. First bit of heat down here and your tastes change!
 
I brew this way. Pour the hot wort (letting it cool a bit first so it's not boiling) into a fermenting bucket, sealing it, letting it cool overnight and pitching the yeast the next day. I can say you definitely have to adjust your hop additions if you're making a pale ale or IPA, but for the low IBU beers (anything in the 20-30 range) I've never had any problems. I made a stout and gose that were both absolutely fantastic with no real adjustments or additions. The first pale ale I made just took about 2 months of bottle conditioning and it was great, then I made an oatmeal pale ale that was an absolute hop bomb due to my lazy adjustments.

Anyway, I've had good luck with no chill brewing even without a cube!
 
I brew this way. Pour the hot wort (letting it cool a bit first so it's not boiling) into a fermenting bucket, sealing it, letting it cool overnight and pitching the yeast the next day. I can say you definitely have to adjust your hop additions if you're making a pale ale or IPA, but for the low IBU beers (anything in the 20-30 range) I've never had any problems. I made a stout and gose that were both absolutely fantastic with no real adjustments or additions. The first pale ale I made just took about 2 months of bottle conditioning and it was great, then I made an oatmeal pale ale that was an absolute hop bomb due to my lazy adjustments.

Anyway, I've had good luck with no chill brewing even without a cube!

Absolutely agree. I did just that. Let my recent brew (two days ago) chill outside in the kettle with the lid on and when it got to 68ish transferred to my sterile fermenters. Left those outside to cool further. Brought them in overnight and by the morning they were at pitching temps. Might have a lot to do with it being Autumn here now though. Summer wouldn't have worked so well...

Will taste how well it has gone in a few weeks.
 
I brew this way. Pour the hot wort (letting it cool a bit first so it's not boiling) into a fermenting bucket, sealing it, letting it cool overnight and pitching the yeast the next day. I can say you definitely have to adjust your hop additions if you're making a pale ale or IPA, but for the low IBU beers (anything in the 20-30 range) I've never had any problems. I made a stout and gose that were both absolutely fantastic with no real adjustments or additions. The first pale ale I made just took about 2 months of bottle conditioning and it was great, then I made an oatmeal pale ale that was an absolute hop bomb due to my lazy adjustments.

Anyway, I've had good luck with no chill brewing even without a cube!
HI oipivo,

I think I will try this approach next - I don't like having to spend more money on ice bags. Few questions for you:
  • How long do leave the boil to come down in temp before pouring? I read that you need to bring the temp down quickly as it's dangerous time for bacteria.
  • Does your fermenting bucket bend of go soft after the pour? Any leaks from tap?
  • With adjusting hop additions, do you generally do them earlier? Is there a rule to follow, for example do them 30 minutes earlier?
Thanks for your help.
 

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