Fermenter for No Chill

The Homebrew Forum

Help Support The Homebrew Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
It's awesome to hear about people's slightly different methods with the no chill.
Seems like a few of us use the water carriers as no chill cubes - they annoy me because their shape means it's damn near impossible to get the last bit of liquid out cos the mouth is slightly lower than the sides. It's one of the reasons I was looking to use a bucket - easier to drain, easier to clean, stackable. Is it just me or does anyone else find that too?
 
i've followed myqul's no-chill technique and can vouch for it :thumb:

As my beers are extract based I do a 6-7 litre(ish) boil pour in the fv and dilute up to 21 litres with chilled / frozen bottled water from fridge & freezer.
 
so,never having done or looked in to 'no chill'.i guess its usefull as a time tool? no time or cant chill, you leave it over night and pitch the yeast the next day,then treat it as normal?
is that the gist of it?
 
so,never having done or looked in to 'no chill'.i guess its usefull as a time tool? no time or cant chill, you leave it over night and pitch the yeast the next day,then treat it as normal?
is that the gist of it?

It appeals to me because I don't like the idea of wasting lots of water running a chiller or filling and emptying trugs/sinks. Better for the environment I think. Possibly why it is popular in Aus where water is precious?
 
It appeals to me because I don't like the idea of wasting lots of water running a chiller or filling and emptying trugs/sinks. Better for the environment I think. Possibly why it is popular in Aus where water is precious?

Thats the reason I no-chill too. I feel a bit funny letting all that water run down the sink. Yes I would be able to use some of it to clean up etc but I'd still be wasting quite a bit
 
There is also the thought that every time you do something extra to your wort you are creating a possible source of infection to your brew. Stick a cooling coil into your wort, bubble air through your wort to oxygenate it? All extra things you don't absolutely need to do, and anything after the boil increases your infection risk.
 
I made a wort chiller used it three times and promptly put it in the loft to collect dust.
The water wastage really put me off. Even if I could find ways to reuses the water I don't think id go back to immersion chilling as it puts way to much time on to a brew day. If I'm speedy a three hour brew including clean down is possible which means I can brew any day I want after work.:cool:
 
I can't chill, but because I also have concerns about water wastage, I'd been hatching plans on recirculating water from water butt to water butt and reusing it all. I have abandon those plans since I appear to be able to make beer that pleases me without.
 
Just to play 'chillers advocate' (?) I've read that some people add frozen water bottles to bring wort temp down. They obv need sanitising and won't be nearly as efficient as a true chiller, but would minimise water wastage I guess and least lower the temp a bit more quickly than leaving to stand overnight if time's an issue...
 
I've read that too Geigercntr - for my part, I only have a combination fridge freezer, the freezer has three draws and you couldn't squeeze a fart in there. If I had room for another appliance, I'd probably make it a beer fridge :) (although I would love a chest freezer)
 
Had a go at @JFB 's 0min no chill method (but with a tweak) today with a oatmeal pale ale. Instead of just simply waiting 20-30 mins for the wort to cool to sub 80C. I put the no chill FV/cube in a builders trug. Chucked the wort into the cube/FV then filled the trug up to the level of the wort with cold water. I also stirred the wort for 90 seconds. Doing this I managed to drop the wort to about 75C in about 5mins. So I then chucked the 0 min addition (there was only a 60min addition and a 0min addition for this brew) in the cube/FV and sealed it up with cling film.
 
Had a go at @JFB 's 0min no chill method (but with a tweak) today with a oatmeal pale ale. Instead of just simply waiting 20-30 mins for the wort to cool to sub 80C. I put the no chill FV/cube in a builders trug. Chucked the wort into the cube/FV then filled the trug up to the level of the wort with cold water. I also stirred the wort for 90 seconds. Doing this I managed to drop the wort to about 75C in about 5mins. So I then chucked the 0 min addition (there was only a 60min addition and a 0min addition for this brew) in the cube/FV and sealed it up with cling film.

I used your late hop addition method the other day and it worked a treat at getting my cold wort up to pitching temp fast instead of having to leave it on a heat pad all day.
Its good to know we have different options depending on how our brew time dictates.
 
I popped in on my LHBS yesterday and found this brupaks fermenter. https://www.brewuk.co.uk/brupak-30-fermenter.html - picture is better from brewuk than my local shop.
It has a predrilled hole for the (supplied) airlock, but also an airtight cover for that hole. It's kinda stubby but I quite liked that - figured it'd be easier to clean, especially with the full width lid. I've email Brupaks to ask what temperature liquids it takes.
 
Does anyone use these for no chill cube/bottles? They are 18.5l but my brews will only be 18 or 19 anyway, i had to destroy the lid but could put cling film or something over it.
Don't all laugh at once please 😉
 
Sorry,forgot to add picture

DSC_1129.jpg
 
Does anyone use these for no chill cube/bottles? They are 18.5l but my brews will only be 18 or 19 anyway, i had to destroy the lid but could put cling film or something over it.
Don't all laugh at once please 😉

Yes, they would potentially work, using cling film to cover, but you need to take into consideration whether it will stand up to the heat of near boiling wort and not melt or get very soft
 
Back
Top