Fermenter for No Chill

[Obfu]

So, for reasons I shan't bore you with, I have to no chill my worts.

At the moment, at the end of the boil, I let the wort cool a few degrees before I transfer to a HDPE water carrier where it cools overnight. Then it gets transferred to a fermenter for transmogrification into beerlike fluid.

I would like to cut out the middleman here and dump it all into the fermenter but, I need the fermenter to be airtight. Just putting an airlock in won't be enough cos as the liquid cools, it'll contract and suck inwards.

I think I'm looking for a hdpe plastic bucket which is rated for hot liquids AND that I can get a spare lid with no hole, or a stainless steel fermenter like the Brewmaster Bucket and something to jam in the fermenting attachment hole.

Any thoughts or ideas?

 

[MyQul]

I use my old coopers FV for my not chill 'cube'. I cover it with cling film after I've chucked all the wort in there and make sure it stays on with an elastic band. I then rack the wort off all the trub into another FV 24-48 hours later when it's cool and also cover that with cling film. I've never used an airlock

 

[Obfu]

Cool. Is that a regular bucket? I'm not familiar with the Coopers one.
What temp do you transfer at?

 

[MyQul]

This is the coopers FV I have
http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/72811-coopers-diy-beer-kit-gear-useful-for-later-brewing/
It kind of looks like it's got two lids. That's the krausen collar. I threw that bit away Notice there's no airlock.
I just transfer at ambient temp (whatever that happens to be - around about 20C). You dont have to transfer at all if you dont want to. The reason why I do it is becuase I BIAB and dont use a mash tun so get loads of trub in the bottom of the FV. This in itself isn't a problem but I like to collect as trub free yeast after fermentation as I can so I can use it in the next brew

 

[Obfu]

I meant what temp do you transfer from your boiler into the 'chill cube'?
I like the idea of taking all the trub, but wasn't sure if there were compelling reasons not to.

 

[MyQul]

Oh, right. Near boiling. As soon as I turn the heat off I just start chucking it into the cube (via a seive to seive the hops out)

 

[Cqr]

This is the coopers FV I have
http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/72811-coopers-diy-beer-kit-gear-useful-for-later-brewing/
It kind of looks like it's got two lids. That's the krausen collar. I threw that bit away Notice there's no airlock.
I just transfer at ambient temp (whatever that happens to be - around about 20C). You dont have to transfer at all if you dont want to. The reason why I do it is becuase I BIAB and dont use a mash tun so get loads of trub in the bottom of the FV. This in itself isn't a problem but I like to collect as trub free yeast after fermentation as I can so I can use it in the next brew

Where did you find that beauty

 

[Obfu]

Really useful info, thank you.
Is there anything you avoid brewing cos you 'no chill'? You ever had any issues no chilling?

 

[MyQul]

Where did you find that beauty

You cant buy them in the UK on they're own I dont think. Although there may be a HB shop in scotland where you can buy them. I vaguely remember someone mentioning it a long time ago. When I first started HBing I bought a coopers starter kit which included the FV, a kit (a can of hopped LME) and enough PET bottles to bottle the kit

 

[MyQul]

Really useful info, thank you.
Is there anything you avoid brewing cos you 'no chill'? You ever had any issues no chilling?

No, I dont avoid any styles but I found that if you no chill you lose a lot of the late addition flavours aroma (I'm sure some no chillers would disagree with me) due to it isapperin with the steam. sSo what I do is add the 60 min/bittering addition as normal. Then no chill. Then 24-48 hours later I do what I call a mini boil. Whereby I take three L and reboil for 15 mins. I add the late additions to this so for eg I might boil and add a 10min addition and a 0 min addition, whatever your hop schedule is really. I then cool this quickly in the kitchen sink and passing it through sieve to seive out the hops add the mini boil back the main body of wort then pitch my yeast.
Other people/n-chillers do the late additions a bit differently

 

[Obfu]

That's clever.
Where do you stand on the 'no chill beers will be hazy' postulate?

 

[MyQul]

That's clever.
Where do you stand on the 'no chill beers will be hazy' postulate?

If you no chill, your beer will be hazy (due to chill haze)if you refridgerated it. The only way around that is to lager your beer which will drop the chill haze proteins out. Tbh I dont really care as long as it taste good. Plus during winter, if I bottle my beer (I also mini keg a lot of it, which really need to refridgerated unless you want a pint of foam for your first pint) I drink it at room temp without refriderating it so it doesnt suffer from chill haze anyway

 

[Obfu]

I haven't got round to mini kegs yet, but intend to. I also don't have room for a beer fridge so drink all my stuff at room temperature. I don't drink with my eyes so a little haze doesn't bother me. One day, when I have room and plumbing, I might like to make some crystal clear, beautiful tasting beer, but 5 all grain, no chill brews in and I am more than happy with the results so far.

Thanks again, this has been really helpful. :thumb:

 

[Hoppyland]

Well, I've never, ever, chilled any beer I've made.
Unlike MyQul, I leave my beer in the boiling pan overnight (it's got a close-fitting lid) and then transfer, and aerate, to the FV the next day. All the late-addition hops stay in the pan overnight. Works well for me.
Many ways to make a great beer....... :)

 

[JFB]

So, for reasons I shan't bore you with, I have to no chill my worts.

At the moment, at the end of the boil, I let the wort cool a few degrees before I transfer to a HDPE water carrier where it cools overnight. Then it gets transferred to a fermenter for transmogrification into beerlike fluid.

I would like to cut out the middleman here and dump it all into the fermenter but, I need the fermenter to be airtight. Just putting an airlock in won't be enough cos as the liquid cools, it'll contract and suck inwards.

I think I'm looking for a hdpe plastic bucket which is rated for hot liquids AND that I can get a spare lid with no hole, or a stainless steel fermenter like the Brewmaster Bucket and something to jam in the fermenting attachment hole.

Any thoughts or ideas?

I've made a few fermenting in the no chill cube. I drilled a hole in the cap and added a bung and air lock from wilko.
The only down side is cleaning so I now chill in cube then dump into a FV.

 

[JFB]

No, I dont avoid any styles but I found that if you no chill you lose a lot of the late addition flavours aroma (I'm sure some no chillers would disagree with me) due to it isapperin with the steam. sSo what I do is add the 60 min/bittering addition as normal. Then no chill. Then 24-48 hours later I do what I call a mini boil. Whereby I take three L and reboil for 15 mins. I add the late additions to this so for eg I might boil and add a 10min addition and a 0 min addition, whatever your hop schedule is really. I then cool this quickly in the kitchen sink and passing it through sieve to seive out the hops add the mini boil back the main body of wort then pitch my yeast.
Other people/n-chillers do the late additions a bit differently

I really need to try this method. The hot small wort may also help get my chilled wort back to temp at this time of year.
Ive an American wheat beer to brew in the next few days....

 

[MyQul]

The other way I've tried is to do the bittering addition as mentioned then add the flavour/aroma addition as a hop tea at bottling time. I prefer the mini boil though as it means you can do a bit more complex hop schedule

 

[DoctorMick]

This might work: https://www.brewuk.co.uk/speidel-30l-fermentor.html, the screw top lid is definitely air tight.

 

[Cwrw666]

I just use a regular FV with a snap on lid and no airlock.
After the boil I leave the wort to settle for 20 - 30 minutes then drain it straight into the FV. I like to do this while still near boiling point so that even though I've sanitised the FV with boiling water first, the hot wort itself gives the FV a second sanitising.
I want as little amount of trub getting through to the FV as possible as after fermentation I like to get a second brew out of the yeast by using a couple of spoonfulls of the FV trub. Halves the cost of the yeast.

 

[MrRock]

So, for reasons I shan't bore you with, I have to no chill my worts.

At the moment, at the end of the boil, I let the wort cool a few degrees before I transfer to a HDPE water carrier where it cools overnight. Then it gets transferred to a fermenter for transmogrification into beerlike fluid.

I would like to cut out the middleman here and dump it all into the fermenter but, I need the fermenter to be airtight. Just putting an airlock in won't be enough cos as the liquid cools, it'll contract and suck inwards.

I think I'm looking for a hdpe plastic bucket which is rated for hot liquids AND that I can get a spare lid with no hole, or a stainless steel fermenter like the Brewmaster Bucket and something to jam in the fermenting attachment hole.

Any thoughts or ideas?

I've gone the opposite way to you.

I used to just leave mine in the pot overnight, then I decided I'd quite like to get most of the cleanup done on brew day, so changed to going straight to the fermenter. I don't think I noticed any airlock related issues with that but it was filled with Starsan so wouldn't have mattered much.

Now I've gone to a HDPE water container with a tap on the lid. I usualy do a 30 minute hop stand after flameout and then transfer to the water carrier by which time it's usually somewhere around 85C.
I find this cools much quicker, especially when left on the garage floor, so I could probably pitch later in the evening of brewday rather than the next day if I felt like it.
The other plus is that I can set the water carrier on it's side on the counter and pour straight from the tap from a height into the fermenter which gets me lots of bubbles for the yeasties.