No chill cube question - How long can it be left in there?

[timtoos]

Hi all,

I had a quick brew day on 28/9/22 and since I had just purchased a couple of no chill cubes from MM I decided to try one out. I made sure it was cleaned very well and rather than chill the wort, I emptied the lot into one cube. It filled it entirely with no air gap - which I was pleased about.

Life and family then got in the way and so I left the cube in one of the rooms. Its stayed there happy until yesterday, 20/10/22, I noticed that the cube had pressure build up inside as it was beginning to balloon.

I opened it up and some wort gushed out. There was gunk on top which I removed using a sanitised spoon. Attached is a photo of what was removed.

This morning, 21/10/22, I checked it. Opening the cap there was more gunk there. I tasted the wort and it tastes like it should do.

Would it be best dumping it or fermenting it? I'm worried its started fermenting and maybe too far gone.

PS, obviously no yeast has been added.

TIA

 

[foxy]

Hi all,

I had a quick brew day on 28/9/22 and since I had just purchased a couple of no chill cubes from MM I decided to try one out. I made sure it was cleaned very well and rather than chill the wort, I emptied the lot into one cube. It filled it entirely with no air gap - which I was pleased about.

Life and family then got in the way and so I left the cube in one of the rooms. Its stayed there happy until yesterday, 20/10/22, I noticed that the cube had pressure build up inside as it was beginning to balloon.

I opened it up and some wort gushed out. There was gunk on top which I removed using a sanitised spoon. Attached is a photo of what was removed.

This morning, 21/10/22, I checked it. Opening the cap there was more gunk there. I tasted the wort and it tastes like it should do.

Would it be best dumping it or fermenting it? I'm worried its started fermenting and maybe too far gone.

PS, obviously no yeast has been added.

TIA

No Chill wort can last for a couple of years. Yours has an infection, you could boil it again to kill whatever it is IE bacteria or wild yeast, cool it quickly and pitch the yeast

 

[timtoos]

No Chill wort can last for a couple of years. Yours has an infection, you could boil it again to kill whatever it is IE bacteria or wild yeast, cool it quickly and pitch the yeast

Thanks, thought as much. I will just boil it again. How long would suffice to boil? Would 15 minutes be enough?

 

[foxy]

Thanks, thought as much. I will just boil it again. How long would suffice to boil? Would 15 minutes be enough?

Taking it up to 80 C would be more than enough, keep it there for 10 mins. But cool it ASAP and pitch the yeast.

 

[timtoos]

Taking it up to 80 C would be more than enough, keep it there for 10 mins. But cool it ASAP and pitch the yeast.

Thanks very much

 

[timtoos]

Would the cube now be no good for using as a cooling cube? Just wondering if its now forever contaminated

 

[nickjdavis]

I personally wouldnt trust those particular cubes....they are exactly the same as the HDPE jerry cans that I use to fill up with RO water.

There are loads of nooks and crannies internally that you just cannot get at to clean. Likewise you cannot clean the raised sections on the top of the cube that allow them to stack on top of each other.....you can only rinse, rinse, rinse, sterilise and hope that its clean inside.

Attached is a photo taken down the neck...look at all the moulded contours and ridges....how are you supposed to ensure that it is clean? Yes I know you are going to put near boiling wort into it, probably after soaking it in steriliser.....but there's little point in sterilising something that is not fundamentally clean.

I'm sure many people have used them successfully and will continue to do so in the future...but to my mind they are a bad batch waiting to happen (not cubes in general....just this particular design).

 

[Scrattajack]

to my mind they are a bad batch waiting to happen (not cubes in general....just this particular design)

I have the same misgivings about mine. Do you have any recommendations?

 

[Pennine]

I would recommend dumping. Spend the time you would reboiling just making a new batch. And don't sample it anymore unless you do boil it.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I would recommend chilling the wort and pitching the yeast asap.

 

[nickjdavis]

I have the same misgivings about mine. Do you have any recommendations?

Not really I'm afraid because I dont "no chill".

 

[AnimatedGIF]

I personally wouldnt trust those particular cubes....they are exactly the same as the HDPE jerry cans that I use to fill up with RO water.

There are loads of nooks and crannies internally that you just cannot get at to clean. Likewise you cannot clean the raised sections on the top of the cube that allow them to stack on top of each other.....you can only rinse, rinse, rinse, sterilise and hope that its clean inside.

Attached is a photo taken down the neck...look at all the moulded contours and ridges....how are you supposed to ensure that it is clean? Yes I know you are going to put near boiling wort into it, probably after soaking it in steriliser.....but there's little point in sterilising something that is not fundamentally clean.

I'm sure many people have used them successfully and will continue to do so in the future...but to my mind they are a bad batch waiting to happen (not cubes in general....just this particular design).


View attachment 76599

I thought the idea was that the hot wort sanitises by virtue of it being 80+°C?
I must confess I have only done one brew using no chill, and it is the best brew I have ever done. (Not suggesting the no chill made it better, rather that it didn't make it worse). Furthermore, it was a lager so any off flavours would.in theory stand out.
I didn't pre-sanitise the cube before use - just rinsed it.
I used a cube that I got from a fish supply shop, which is the same plastic as used by those from Malt Miller.

 

[RichardM]

I thought the idea was that the hot wort sanitises by virtue of it being 80+°C?
I must confess I have only done one brew using no chill, and it is the best brew I have ever done. (Not suggesting the no chill made it better, rather that it didn't make it worse). Furthermore, it was a lager so any off flavours would.in theory stand out.
I didn't pre-sanitise the cube before use - just rinsed it.
I used a cube that I got from a fish supply shop, which is the same plastic as used by those from Malt Miller.

Yes, the wort will sanitise the cube, but it won't clean it. There is no point in sanitising a cube that isn't clean. @nickjdavis was doubting if you can get one of these cubes clean.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

Yes, the wort will sanitise the cube, but it won't clean it. There is no point in sanitising a cube that isn't clean. @nickjdavis was doubting if you can get one of these cubes clean.

Ah yes, I re-read and I get it, but then I'd argue they are easy to clean. Fill with oxy and invert a few times.
They're no harder to clean than a fermenter imho

 

[foxy]

Would the cube now be no good for using as a cooling cube? Just wondering if its now forever contaminated

Yes you can still use it. Clean it with water and rice if you have gunk stuck in there. Quarter fill with water, add a couple of cups of rice and give it a good shaking.
After that almost fill with water dissolve some sodium perc or perborate in a cup add it to the cube and top the cube up. leave overnight empty the cube and rinse, good to go again next brew. As said above the wort will sanitise it.

 

[nickjdavis]

Yes, the wort will sanitise the cube, but it won't clean it. There is no point in sanitising a cube that isn't clean. @nickjdavis was doubting if you can get one of these cubes clean.

...more that you can be absolutely confident that it was clean...given that it's not easy to see inside...especially towards the upper reaches.

Ah yes, I re-read and I get it, but then I'd argue they are easy to clean. Fill with oxy and invert a few times.
They're no harder to clean than a fermenter imho

if you are confident that it is clean after that process then that's absolutely fine and I'm not going to say you shouldn't use one. I personally would like to be able to visually confirm that nothing is left sticking somewhere in a nook and cranny....there is a reason why most FV's have smooth internal surfaces without seams or other irregularities.

 

[timtoos]

Thanks all