Maxi-BIAB and No Chill

[DaveGillespie]

Hi all, new user just bottled my first Maxi-BIAB brew after one kit previous to that. I'm now interested in trying out No Chill. With my current process I am producing around 15L concentrated wort which is subsequently diluted in the fermentor. Am I correct in thinking that I should be transferring only this concentrated wort into the gerrycan for No-Chill?

Also, the Gerry Cans I am looking at are these (I found this ebay seller through another post about No-Chill on this forum):

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-x-20L-Not-2 ... 51a99f48a9

20L is the closest I've been able to find to my 15L concentrated wort volume. My question around this - is 5L headspace too much to reasonably expect to squeeze the air out of? I haven't seen any 15L or so containers for sale.

Finally, is there a generally accepted best practice transfer method? My boiler does not have a tap so I would need a siphon of some kind. I had seen this in the same post as the Gerry Cans:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0012MEKYW

[RobWalker]

you could put your 15L hot wort into your jerry can, shake around so the hot wort sanitizes, and then top up afterwards? certainly killing a few birds with one stone...

[Twistedfinger]

A 20L jerry will do the trick. There is some debate as to the need to exclude any air from the dead space at all. I push out most but not all, I know one Biaber who doesn't bother.

I made this syphon Here and it works a treat.

As for dilution I would do it in the fermenter as you would for a kit, using hot water from the kettle.

[RdeV]

Yes, you are correct in your interpretation, just the hot wort is 'cubed' to effect no- chill, this is to ensure that the container contents are 'sterile'*.

If you can't find a smaller cube/ jerry can then the 20L one is fine for no- chilling of a stock MaxiBIAB that yields around 15L of concentrated wort. Transferring the hot wort out of the kettle can be quite challenging without a syphon, recommend using one. I've been known to have used a great big funnel and a colander in it, but it just isn't pretty and I won't recommend it.

Once the kettle is emptied of hot wort you can squeeze some of the remaining air out and cap the cube, then ensure all interior surfaces are 'sterilised' by rotating it a few times as it cools. Shrinkage of the wort occurs as well, often the cube can become quite 'squashed', even spring a leak, a small air buffer can ameliorate this to some extent.

Yes, as per TF, there has been some debate about possible negative effects of incomplete filling of no- chill cubes, however I did this for yonks, still do so now on occasion, and the beers even earned a few gongs in comps. If you want to swot up, search for Hot Side Aeration but note that much of it is at the commercial scale, while most anecdotes from us amateurs indicate that seemingly there are no such problems at the domestic scale.

* I'm using the term 'sterile' very loosely, it is really a sterile effect. I'm reasonably confident that microbiologists could culture up something from the contents of a no- chill cube, however it is as good as sterile as nothing much grows in it from sealing to pitching. That delay is sometimes weeks or many months and I've even seen a cube stored for over a year (fellow JBK member Bribie did just this with a RIS), while this flexibility to pitch when convenient suits the brewer fabulously. However, in some cases the cube is emptied quite promptly, well before any infection could take hold, so the issue of sterility becomes moot anyway.

[DaveGillespie]

Many thanks for the help folks. I have seen some 15L containers after further investigation but I have also gone back and had a look at the estimates on my BIABrewer Maxi-BIAB spreadsheet and the hot transfer volume on that is estimated at 15.8L. Also, I am planning to be slightly more on the ball with adding extra sparged water to my boil so I wouldn't be surprised if this volume goes up. I reckon this would require the 20L Can. Also, initial plans are only really to use this is an alternative to chilling the wort immediately to both save time/hassle and break up the brewday into more manageable chunks so it seems that a 20L Can will be fine.

Any other comments on the Jiggle Siphon linked in the OP? Anyone else using similar?

[timbo41]

I think it would go without saying that you would sanitise your cube prior to filling with hot wort? when I chill..more often than not now ..I swill around a litre of made. up starsan. for a few minutes. Necessary? don't know but for the effort it takes can't be a bad thing. Then also do the rotate thing. RdeV is a great knowledge source here, ...was one of the pioneers

[DaveGillespie]

I had seen recommendations to do 3 transfers of boiling water before use as well to knock off any plastic taste. Seems sensible.

[RobWalker]

I think it would go without saying that you would sanitise your cube prior to filling with hot wort? when I chill..more often than not now ..I swill around a litre of made. up starsan. for a few minutes. Necessary? don't know but for the effort it takes can't be a bad thing. Then also do the rotate thing. RdeV is a great knowledge source here, ...was one of the pioneers

the hot wort will be okay to sanitize the jerry can, as long as it's clean. The important thing is to touch all the sides well by shaking.

I just go straight to the FV from my boiler, wort still hot, never had an infection. Chill over about 4 hours in the bathtub then pitch yeast. But it's one of them, if it's working then there's no real reason to change your method and if sanitizing puts your mind at ease, so be it

[Cpt.Frederickson]

This shaking malarky is unnecessary, and slightly worrying...when I was no chilling, the last thing I wanted to do was pick up 20 litres of near boiling hot sugary liquid and shake it. Accident waiting to happen?
All sides of the cube can have sufficent contact time with a simple technique; fill it up, put the lid on, then turn it upside down. Rest for 5-10 mins. Turn back over to store. Simple!

[Fil]

one thing to be careful of especially if cleaning with something with a bleach base the square placky jerrycans are tricky to drain completely as when u tip the open neck down liquid floods to the now lower corners. And can take numerous directed tips to drain sufficiently. get into the habit of checking the drain effectivness of each tip, you could if not careful leave a significant quantity of cleaner behind even after a few rinses if attentions not paid..