wort chiller essential or not??

[liddley]

hi guys, another question regarding my first all grain brew. is a wort chiller essential in the process when all grain brewing? reading many post and watching you tube vids all brewers seem to use them to get temp down rapid after boil.
when I asked about this at my local home brew shop the guys there said they are not essential and they leave their wort to cool naturally and add the yeast the next morning. would this not leave the wort open to infection over night, or is this method used by anyone else?

[Steve B]

try searching for 'no chill'. Its very effective............

[Ben711200]

Have a read of this very recent thread. It sort of sprawled into various aspects of cooling, natural cooling, no chill etc and their benefits

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=57579

For what it's worth, being able to cool rapidly and control my brewday timings better because of it has been a massive help for me. I DIY'd an immersion cooler from 10mm copper pipe. I am down to pitching temps in 15 mins or so and use some of the water in cleanup. If I feel guilty about water use I suppose I could shower instead of bathe to counteract it

[critch]

no chill works but id always use a rapid chill system as its better on stopping haze production, improving hop flavour and stopping maillard reactions

[gnutz2]

I've made beer with and without a chiller and cant honestly tell the diffrence.

Also this time of year is great for no chill (in the uk anyway).

[craigite]

I used no chiller method when I started all grain. Following a mishap or two cooling in bath or outside, I made a simple immersion chiller. Never looked back.
Is a chiller essential; no.
Is a chiller worth the little work; definately, and what a time it saves.

[seymour]

I used no chiller method when I started all grain. Following a mishap or two cooling in bath or outside, I made a simple immersion chiller. Never looked back.
Is a chiller essential; no.
Is a chiller worth the little work; definately, and what a time it saves.

+1
I know members have come up with clever work-arounds to compensate for lack of quick chilling, and I'm sure they are capable of producing good beer, but no one is advocating no-chill because it tastes better. They advocate for it because they've chosen to make the best of their limited circumstances. Cheers to them, and I don't mean that in any sort of condescending way.

I can tell you, I tried many ways for several years to avoid buying or building a chiller. It's just so easy to spend that money on the next batch of ingredients. Then I had a chance to use someone else's chiller at a "Big Brew Day" and my beer came out noticeably better in many, many ways. I finally bit the bullet and built one of my own, and the quality and consistency of my beers immediately skyrocketed, not to mention shaving lots of time off my brewday, enabling me to move on the next steps and perform final clean-up so much more quickly, thus dramatically reducing overall stress. In terms of overall "bang-for-your-buck" I believe a chiller is the single most effective upgrade possible. More than switching to all-grain, more than elaborate fermentation control, etc.

[scuppeteer]

Started off without one, but with is so much quicker. I use a home made one from coiled copper pipe and hose pipe attachments each end. Cools 23l to 25 degrees in about 20 mins.

[Rick_UK]

I made a simple but effective counterflow chiller and used it about half a dozen times - absolutely no difference in beer quality that I could tell and still got chill haze. So have gone back to natural cooling as it's one less unecessary process and my time is always limited!

Rick

[mark4newman]

Hi

I made a simple but effective counterflow chiller and used it about half a dozen times - absolutely no difference in beer quality that I could tell and still got chill haze. So have gone back to natural cooling as it's one less unecessary process and my time is always limited!

Interesting, as I have found rapidly chilling the wort to about 10C, was enough to always remove chill haze, even down to the "out of the fridge" quality control method my mates use.

Also, I would have thought that leaving the wort "hot" for an extended period, would lead to more of the volatile essential oils, being driven off, leading to a lose of flavour/aroma. This a again another reason, that I very rapidly chill, and have invested money in improving this side.

[Underground Joe]

In the interests of science I'm thinking of testing this. I usually brew eighty pints at a time split between two fermenters. Pour forty pints off and leave to cool overnight and cool the other forty. I'll ferment them next to each other and use the same yeast.

[paz1]

I am currently using both methods. I use a immersion chiller when I am using a new batch of yeast and I use the cube when I am going to pitch on top of the yeast cake from the previous brew.
As yet, I haven’t noticed much difference between the 2 methods, but I am only 8 brews into my BIAB and I am still learning.

The cube helps me out time wise. I can create the wort on Saturday, bottle the fermented beer on Sunday, by which time the new wort from the day before is ready to be pitched on top of the yeast cake.

[Capped]

I made a simple but effective counterflow chiller and used it about half a dozen times - absolutely no difference in beer quality that I could tell and still got chill haze. So have gone back to natural cooling as it's one less unecessary process and my time is always limited!

Rick

I had always used a simple but effective CFC until a little while back; having gotten superior beer from 'no-chill', it's now in custody of the council recycling depot. Without it, I'm getting ridiculously quick clearing times and beer that is utterly resistant to chill haze. Ye I know that goes against all conventional wisdom but there you have it. Sure all you 'quick-chillers' aren't imagining things 'cos it's the way the big boys do it by necessity?

[Rick_UK]

If adding late hops I tend to leave the wort in the boiler until it reaches about 80C then steep. Never had an issue with lack of aroma. I may add hop tea once cooled if more aroma is required.

There was a similar thread a while ago with a strong argument that it was the cooling per se that creates the cold break not how fast you get there.

I suspect this debate will split the room with proponents in both camps. I think you just need to try both and decide for yourself.

[critch]

I had always used a simple but effective CFC until a little while back; having gotten superior beer from 'no-chill', it's now in custody of the council recycling depot. Without it, I'm getting ridiculously quick clearing times and beer that is utterly resistant to chill haze. Ye I know that goes against all conventional wisdom but there you have it. Sure all you 'quick-chillers' aren't imagining things 'cos it's the way the big boys do it by necessity?

i must disagree mate , youll never attain total consistancy through no chill cube, no problems if you just do the beer once or brew for alcohol but if you brew for quality it is. it is proven that the colour, bitterness, aroma and haze potential can vary wildly in beer that isnt quickly chilled. you certainly wont get bad beer with no chill ,if you know what your doing, but research backs up you'll get better beer with an efficient chilling system

to paraphrase....
"Sure all you 'no-chillers' aren't imagining things 'cos it's the way the aussies do it by necessity?"