Biab with no chill

[duotwr]

Hi

So I've just bought myself a 40l buffalo boiler to allow me to do bigger biab brews than I've done previously in my 20l stove top pot.

My plan had been to not bother using a hop sack as I've done previously, and instead put hops direct in the boiler, and then to run the wort off at the end of the boil into a no chill cube. I've put a bazooka filter on the tap to catch the hops.

No chill sounds good as It has the benefit of allowing me a shorter brew time, which is useful when I'm squeezing in brewing around looking after young kids.

Anyway I'd thought I could just drain the wort off after the boil straight into a cube. But now reading in more detail I see people adjusting their hop schedule to account for the wort sitting above 80C for a while in the cube, and extracting more bitterness. I didn't think this would be a problem if I was taking the wort off the hops though. So what's the consensus, do I need to shorten all my hop additions by 20 minutes? Anyone here use a similar method who could advise?

Thanks for any help/suggestions.

Keith

[spanspoon]

ive just ordered a couple of no chil cubes and have been researching this.

here's an interesting post from an aussie site http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/64542 ... additions/

i don't think any proper scientific tests have been made regarding this and you'll just get opinion.

i'm brewing a stout tomorrow, i've brewed it before on a 3v system and chilled with an ic. i'm doing a full length mash with no sparge and no chill. i'd have preferred a little more bitterness so i'm going to stick to the original hop schedule and compare the taste.

[duotwr]

Yes, having had a read around there seems to be little consensus, with a few people dismissing the idea of timing adjustments entirely.

When I first started BIAB I didn't appreciate that allowing the wort to cool naturally, with hop matter still in it, would increase bitterness - I produced a couple of incredibly undrinkable beers. Since then I've used bags for all my hops, either to let me fish them out before natural cooling, but also to help with syphoning.

I'm planning a stout recipe from Brewing Classic Styles which has only one hop addition at 60mins. I'll give this a try, just following the recipe with the 60min addition, and then drain through the hop-filter into a cube just after flame-out. No late hops or anything to contend with - then I can see what the resultant bittering is like.

I'll let you know how I get on!

Keith

[rpt]

I do BIAB with a 40L Buffalo and use a no-chill cube. I make no adjustments to hop timings. I've often thought my hop utilisation is a bit low so I think if the hop material doesn't make it to the cube then you needn't make any adjustments.

[timbo41]

Its amethod I often use. Can't say I've ever noticed much difference if I bag or use hops loose. I really only use loose hops for early addition but this is mainly to reduce wort loss to hops.

[Goulders]

I used to BIAB and used the same method as rpt. I read up on the hop adjustment at the time and the idea of adjusting is if the hops go into the cube as well. As your filter will catch the hops, should be no need for you to do that..

[rpt]

One possibility is that even though the hop material doesn't make it into the cube there will be alpha acids in the wort. These will be isomerised by the hot wort in the cube and so will release bitterness. With a chiller these acids won't release their bitterness. But, as I said, I've not noticed my beers being too bitter.