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No-chill cube: what to look for?

Post #1 made 14 years ago
by Binoclard
Hi,

Another round of stupid noob questions… ;)

I discovered the no-chill concept, and seeing the cost in money and water of the spiral-copper-thing, I am really enthusiast. One less useless stuff :lol:

I would like to keep things really simple for starters, and I wondered…

1) is it possible to use the "no-chill cube/jerrycan" as a fermenter?
I read you were supposed to rack the beer in a proper first fermenter, then a second. I also read that one single fermentation is ok for noobs… but is it ok to pitch and ferment in the no-chill cube?

2) what kind of plastic make a good and very safe "no-chill cube"? HDPE? PP5?
The kind of thing sold as fermenters around here seems on the cheap side, and I am not sure I could pour 100° wort into without risks (melting or diffusing nasty chemicals into the beer). Am I overthinking?

Thanks again for your time and advices, it is really a nice place :thumbs:

Post #2 made 14 years ago
by hashie
Hi Bino.
1st question; yes.

Many people I have seen on the net use no chill cubes as fermenting vessels. The only down side to this is ease of cleaning. If the cleaning doesn't bother you, then go for it.

2nd question; HDPE.

I am no scientist and have no scientific evidence to substantiate this, but for my research, HDPE is the way to go.
Last edited by hashie on 22 Apr 2011, 06:30, edited 5 times in total.
"It's beer Jim, but not as we know it."

Post #3 made 14 years ago
by Binoclard
Great thanks :)

You guys are amazing, every day I learn that beer could be done with one less tool.
A pot, a bag, a cube and you can brew, amazing! Especially when you read that some BIAB-No-chillers won competitions against beers made with a huge and complicated system with kilometers of tubing and millions of nasa-like procedures.

I have to say, as a designer, the clean and minimalist approach of BIABing is really appealing ^__^

Back to my questions, I'll probably end with one/two proper fermenters, but it's good to know I can skip one step if I want to for my first attempt.

I read some more, and HDPE seems indeed the consensus.

Post #7 made 14 years ago
by big dave
Would there be enough head-space in a cube? What about a vigorous fermentation?

I think you might have krausen pouring out of the cube and making a pretty decent mess. It has never happened to me, but I have seen other chaps' fermenters with krausen over-flowing....
Drinking: last K&B & extract brews, BIAB #1- Golden Ale, #2- Pale Ale, #3- Galaxy Single-hop Ale
In the Pipeline: ESB, Landlord

Post #8 made 14 years ago
by hashie
big dave wrote:Would there be enough head-space in a cube? What about a vigorous fermentation?

I think you might have krausen pouring out of the cube and making a pretty decent mess. It has never happened to me, but I have seen other chaps' fermenters with krausen over-flowing....
Blow off tube???
Last edited by hashie on 25 Apr 2011, 08:36, edited 5 times in total.
"It's beer Jim, but not as we know it."

Post #9 made 14 years ago
by DABEER
Just another NOOB to BIAB. Lot's of Kits though behind me. I don't know if anyone has used these for a No-Chill Cube but they are HDPE but with a large mouth (ease of cleaning concern). I am currently awaiting a follow up email from the company to see if it can handle the temps (100C/220F) of boiling Wort being poored directly into them for overnight cooling. I would think it could handle it due to the fact HDPE is HDPE, I might add that it is thick walled also, very sturdy. It's from a company called GAMMA and the product comes in many different shapes and sizes, they are called Vittles Vault. Please take a look and let me know what you think.

P.S. I am thinking about drilling out a hole for a Bung/Air Lock for Fermenting also.

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