TL /DR;  I let the wort cool overnight and pitched yeast starter this AM.  Stay tuned to this thread to see if I die from drinking this.

I recently bought a buddy’s used Wort chiller.  Realized on brew day that I don’t have the right quick-disconnect to use it (plus the ground water from the garden hose is not that cold this time of year).

I’ve used the sink ice-bath method before, but decided to try the Australian “no chill” method.  This guy explains it in his video (skip to the 12:00 minute mark):



Seemed to go OK.  I also oxygenated the wort in the fermenter this morning after it had cooled.

I might be done with chilling entirely.

That is the way I have done it for over 200 batches.  Just keep the air lock on it.

I have chilled to local temps and let finish overnight, pitched next day.

It works and is safe.

1) that’s great to hear!  Didn’t know others in US were doing it that way, and

2) 200 batches? Holy CRAP that’s a lot of beer! My hats off to you sir!  ??

even if the water isn't that cold, it's still significantly cooler than the wort, so it just takes longer.
When having my kitchen redone, I had a standard hose spigot installed in the cold water feed under the sink which is perfect for connecting my cooler.

The spigot under the sink is a brilliant idea!

Since I already bought a friends used wort-chiller, I am going to try it next time (probably pull the garden hose through kitchen window).

I have done many that way too.  I put the air lock on, but don't put water in it until cooled because the pressure drops as it cools and it will pull the water in from the air lock.

Also, when I used to brew in the kitchen, I got an adapter that threaded into the kitchen faucet and gave garden hose style threads out so I could hook the chiller up to the faucet and drain into the sink.

How'd it turn out?

First tasting tonight after work (it’s been conditioning in the bottle for a week).  Stand by for update.

SUCCESS!!

No-chill turned into a delicious, clean, cream-ale - just as it was supposed to be.

One thing I did different:

- at the end of the 60 minute boil, I poured the hot boiling wort directly into the 5 gallon fermenter (trying to keep as much of the trub in the brew kettle as possible).

I first sterilized the fermenter, but that was probably overkill since the boiling wort probably would have killed off anything left in the fermenter.

But in the “original Australian” method for no-chill brewing, they used a “cube” made of a temperature resistant plastic, before they pour the wort into the fermenter the following day. Like this:



I think the idea was to not expose the wort to air.  But I’m not sure the small surface area left in a 5 gallon bucket makes that big of a difference - especially since I also used an airating stone to add pure O2 to the cooled wort just before I pitched the yeast.

Well done!