# Cold crash



## Goodbeer (9/6/15)

Hello all

Have a pumpkin ale fermenting. LOTS of sediment, very hazy, thought this would be a good time to give cold crashing a go.

I have read and seen on a few clips that the fv will want to suck air in as the temp drops, hence sucking the airlock water in.

Just wondering if anyone has any solutions for this? 

Cheers


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## panzerd18 (9/6/15)

Fill the airlock with vodka?

My fermenter doesn't even have an airlock.


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## Rocker1986 (9/6/15)

Depends if your lid and airlock have airtight seals or not. Mine never did when I used the airlock on it, so I didn't have this issue.

You could always remove the airlock and stick a piece of gaffa tape over the hole in the lid. This is how my FV is permanently set up now, so I can use the top shelf in the fridge for storing bottles. The lid isn't completely airtight so the gas still escapes.


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## Goodbeer (9/6/15)

They do, but don't think they're overly effective. Plus have stopped tightening the lid fully, as was having issues unscrewing it! 

Might just go for it, either use some vodka like panzerd suggested, or sterilised water. 

Would vodka have much effect on the beer if it got sucked in?


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## Rocker1986 (9/6/15)

That's sort of what I meant. Mine has seals too but they aren't airtight. I also do the same with the lid for the exact same reason. The airlock never bubbled during fermentation so I figured it wasn't gonna do anything back the other way during CCing either. :lol:

Vodka won't have any effect on the beer save for a few extra mL of alcohol, which is 23 litres or so, isn't gonna make any difference. It has no flavour either, so it won't affect that at all.


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## rude (9/6/15)

use sanitised water in you're airlock I use Huwa San no rinse
Gad wrap it instaed of lid


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## Goodbeer (10/6/15)

Put the temp down to 3 last night, only got down to 11 overnight. 

Took the controller off this morning and just cranked the fridge up, still only got it down to 10.

Will fiddle around with the fridge and controller this Avo, but if I can't get it any lower should I just bump it back up to ferment temp(18)?


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## Goodbeer (10/6/15)

Crisis averted. Just got home, down to 3.5, airlock still full, worrying about nothing, as usual. 

Thanks guys


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## verysupple (10/6/15)

It's good to hear it worked out.

IME non-boiled, non-sanitised water getting sucked back through wasn't an issue. However that happened when I was new to brewing and only to a couple of batches - so hardly evidence of good practice.

My new approach which has worked for many, many batches is to use sanitiser in the airlock (I use phosphoric but any no-rinse sanitiser would work - diluted as per the instructions of course). The tiny amount that gets sucked back through is nothing to worry about and you greatly reduce the risk of infection.

My last advice is to not over-fill the airlock. I use an "S" airlock and if I don't fill it too much it doesn't suck anything back while still maintaining a proper airlock. Actually, that should be the first advice...but whatever.

Happy brewin'


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## breakbeer (10/6/15)

Check out a new product called the Sterilock, available from Full Pint


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## Rocker1986 (10/6/15)

Goodbeer said:


> Put the temp down to 3 last night, only got down to 11 overnight.


I find it normally takes about a day to come all the way down from ferment temp to CC temp. It's a lot of liquid to bring down in temp so it does take a while.


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## GalBrew (10/6/15)

I second the sterilock. I just use it on my conical to cold crash. Works great.


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## Goodbeer (10/6/15)

Sweet thanks guys. 

Was planning on bottling tomorrow night, am away Friday for 10 days, so would be 24hrs going from 18 to 3, and 24hrs at 3. 

Too soon to bottle?


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## Rocker1986 (10/6/15)

It wouldn't be too soon to bottle but my preference would be to leave it for the 10 days. This isn't based on anything except my own processes and preferences when it comes to cold crashing, though.

I suppose it depends on your reasons for doing it. I do it mainly to drop more yeast out before bottling, and I'm not sure a day or two would drop a whole lot out, which is why I always give it a week minimum.


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## mongey (11/6/15)

Goodbeer said:


> Sweet thanks guys.
> 
> Was planning on bottling tomorrow night, am away Friday for 10 days, so would be 24hrs going from 18 to 3, and 24hrs at 3.
> 
> Too soon to bottle?


I have cold crashed my last 5 ales since getting temp control for my fridge ,all for different lengths from a few days to a few weeks

from what I've seen 3 days is the minimum I'd do, but I try for a week . I did 3 days on my last beer cause I wanted to clear my fermenter for my next beer and there was a good amount of yeast in the bottom of the fermenter but I wouldnt want to do it any shorter. def allot clearer with a week


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## Goodbeer (11/6/15)

Thanks again.

I'm not putting my next brew down for two weeks, but wanted this one ready in 3...decisions decisions


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## ianh (12/6/15)

Give it the 10 days to allow it to clear up, otherwise you will probably finish with a hazy beer or a lot of sediment in the bottle.

Cant rush these things, either way I would not be drinking it in 3 weeks.


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## Tr0yza (14/6/15)

I cold crashed my lager, sucked in the vodka i had in the airlock, didn't affect it at all


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## Brooa (15/6/15)

I try to cold crash for 2 days, then rack off to a secondary and keep chilling for another week. My reasoning is I dont want my fermented beer sitting on the yeast too long, as it may pick up unwanted/unpleasant flavours/odours.


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## Rocker1986 (15/6/15)

You have to leave it sitting on it for a pretty long time to pick up unwanted flavours etc.. A one or two week cold crash is not long enough for this to happen, at least in mine and it would appear a lot of others' experiences. I'd be ditching the infection risk of transferring to a secondary and just giving it a week in the primary. I'd bet you'll notice no difference in the finished beer.

I've often wondered about the idea of it sitting on the yeast too long - why is this never seemingly an issue in bottle conditioned beer, which sits on the yeast for months and months sometimes? :unsure:


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## Brooa (15/6/15)

Just a guess, but possibly the amount of yeast in bottle conditioned beer is way less than in a fermenter. re the infection risk, I am over the top with my sterilisation.


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## panzerd18 (15/6/15)

Or a stout can be bottle aged for years with the yeast.


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## Rocker1986 (15/6/15)

Yes, but the amount of beer in a bottle conditioned beer is way less than a fermenter as well. Either way, transferring to a secondary for a week of cold crashing is an unnecessary practice. It's up to you whether you keep doing it or not - I've cold crashed lagers in the primary on the yeast cake for 5-6 weeks in the past without having any issues with unwanted flavours.


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## Goodbeer (24/6/15)

G'day guys

Bottled my pumpkin ale last night. Ended up cold crashing for two weeks...so about 25 days in FV. Wasn't planning that long, but just ended up that way. Worked a treat, beer was crystal clear.

Also racked straight to bottle using an auto syphon, so as to avoid the 3 odd litres of trub.

Just wondering if anyone had any advice for avoiding trub when racking?

Tried taping the syphon the fv, using an s hook, but nothing held it, had to hold it myself whilst my wife bottled! Took awhile.

Cheers


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## Goodbeer (24/6/15)

Oh yeah should mention first time racking


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## pat86 (24/6/15)

There is some good info on here about cold crashing. If you can take your fridge lower than 3C it has been recommended that you will get better results closer to 0C or -1C. I don't know if there is any research but I seem to remember that a few days at say -1C was more effective than a much longer time at say 3C. That said I usually do a longer, cold cold crash anyway. 

Re. racking, easiest way would be to rack to a priming bucket I think, or you can play around and find a good yeast that settles into a sturdy yeast cake.


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## Rocker1986 (24/6/15)

Yeah, racking to a bottling bucket would be easier than siphoning it into bottles. I do this, just by transferring it through the FV tap via a hose into the bottling bucket below, which contains the priming solution for the entire batch. Hardly any of the sediment, if any, gets disturbed by doing this. I do this transfer cold, straight out of the fridge from CCing, which may or may not help with keeping the sediment compacted and/or less prone to disturbance. I am also quite careful not to stir up the FV while racking it. Just a gentle tilt to keep the beer above the tap level, until I can see the trub start to make its way towards the tap then I stop the transfer. Normally I leave very little beer behind in the FV, maybe 500mL or so. It works well, and bottling is a cinch without having to buggerise around with individually dosing bottles with priming sugar.


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## Goodbeer (25/6/15)

Thanks rocker. Given me some good info on this one.

Reason for racking with the syphon was because of the way I used the pumpkin, the trub was almost above the tap line! The sample I took before bottling was chock full of crap, despite the CC.

Also don't have a secondary, normally just bottle straight from my primary.


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## Rocker1986 (25/6/15)

Yeah fair point. I had a pilsner batch like that recently after I emptied the whole cube into it which contained way too much trub (long story...). I thought about siphoning it but I decided to use my normal method but filter it through a stocking to keep the crap out. Worked pretty well.

I use one of those 25 litre water containers from Bunnings as my bottling bucket. I think it cost about 20 bucks. Haven't looked back since I started bulk priming this way.


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