Cold conditioning in kegs , could it still be fermenting?

[trustyrusty]

I have some harvest yeasts in bottles for next batches with water filled to the top to make sure no oxygen. What I have found is that when I tip out the beery water it has carbonated and not a bad beer, littte week on taste but well carbonated. But this seems to only be with us 05 ale yeast, but I don't enough experience with it. This got me thinking, is this cold conditioning, I thought the yeast would stop working in the fridge? I was under the impression cold conditioning was letting the yeast and bits drop out and develop flavour, but this seems to be still fermenting or slowly fermenting. I know some yeasts can work it low temps but not 1 degree?

 

[peteru]

Are you sure it's the yeast you are trying to grow that is contributing the extra CO2?

Could it be bacteria or wild yeast / lager yeast contamination?

 

[trustyrusty]

The co2 is in the yeast bottle I am keeping, I am asking if the same thing can happen the keg when in the fridge with the same type of yeast or any yeast? Cheers

 

[peteru]

Yes, there will still be some activity in the yeast even at very low temperatures. If nothing else, the yeast will slowly decompose. If you really want the yeast to stop, you would need to freeze it.

However, my point is that the conclusion you are making is that it is the US-05 yeast working and producing CO2. That could be an incorrect assumption. It could be that your US-05 culture is contaminated with other things and it is those things that are producing the CO2.

 

[trustyrusty]

Ok thanks, could be I guess I have no idea how you would test that, unless in a science lab, but the beer I am tasting from the yeast bottle watery liquid is not bad..even passable as a beer. I am just assuming that some yeast will work at lower temps I might have read something once about cool fermentation method once?? I have just a post about someone conditioning kegs in fridge for 6 months? cheers

 

[mtb]

If you hit final gravity there won't be much more fermentation going on, regardless of temp. It sounds like you found the perfect VB recipe though