DIY cold crashing

ok guys, I don't have a fridge to cold crash my beer. HOWEVER trying to do a makeshift coldrash by filling my rope tub with water and 4 Two-Liter soda bottles that I'm rotating as fast as I can freeze them. Right now I can keep it at 50-52 degrees. will that help to drop stuff out of suspension or am I wasting my time if I can't get down to 40 degrees F???

Sorry, but you are wasting your time. According to Charlie Bamforth, the brewing expert, you need to get beer down to 32f (that's 0c for the rest of the world) to clear it up. That really only needs to be overnight to do it, but it needs to be that cold to drop stuff out.

tektonjp said:

Sorry, but you are wasting your time. According to Charlie Bamforth, the brewing expert, you need to get beer down to 32f (that's 0c for the rest of the world) to clear it up. That really only needs to be overnight to do it, but it needs to be that cold to drop stuff out.

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ok, I can live with that but 32 degrees???? that's freezing... if that's the case then cold crashing in the fridge wouldn't do anything either since your typical fridge doesn't get below 38-40 degrees

Is this question pertaining to one brew in particular, or all of your beers? The reason I ask is that I had one stubborn beer that the yeast would not drop out of suspension. I had to add gelatin and cold crash in my fridge (37F), but it did work. Aside from that one beer, I leave my beers in the primary for at least 4 weeks, and they come out nice and clear the longer I leave them on primary. Then again, I also keg all my beers and leave them in my keezer @ 44F for three weeks to carbonate

DanseMacabre said:

Is this question pertaining to one brew in particular, or all of your beers? The reason I ask is that I had one stubborn beer that the yeast would not drop out of suspension. I had to add gelatin and cold crash in my fridge (37F), but it did work. Aside from that one beer, I leave my beers in the primary for at least 4 weeks, and they come out nice and clear the longer I leave them on primary. Then again, I also keg all my beers and leave them in my keezer @ 44F for three weeks to carbonate

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just one brew, this is a fast pale mild, so It's only gonna be in the ale pale 2 weeks tomorrow. Just getting any remain Krausen that was floating to get out before bottling

I cold crash at 33-34F for 48 hours and the clarity is fantastic. Always a 2 week ferment at an ambient of 64F

If you can't do a decent cold crash I'd just leave the beer in the fermenter for a longer period of time. But I'm just assuming that's the ideal alternative. I haven't tried to use anything other than 1/2 tbsp'ish irish moss at the final 10 min of the boil to help with clairity. Not even sure that's why I'm using Irish moss haha. My beers are tasting freaking fantastic!!!

ThePonchoKid said:

I cold crash at 33-34F for 48 hours and the clarity is fantastic. Always a 2 week ferment at an ambient of 64F

If you can't do a decent cold crash I'd just leave the beer in the fermenter for a longer period of time. But I'm just assuming that's the ideal alternative. I haven't tried to use anything other than 1/2 tbsp'ish irish moss at the final 10 min of the boil to help with clairity. Not even sure that's why I'm using Irish moss haha. My beers are tasting freaking fantastic!!!

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gotcha, clarity has never bothered me really, my beers taste amazing even if cloudy so I be happy. was just trying to see if it could be done this (AZ heat sucks)

wormraper said:

gotcha, clarity has never bothered me really, my beers taste amazing even if cloudy so I be happy. was just trying to see if it could be done this (AZ heat sucks)

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you could dig a hole and line it/insulate it with Styrofoam. The dew worms love it, and it might be decent for the final week of the brew, haha. I'm actually serious, and half crazy

Ok, well it seems to me your best option is to not rush the bottling process. If you are fermenting in an ale pale, are you assuming a krausen layer or are you continually opening the lid to check it out? The idea of a "fast" pale is, admittedly, lost on me. The longer I leave things in a primary the clearer they get, and the better they taste. That being said, if I'm making a really hoppy beer I don't want to loose hop flavor. This is where dry hopping and keg hopping come into play.

The worst case scenario, just siphon from your pale (or drain via the spigot) and the remnant krausen will be left behind if you are careful. This assumes you've reached your FG, your are at FG?

DanseMacabre said:

Ok, well it seems to me your best option is to not rush the bottling process. If you are fermenting in an ale pale, are you assuming a krausen layer or are you continually opening the lid to check it out? The idea of a "fast" pale is, admittedly, lost on me. The longer I leave things in a primary the clearer they get, and the better they taste. That being said, if I'm making a really hoppy beer I don't want to loose hop flavor. This is where dry hopping and keg hopping come into play.

The worst case scenario, just siphon from your pale (or drain via the spigot) and the remnant krausen will be left behind if you are careful. This assumes you've reached your FG, your are at FG?

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yup, 2nd gravity test taken this morning. sitting at 1.004 for 3 days straight.

Ok, back to the original question/problem: Are you seeing a visibly cloudy beer? If it is in a pale, I'm not sure how you can tell. Or are you just trying to cold crash because you think it is a step you should take?

DanseMacabre said:

Ok, back to the original question/problem: Are you seeing a visibly cloudy beer? If it is in a pale, I'm not sure how you can tell. Or are you just trying to cold crash because you think it is a step you should take?

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eh, it was just to see if it could be done type of thing. my pales are ALWAYS a LITTLE cloudy, (but never bothers me, they taste great). just curious HOW clear I could get it since I never tried cold crashing before.

yeah I hear it. In the absence of cold temps (which allow multiple options for dropping stuff out of suspension and clearing beer), the only option I know of is longer time on the primary. Unfortunately, nobody wants to here that (me included). But it does help:cross:

Check out the BN's podcast series Brew Strong episode from 11/01/09, Beer Haze, with Dr. Charlie Banforth. I happened to be listening to this episode this morning. Before you try haze clearing techniques, you'll want to have a better idea of what might be causing it in your beers.

I'm currently attempting a different approach to DIY cold crashing.

I've wrapped my brewing vessel (primary, not bothering with a secondary for this brew) in wet towels and left it outside. Primary fermentation finished 4/5 days ago, given it a few days to clean up before cold crashing. S-airlock left in, can't imagine suckback being a problem as the pressure change shouldn't be too aggressive/strong.

Our daytime temperature is about 7/8°C (45°F) and nighttime temperature is about 3/4°C (38°F). No direct sunlight (due to towels, position in garden and lovely Danish overcast weather). Always a slight breeze so that should help cool it too.

Fermentation temperature was maintained at 20/21°C (68-70°F) but after 10 minutes outside, the thermometer on the vessel (sticker strip thermometer: not the most accurate in the world, but a good enough indicator) has visibly changed.

I think I will leave it for around 40 hours (14.45 on Monday now, will bottle on Wednesday morning), I'm hoping that will help with clarity.

This is just an experiment due to lack of proper brewing equipment, but I will keep people updated on how it goes and whether it's a viable method (climate/weather dependant, of course).