BIG mistake crash cooling???

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

megavites

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2007
Messages
178
Reaction score
0
Location
Jackson, NJ
I crash cooled and ESB last night down to 40deg with the blowoff tube
in about a quart of starsan and water. Just looked and the cooling sucked
the starsan into the fermentor.:(
Am I SOL or can I draw out of this betterbottle into a keg and hope for the best??
Can't believe I did this.
 
Your beer will be fine.

Starsan is food-safe, colorless, odorless, and (I think...) eventually degrades into stuff that's in beer anyway; this is why people say "don't fear the foam."

If you're extra-special-lucky, the starsan will have formed its own layer, and you can just rack the beer from underneath, but even if not, I've ready plenty of threads where folks had this exact thing happen and their beer tasted fine.
 
Why were you cold-crashing your beer with a blow tube and Star San? If you are cold crashing, you are long past the point in fermentation where you need for a blow off tube. Unless of course, the temperature drop was not intentional.
 
it looks like I can see a distinguished layer on top. If I rack and leave behind
1/2g to 1 gallon, I guess it would be lesson learned. I left the blowoff on since the start
of fermentation.

I'm curious how do you prevent this or airlock fluid and then oxygen
from going into fermentor? did I cool too quickly, 67 to 40 in 12hrs?
 
This is why they make the s-airlocks. Air can flow either direction without suck back.
 
Im also curious as to why you cold crashed with a blow off tube and star san. Regardless, it wont hurt your beer. That layer you can see will eventually go away (it may take a while if the beer is cold).
 
Back
Top