DOH! It got cold lastnight!

Doh damnit!!!! I keep my bourbon barrel ale in the garage were it is nice and cool to sit in secondary. Well, it got a little cool in WVa lastnight. I looked at the thermometer and it was 6F. The garage is cold, but nothing is frozen.

I'm hoping the accidental cold crash won't affect my cranberry wine or my bourbon barrel ale. I feel like they're my kids (as much time as I have invested in making them) and I'm a bad parent... LOL

Hello fellow west virginian, i cant believe how cold its been lately. brrrr... although its probably a little colder where you are ( i assume downstate in the mountains)

Shouldnt effect anything though, as long as they werent fermenting (which it sounds like they werent) you should be fine

if they are still fermenting, i would insulate them heavily so the heat generated by fermentation does not escape.

Yeast may be hibernating, conditioning that cold will yield little conditioning value and is more akin to lagering, something you don't want to do witha flavorful ale IMHO.

Ive moved it into the heated part of the basement. I hope it hasn't hurt anything. I can't undo it so I may as well make the best of it.

Diver165 said:

Ive moved it into the heated part of the basement. I hope it hasn't hurt anything. I can't undo it so I may as well make the best of it.

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if anything, they just took a nap, they will wake up again given the right temp

cheezydemon3 said:

Yeast may be hibernating, conditioning that cold will yield little conditioning value and is more akin to lagering, something you don't want to do witha flavorful ale IMHO.

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everything has been racked to secondary...we're beyond the primary fermentation by a while.

I agree with humann, the yeast are just taking a nap. They will wake up in the warmer environment.

Diver165 said:

everything has been racked to secondary...we're beyond the primary fermentation by a while.

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...........there is a LOT of crucial conditioning that goes on waaaaaaay beyond primary fermentation.

I said CONDITIONING, not fermentation.