Cold Crash

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Mateo

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I am planning on cold crashing my Kolsch this week and was worried about suck-up from the air lock.

What do you all do to prevent this?

m.
 
I have questions regarding this. I assume you are pitching your yeast first. Down to what temperature do you cold crash in this situation? And, At what temperature will you ferment it?

Can you just cover the end with a cloth or something like that until it reaches your target cold crash temperature, then apply the air-lock? I would think that the risk of contamination would be minimal.

Forgive my questions, but I am very new to this.
 
I find I only have a problem with 3-piece airlocks. the S-shape slightly under-filled with sarstan/vodka (just incase in goes in) never cause me a problem.
 
I have questions regarding this. I assume you are pitching your yeast first. Down to what temperature do you cold crash in this situation? And, At what temperature will you ferment it?

Can you just cover the end with a cloth or something like that until it reaches your target cold crash temperature, then apply the air-lock? I would think that the risk of contamination would be minimal.

Forgive my questions, but I am very new to this.

First - only cold crash after all fermentation and conditioning are complete...this has nothing to do w/ fermenting. I would keep an airlock on because since the fermentation is over your co2 blanket that protects the beer is susceptible to o2...

Now...I cold crash to kegging temp (38-40F) for 24hrs then add gelatin then wait 48hrs then keg.
 
I cold crash in my keg which is purged with co2, then no airlock issues. Are you going to bottle this batch, and if so, is it a good practice to cold crash before bottling?
 
I am in the process of cold crashing now. I just got my Johnson Controls installed and have dropped the temp. Nothing crazy since its only a fridge and not a freezer. I now see why a freeze is a good deal for brewing. Fridges just don't get that cold.

The beer did not draw up all that much.

I am going to bottle this batch. Probably earlier than I would like to wait, but I am itching to get this into the bottle. I am trying to get as much of the yeast out of suspension as possible.
 
I just cold crashed two beers too down to the mid 30s. Using the S shaped airlocks, no problem. If you don't have enough liquid to blow out of there during ferment, you won't have enough liquid to spill into the fermenter. At least that's my experience.
 
My preferred method for cold conditioning, cold crashing, lagering or whatever is to rack to a secondary carboy. I then use a carboy cap without an airlock or blow off. I simply leave the small caps on the carboy cap. A minor vacuum will form when the beer cools, but I figure, "so what?". Previously I would use the "S" type air locks filled with Star San. They worked OK and at least no water or sanitizer got sucked back into the beer, but some air would get in. It finally dawned on me to just seal the carboy completely with the cap and ignore the vacuum. Duh...I'm slow sometimes.

Regarding ideal temperatures, IMO colder is better all the way down to the freezing point. I often take my beers down to where ice will form on the surface. At that point I usually keep it there or back off just slightly until the ice dissipates. I sometimes take them down to as low as 26F for extended lagering/conditioning. Brrrrrr...
 
My preferred method for cold conditioning, cold crashing, lagering or whatever is to rack to a secondary carboy. I then use a carboy cap without an airlock or blow off. I simply leave the small caps on the carboy cap. A minor vacuum will form when the beer cools, but I figure, "so what?".

Good thinking--I can just put a solid stopper in my carboy next time I cold crash (have two beers crashing right now). Only 8:30 and I already learned my "something" for the day!
 
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