Cold chashing outside in the winter

[JONNYROTTEN]

Does it up the chances of an infection if I put my bucket outside to cold crash? Are there "outdoor" bacteria floating around that can get sucked into the bucket with a temp change? I just brought my bucket outside and had one of those "is this a bad idea" moments

 

[BrewSomeMore]

The bugs aren't the concern, the concern is the beer might freeze especially at night. If you have a garage it might be above freezing. I did a Vienna lager last year in my garage, temps were holding around 48-50 degrees on the garage stairs. I am sure the garage floor was even colder.

 

[schatzke]

My garage isn't heated but is insulated. Lowest temp I've had out there is 28 while I had a bucket out there and no freeze issue. I guess I didn't think about it sucking anything into the bucket while it crashed but I don't think there is much of a problem picking up an infection with fermented wort.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

40 now going down to 28 tonight which is perfect for a cold crash. So I thought I'd give it a shot..fermenters full

 

[BrewSomeMore]

if you are concerned about the airlock just throw some cheap vodka in there. It will kill anything and shouldn't freeze.

 

[millsbrew]

if you are concerned about the airlock just throw some cheap vodka in there. It will kill anything and shouldn't freeze.

I would go this route. You won't really need to worry about bugs and wild yeast if you keep it closed this time of year.

 

[day_trippr]

40 now going down to 28 tonight which is perfect for a cold crash. So I thought I'd give it a shot..fermenters full

You'll do fine. When I cold crash 5 gallons in a full size fridge it still take a good 12 hours to get from dry hopping temperature down to kegging temperature. Letting it chill over night outside at ~ 28°F should provide plenty of margin vs ending up with a 40 pound beersicle...

Cheers!

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Use an S-type air lock with vodka and you'll be fine. There was a thread on here a while ago about lagering your fermenter in a snow pile. Apparently, it worked great. Snow never gets below 32F. Of course, that would actually require we have snow

 

[bigplunkett]

Ive used the out side weather to cold crash, i dont have anothe fridge so it works when its cold enough.

 

[motosapiens]

I cold crash outside in the spring when the garage isn't cold enough. no problems yet, but I do set the carboy where the sun won't get to it if I oversleep. obviously (i think), if it's cold enough to where freezing is a concern, I don't really need to go outside, and can just use the garage.

 

[mongoose33]

Does it up the chances of an infection if I put my bucket outside to cold crash? Are there "outdoor" bacteria floating around that can get sucked into the bucket with a temp change? I just brought my bucket outside and had one of those "is this a bad idea" moments

Guess what? Unless you have effective means of filtering the air in your house, whatever is floating around outside is likely floating around inside your house.

If you never have to dust, it may be better inside. But think about it: that layer of dust on, well, everything settled down there from the air.

I don't think you're at any greater risk cold-crashing outside than inside.

 

[max384]

Use an S-type air lock with vodka and you'll be fine. There was a thread on here a while ago about lagering your fermenter in a snow pile. Apparently, it worked great. Snow never gets below 32F. Of course, that would actually require we have snow

Don't do this. Snow absolutely gets below 32 F. If you're relying on snow not getting below freezing, you'll end up with a frozen block of beer.

It's liquid water that doesn't get below freezing (unless there is salt, sugar, etc. dissolved in the water). But even then, it will just transition to ice, and then the temperature will drop.

 

[millsbrew]

Don't do this. Snow absolutely gets below 32 F. If you're relying on snow not getting below freezing, you'll end up with a frozen block of beer.



It's liquid water that doesn't get below freezing (unless there is salt, sugar, etc. dissolved in the water). But even then, it will just transition to ice, and then the temperature will drop.

I would agree here. Snow has nothing to do with outside temperature. Snow is a good insulator because it breaks up wind, but it won't actively change the temperature of anything without touching it. Put it in your garage that is insulated. It will likely stay above freezing in there unless temps go really low.

 

[jonny24]

I'm currently using my insulated, un heated backroom to ferment a lager. got up to 60 around day 2 but has been 48-50 the rest of the time. I've been cold crashing in the backroom and outside when temperatures allow. Had a bit of ice around the edges one time but I just brought it in for a few hours before adding gelatin.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Check this out. Read all 4 pages.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=282404

 

[max384]

Check this out. Read all 4 pages.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=282404

That's interesting. I would have bet against it... But then again, by his own admission, it got into the 40s on several occasions. I'd imagine in this were dine in January and February instead of March and April, the results would be different.

Snow can, and does, get below 32 F. Snow is an insulator, but that only means that it slows down cooling down and heating up. It doesn't prevent a liquid from freezing. It will only slow it down.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

In one of the posts (#20) he says they had multiple nights in the single digits and highs in the 20's. I think the key is that he wrapped the fermenter in plastic and packed the snow very tightly around it. Without significant air space within the snow pack, it acted more like ice and got no colder than 32F. If you freeze a thermometer in an ice block and place the ice block in a 0F freezer, the thermometer will continue to read 32F.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled forum thread.

 

[max384]

In one of the posts (#20) he says they had multiple nights in the single digits and highs in the 20's. I think the key is that he wrapped the fermenter in plastic and packed the snow very tightly around it. Without significant air space within the snow pack, it acted more like ice and got no colder than 32F. If you freeze a thermometer in an ice block and place the ice block in a 0F freezer, the thermometer will continue to read 32F.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled forum thread.

No it won't. It will only slow down how quickly it gets to 0 F.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

I stand corrected. Your post triggered an ancient memory of my old thermodynamics course and I even remembered doing something like this in a lab. Wow, I guess all these years of drinking beer destroyed a few brain cells