So I'm cold crashing my pale ale in the family fridge and the airlock is just an inch or two too far. Currently I have the bung in place with no airlock and some sanitised tinfoil covering that. Is this enough precaution? I'm considering that there is a lot of open food and drinks in there with the carboy.
Cold Crash in the Family Fridge: No airlock!
- Thread starter Eucrid
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If you can't get a moist-cotton air filter on it, try a few layers of Kleenex tissue, held in place with rubber bands; this is fruit-fly season, and you want to keep those little buggers out. I've used it directly on equipment that I wanted to dry, without any contamination for 2 years.
I don't mean to hijack, but cold crashing... can it take some time for the fridge temp to go down with the beer or does it have to go from it's current temp straight down to like low 30's?
Ie: I have my fermenter at 63F for example I have a fridge fermenter not a freezer, it can go to low 30's, but if I run the fridge from 60's to low 30's I'll burn the compressor for sure (speaking about the beer temp not ambient).
Ie: I have my fermenter at 63F for example I have a fridge fermenter not a freezer, it can go to low 30's, but if I run the fridge from 60's to low 30's I'll burn the compressor for sure (speaking about the beer temp not ambient).
gr8shandini
Well-Known Member
I don't know why you think this is a surefire way to kill your compressor. I've been doing this for years in my now 15 year old fridge / fermentation chamber.
Even if you use a temperature controller crashed down to 35F, the fridge set at its lowest setting should still take care of itself since its thermostat only cares about the air temperature and not the beer. Besides, so long as you're not icing over the coils, constant operation is actually probably preferable to start/stop cycles.
tommyguner03
Well-Known Member
tinfoil works fine for me. i even us it majority of time for primary fermentation. and lager or cold crash.
estricklin
Well-Known Member
Smart man OP, I try to tell people all the time about using the family fridge to cold crash/lager. SWMBO loves my beer so she lets me get away with it. I mostly use 5 gallon buckets in my brewery now so not fitting due to the airlock is no longer an issue.
It may look crazy but hey the things we do for beer!
It may look crazy but hey the things we do for beer!
I have a Danby mini-fridge and the compressor gets to a burning point when on for more than 45 mins at a time. I mean you can barely touch it, thats how hot it gets. I don't know much about fridges but I assume when it gets burning hot its not good?
Smart man OP, I try to tell people all the time about using the family fridge to cold crash/lager. SWMBO loves my beer so she lets me get away with it. I mostly use 5 gallon buckets in my brewery now so not fitting due to the airlock is no longer an issue.
It may look crazy but hey the things we do for beer!
That does look crazy
My SWMBO is pretty forgiving of my brewing but I don't think I'd get away with lagering in our main fridge. Pretty sure we'll be getting a second fridge soon though.
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