Cold Crashing 1 Gallon Glass Carboy in Fridge

[InsertMoreHops]

Hi All,

I know there are 2541582 threads pertaining to cold crashing, but I wanted to post with my specific situation.

I have a 1 gallon GLASS carboy (primary fermentor) cold crashing in my fridge with the original S shaped airlock I used throughout the fermentation. The airlock has sanitizer in it and it has been fermenting for about 3 weeks (outside the fridge).

I am aware of the "vacuum effect" that takes place with cold crashing and that I will introduce some outside (fridge) air into the beer. Since I have the S shaped airlock, the sanitized liquid was not sucked into my beer and still acting as a barrier between the inside and outside. Its only been crashing overnight so far and i planned to crash for about 48 hours.

My question is, how paranoid should I be about introducing the relatively small amount of air into the beer in this small time frame? I know introducing ANY air should be avoided as much as possible, but it seems like the consensus is all over the place.

Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

****UPDATE****

Just took a photo of the trub. Does this look normal? The additional white-ish layer just recently appeared over the dry hop layer over the trub and there are white floaters in the beer.

 

[vincentAlpha]

I wouldn't worry too much since at this point you've got alcohol in the mix now. I imagine you'll be fine so long as your fridge isn't some skunky thing (in which case I'd clean out the fridge )

 

[InsertMoreHops]

I wouldn't worry too much since at this point you've got alcohol in the mix now. I imagine you'll be fine so long as your fridge isn't some skunky thing (in which case I'd clean out the fridge )

Thanks for the feedback.

The fridge is pretty standard I suppose. Its clean and has food and beverages in it

Anyone else?

 

[mrgrimm101]

You should be fine. I cold crash using a standard 3 piece airlock, but I remove the middle piece and put in a cotton ball over the opening. Although now that I think of it, I'm not sure if I bought sterile cotton balls or not...

 

[martyjhuebs]

I just cap mine and periodly relieve the pressure. Never had an issue with it. you could always use a long siphon tube instead of airlock and run it into a jar like a blowoff. I doubt there would be enough vacuum to pull it all the way through the hose.