Cold crashing in a bucket

[dukesbb37]

So I wanted to cold crash my beer to help it clear... But I don't have fridge space and I don't wanna leave it outside in the sun.

Would It work if I just filled my bucket halfway with ice and left my carboy in it all day and then bottled after work would it be noticeably clearer?

Or should I just leave it outside and try to cover it with buckets and blankets

 

[squirrelly]

To effectively cold crash the beer should be kept down in the low40s to suspend the yeast and make the cells gather in the bottom of the fermenter to give you a clearer beer. It normally takes 2-3 weeks for this to be effective. Not only are you looking for clarity, but the beer will come out much cleaner tasting. Cold crashing is really just a shortened laggering process.

I normally ferment my ales at 58* for 6-8 weeks and then transfer them to the brite tank at 41* for 2-3 months. This gives me a really crisp clean and clear beer. From there I can run it through the closed transfer plate filter to a keg.

 

[rexbanner]

To effectively cold crash the beer should be kept down in the low40s to suspend the yeast and make the cells gather in the bottom of the fermenter to give you a clearer beer. It normally takes 2-3 weeks for this to be effective. Not only are you looking for clarity, but the beer will come out much cleaner tasting. Cold crashing is really just a shortened laggering process.

I normally ferment my ales at 58* for 6-8 weeks and then transfer them to the brite tank at 41* for 2-3 months. This gives me a really crisp clean and clear beer. From there I can run it through the closed transfer plate filter to a keg.

Not trying to be a dick, but all that time isn't necessary. You can easily put a session ale (blond, mild, etc) from grain to glass in 10 days. It will taste best in 2-4 weeks, in my experience.

Higher gravity? Not a problem. My IPA goes from grain to bottle carbed in 4 weeks. Two weeks primary, one week dry hop, one week carb with champagne yeast (if you think champagne yeast affects the flavor or creates bombs you're wrong, it does neither if your beer attenuated and carbs your beer in as little as three days)

Cold crash for however long you feel like. I've done one day to two weeks, and have never noticed much of a difference with any beers brewed with us-05 or wlp002 (two yeasts I use the most). For slow flocculators, more time may or may not be necessary. If you are careful, you can minimize the amount of yeast that goes into the keg. If you bottle, it doesn't really matter.

 

[squirrelly]

With the very low fermentation temps I use it takes quite a while for my beer to drop below 1.008. That is the reason for the extended ferment time.

Actually the blonde my wife brews is brewed exactly like an American lager, but she uses wyeast 1056 at 57* for 6 weeks, and another month in the brite tank It turns out very clean, and usually cleans house in competitions. The judges love that it has no fruity characters, a crisp full body mouthfeel, and a balanced hop aroma. She could not achieve that without a long fermentation in low temps.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

2-3 WEEKS to cold crash beer? I have been doing something wrong then cause I do mine 2-3 DAYS then bottle. Why 2-3 weeks cold crashing?

 

[BOBrob]

So I wanted to cold crash my beer to help it clear... But I don't have fridge space and I don't wanna leave it outside in the sun.

Would It work if I just filled my bucket halfway with ice and left my carboy in it all day and then bottled after work would it be noticeably clearer?

Or should I just leave it outside and try to cover it with buckets and blankets

That would be a way to do it. How long has it been fermenting? If it has been 3-4 weeks in the carboy and the yeast has cleaned up after itself,then yes a cool dark place out of the sun and a bucket of ice will work fine. just let it set for a couple days in the cooler temp. may help clear it. Prime and bottle it ,the yeast will wake up to carb it. cheers

 

[squirrelly]

You can effectively achieve the drop out rate of cold crashing in just a couple days, but if you are going to go through the trouble of that why not not use it as a conditioning aid in a brite tank? I find that there is really no difference if cold crashing is only a 2-3 day long process, but after the first 9 days I can not only see the difference, but the taste is different beer.

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

Not trying to be a dick, but all that time isn't necessary. You can easily put a session ale (blond, mild, etc) from grain to glass in 10 days. It will taste best in 2-4 weeks, in my experience.

Higher gravity? Not a problem. My IPA goes from grain to bottle carbed in 4 weeks. Two weeks primary, one week dry hop, one week carb with champagne yeast (if you think champagne yeast affects the flavor or creates bombs you're wrong, it does neither if your beer attenuated and carbs your beer in as little as three days)

Cold crash for however long you feel like. I've done one day to two weeks, and have never noticed much of a difference with any beers brewed with us-05 or wlp002 (two yeasts I use the most). For slow flocculators, more time may or may not be necessary. If you are careful, you can minimize the amount of yeast that goes into the keg. If you bottle, it doesn't really matter.

Agreed, there is no reason for a beer to be lagered for months ... Unless of course it is a lager!

I just racked a stout I brewed on Nov 27th on Dec 7th. And I cold crashed it for 3days dropping the temp from 67f to 33f the first day, and then giving it 48hrs to crash. So, effectively 7days primary ferment, and 2-3 days crash before kegging.

This beer will he clean and drinkable within a month, if I weren't so lazy, I'd quick carb it, by shaking the crap out of it for 20 minutes and I could drink it tomorrow, but like I said...I'm lazy

 

[squirrelly]

It's just my experience that my beers place better with a month or two of cold conditioning. Then again my youngest beer in the cellar is 4 months old..

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

It's just my experience that my beers place better with a month or two of cold conditioning. Then again my youngest beer in the cellar is 4 months old..

If they are high gravity, then I agree with your practice, but a beer with 4% ABV is meant to be consumed young, a Witbier for example needs no cold crash, and benefits from a two week primary, then straight to the keg (or bottle).

Should be drinkable within a month, and consumed while fresh for best flavor.

This is just one example, but not all beers benefit from extended aging. Quite the opposite for some beers.

Having said that, a fellow brewer keeps raving about Czech Pils, and I may have to attempt a lager soon, although they aren't my bag of beans.

 

[squirrelly]

Indeed, the beer I brew 3 times a week is a double IPA and my house beer is a pale at 7%. My wife does primarily scotch ales and RIS. We rarely do anything less that 1.080 OG unless we are being paid to do so.

 

[BOBrob]

You can effectively achieve the drop out rate of cold crashing in just a couple days, but if you are going to go through the trouble of that why not not use it as a conditioning aid in a brite tank? I find that there is really no difference if cold crashing is only a 2-3 day long process, but after the first 9 days I can not only see the difference, but the taste is different beer.

dukes asked if he can do it. YES. He does not have a fridge or a brite tank. You see the difference now.

 

[dukesbb37]

So instead of having to go home at lunch and replace the ice, i figured i would try and cold crash outside, and just block any possible sunlight.

First i put the carboy in a bucket, and put another bucket on top of it

Then I draped 5 towels over the buckets

Then I draped a fleece jacket and a pea coat over the towels

Then i draped a fleece blanket over the pea coat

Then i draped another blanket over the fleece blanket

I think its safe to say... there is no light getting in that carboy.

Sorry i dont know how to make my pictures smaller.

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

I thought you were trying to cold crash it?

Whats with all the insulation?

Put a black t-shirt over your carboy that is in the bucket, then take all of the insulation off of your buckets to allow the cold to get to it, unless your temps are well below freezing, I can see why you are adding all of the insulation, but if your temps are around 32F then you should be in the clear without all of that jazz.

 

[badbrew]

I am going to try this. My house temps were perfect at the beginning of the week and now it's getting warmer again so I plan to throw the bucket in a short trash can and surround it with water and a little bit of ice bottles to get it to 62-65 for the fermentation. Then I will put a bunch more ice bottles and drop it down to below 50 for the last 2-3 days. I'm hoping it works o.k.

 

[dukesbb37]

I thought you were trying to cold crash it?

Whats with all the insulation?

Put a black t-shirt over your carboy that is in the bucket, then take all of the insulation off of your buckets to allow the cold to get to it, unless your temps are well below freezing, I can see why you are adding all of the insulation, but if your temps are around 32F then you should be in the clear without all of that jazz.

I forgot to mention there actually is a black polo shirt over the carboy anyways... All that stuff isn't insulation, its to make 100% sure theres no light hitting that carboy.

Its a little under 40 degrees right now, but I dont think its producing enough heat to actually warm itself despite all the blankets and such. I prolly didn't need that much stuff to block the sunlight but I decided overkill was better

Am I wrong?

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

If you have all of that dark material on top of it absorbing heat, it may end up warming it a bit.

What you are trying to avoid is UV light hitting the beer which can skunk your beer, there would be little UV light entering through the white plastic bucket (the plastic will block most of the UV light because it is opaque. Having the black t-shirt over the carboy will more than likely block out the rest of the UV light that may penetrate (if any) the bucket.

I think you'd be safe with the carboy wrapped in a black t-shirt inside the bucket with the lid on it, or your other bucket over it.

Again, any dark material that you have over the entire bucket will absorb heat from the sunlight, probably not increasing the temperature tremendously, but it would be counter productive.

To reiterate, you are trying to block UV light which reacts with the hop compounds that skunks the beer.

 

[Berock]

That would be a way to do it. How long has it been fermenting? If it has been 3-4 weeks in the carboy and the yeast has cleaned up after itself,then yes a cool dark place out of the sun and a bucket of ice will work fine. just let it set for a couple days in the cooler temp. may help clear it. Prime and bottle it ,the yeast will wake up to carb it. cheers

You do risk getting scratches in your bucket from the carboy though. Make sure the outside is clean of debris.

 

[badbrew]

You do risk getting scratches in your bucket from the carboy though. Make sure the outside is clean of debris.

Yeah I wouldn't use a brew bucket for that. Buckets are cheap enough.

 

[skipper1953]

Wrap your carboy with tin foil. That will keep the light out.

 

[BOBrob]

Well you are a better man than I, or at least have more time and resources. Keep up the good work.

But try to keep in mind that just because you may feel a certain way doesn't mean everybody does. The very impassioned can easily be misinterpreted as a holier-than-thou...

Preach on.

BTW, I think cold crashing in a bucket of ice or placing it outdoors in the cold is fine for a beginner. I used to use a water bath to control my fermentation temps before I built my fermentation chamber. Make do with what you have.

Agree 100% ! All this over a bucket of ice? Whatever works, works for me, but I'm a DIY kind of guy & like my beer, friends do too. Thats what matters to me. Dukesbb37 you can do without all the coats on the bucket; one will keep out the uv rays. Cheers

 

[dzlater]

I stick my fermentors in the cold garage to cold crash in the winter.
Sometimes over night , sometimes a few days.
Adding gelatin or issenglass helps.
And yea dukesbb37, take all those blankets off, you want it to get cold.

 

[kpr121]

I stick my fermentors in the cold garage to cold crash in the winter.
Sometimes over night , sometimes a few days.
Adding gelatin or issenglass helps.
And yea dukesbb37, take all those blankets off, you want it to get cold.

Yep winter is awesome as far as brewing is concerned. It used to be the only way I could brew lagers. Now that I have ferm controlled chamber in there when I want to chill/cold crash all I do is open the (shut off) ferm chamber and let nature do the work. The thing that sucks about winter is needing to bring all the brewing equipment inside to rinse clean due to frozen spigots outside.

 

[flabyboy]

The closer you get your temp down to 32 the faster and more effective your cold crash will be. I've read that getting it to 31 is exponentially faster

 

[FastEddie212]

Do those of you who allow longer times in the primary and/or secondary ever have problems when bottle carbonating especially when cold crashing? For whatever reason, that always concerns me. So far I've pretty much just done kits and have followed the instructions closely and have used a secondary for most batches. My last one was a lager which I would have liked to condition longer before bottling but was too concerned about it not carbonating properly.

 

[kpr121]

Do those of you who allow longer times in the primary and/or secondary ever have problems when bottle carbonating especially when cold crashing? For whatever reason, that always concerns me. So far I've pretty much just done kits and have followed the instructions closely and have used a secondary for most batches. My last one was a lager which I would have liked to condition longer before bottling but was too concerned about it not carbonating properly.

If you are concerned you can always keep a pack of dry yeast around. Anything will work, muntons notty champagne whatever. Sprinkle it in your bottling bucket then rack your beer on top.

With that being said, usually enough yeast usually stick around to bottle Carb except for the longest of lagering. If you are unsure then sprinkle away.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

Do those of you who allow longer times in the primary and/or secondary ever have problems when bottle carbonating especially when cold crashing? For whatever reason, that always concerns me. So far I've pretty much just done kits and have followed the instructions closely and have used a secondary for most batches. My last one was a lager which I would have liked to condition longer before bottling but was too concerned about it not carbonating properly.

I have left beer in the fridge for a week cold crashing due to not having time to bottle. No issue with carbonation.

 

[BOBrob]

Do those of you who allow longer times in the primary and/or secondary ever have problems when bottle carbonating especially when cold crashing? For whatever reason, that always concerns me. So far I've pretty much just done kits and have followed the instructions closely and have used a secondary for most batches. My last one was a lager which I would have liked to condition longer before bottling but was too concerned about it not carbonating properly.

Never had a problem yet, and I have had slush forming when I moved the bucket back inside to bottle. The yeast wake up again to carbonate the beer. I would not recommend letting your brew sit out if the temp. is going below zero, it can freeze fast and no telling what might happen then, but anything above 32F is fine. Cheers