Cold crashing in a warm-ish garage. Still affective?

[simporkchops]

Hey everyone.
I have read lots of posts about cold crashing and I gather that the ideal temp is low to mid 30's?
The next couple of days where I am are calling for daytime temps of low 50's and night time temps of mid to low 30's. I have five gallons of cream ale sitting out in the garage right now (just put it out tonight) but am wondering if this will help to clear the beer or is it just to warm during the day for it to be affective? Cheers and thanks in advance!
Sim

 

[stpug]

Beer sitting at room temperature will clear given time. Putting that same beer at lower temperatures speeds up the process. Once you drop the yeast below their active temperature threshold MY GUESS is that the process speeds up significantly. While low 50s and 40s may not be as quick as low 30s, I'm sure the process will take place quicker than at room temperatures. I would just plan on a little extra time for decent clearing; instead of ~3 days aim for about 7 days.

 

[simporkchops]

Yeah thats kinda what I was figuring too. I also added gelatin in the hopes that this will cut the time down a bit. First time using the gelatin so I'll see how it all turns out.
Cheers
Sim

 

[BigFloyd]

If you're using a typical ale yeast, the garage that sees 30's to low 50's will certainly help it to drop out. You'll just need to give it a bit more time than you would at a consistent mid-30's crash. I'd let it sit 7-10 days for a good clearing.

 

[simporkchops]

Thanks bigfloyd. It's knotingham yeast. I had a look at it tonight (24hours in the garage) and it looks to be clearing much better than my last batch which was in much colder garage temps. I'm sure this has to do with the gelatin however. Gotta get better temp control.
Cheers
Sim


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[BigFloyd]

Thanks bigfloyd. It's knotingham yeast. I had a look at it tonight (24hours in the garage) and it looks to be clearing much better than my last batch which was in much colder garage temps. I'm sure this has to do with the gelatin however. Gotta get better temp control.
Cheers
Sim


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Nottingham drops out pretty well, even without gelatin. It's become my favorite dry yeast since it ferments so cleanly at lower temps (in the 55-58*F range during active ferment). In fact, I'm planning to brew a batch with it tomorrow (a clone of Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar). The recipe calls for WLP1056, but it was sort of a spur of the moment thing and I didn't have time to do a starter. I plan to ferment at 56-57*F.

You've got to watch it though. If the beer temp gets above 68*F during the first few days (when it's going strong), it can produce some pretty awful off-flavors.

 

[simporkchops]

You've got to watch it though. If the beer temp gets above 68*F during the first few days (when it's going strong), it can produce some pretty awful off-flavors.

Yup. Hence my want for better temp control. My basement and garage were fine this winter for cooler temps but I'll have to look into at least a swamp cooler for this summer. Or I might have to role up the sleeves and build a ferm chamber.
Cheers
Sim


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[BigFloyd]

Or I might have to role up the sleeves and build a ferm chamber.

There's really no need to build much of anything. The only thing I built for fermentation temp management was a controller outlet box using an STC-1000 which I then plugged a used (Craigslist) fridge into. Same thing with my cold crash/lagering freezer (an upright unit, also Craigslist) that's controlled by an STC-1000 as well.

It's not that expensive either. I've got about $200 invested in the whole setup (both units and their controllers).