Cold crashing question.

[tsjolin]

Hi everyone.

I'd like to get some of the great minds to weigh in on a scenario for me.

I brewed a pretty basic amber ale and let it sit for 16 days in the primary, with the change in weather I'm using my garage to cool it down and test what kind of difference I'll see with cold crashing.

5 gallon batch
10 pounds 2 row
2 pounds caramel crystal 60L
1 oz cascade at 60 minutes
1 oz cascade 10 minutes
Whirlfloc tablet at 15 minutes
Safale US 05

My garage will fluctuate between 34-42 degree's with the current weather that's on the way. Is the temperature fluctuation bad for business at this stage? Things stay pretty close to 37 degree's in there, at what point will I hit the wall for what I'll see in benefits of cold crashing?

Thanks everyone for the thoughts.

 

[ColoHox]

From my perspective, the biggest issue will be the temperature swings. The changes in temperature will cause negative pressue to build and nasty garage air can be sucked in. If you have a way to seal the opening, then it obviously doesn't matter so much.

Otherwise, those temperature ranges will work fine for cold crashing.

 

[BigFloyd]

What sort of airlock do you use? With an S-airlock that has StarSan in it, I wouldn't be concerned much with suck-back. Also, 34-42*F isn't that big of a fluctuation to cause much pressure change.

I like to crash 35-36*F for 5-7 days. I don't see that you're going to gain much going over a week.

 

[tsjolin]

Thanks for the replies. I am using an S style air lock, I typically prime it with vodka.

I checked it after the swing from 60 degree's down to 37 and there wasn't a lot of reverse pressure on it yet.

 

[duboman]

If you have verified the beer's final gravity and it's done then go ahead and crash it as BigFloyd said, you''ll be fine. 3-5 days is usually pretty good for a nice clear beer.

If you are going to bottle, keep the beer cold and keep in mind carbonation and conditioning may take longer as it will take some time for the beer to come up to temp for conditioning and carbonating and the yeast will be dormant going into the bottles. IF you're kegging, never mind