Cold Crashing Temps

[lorne17]

Hello there,

I am cold crashing my NEIPA in my garage. I typically brew in basement around 60-65F. But I decided to cold crash this because of all the hops it has. I live in Denver and the temps tonight will be in the teens.

Is there an issue if the Temps fall below 30 degrees while cold crashing? Last night it stayed about 40F in my garage when outside temps were about 20-25 degrees.

I only need to keep it out there for one more night. I’ll keg tomorrow evening.

Thanks,
Lorne

 

[stieg000]

Ive never crashed it that cold but according to my LHS owner beer will freeze below 28°. He says he crashes it below freezing to freeze the yeast cake in the bottom of the bucket before racking. I usually throw it in the fridge and the hops settle out fine.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Theres a chart floating around that has freezing temps of beer by alcohol percentage.

If the temps were in the 20's outside and it stayed at 40 in the garage than it makes sense that if its in the teens you wont be below freezing in the garage.

Not sure how a garage stays 15 degs warmer than outside temps in an unheated garage

 

[lorne17]

Theres a chart floating around that has freezing temps of beer by alcohol percentage.

If the temps were in the 20's outside and it stayed at 40 in the garage than it makes sense that if its in the teens you wont be below freezing in the garage.

Not sure how a garage stays 15 degs warmer than outside temps in an unheated garage

Probably because it was nearly 60F yesterday. Haha. Gotta love Denver. Gonna be 60 again on Thursday. So it must have retained that heat from the day. Right now it’s 35.7F in garage and it’s 13F outside.

Hopefully it stays at 35! That’s perfect for cold crashing right?

Thanks,
Lorne

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Hopefully it stays at 35! That’s perfect for cold crashing right?

Yup. You should get a cheap chest freezer for the garage. You can use it for a ferm chamber, to cold crash and youll be able to make lagers..All around good investment..look on craigslist. Under $100 and you could be all set

 

[lorne17]

Yup. You should get a cheap chest freezer for the garage. You can use it for a ferm chamber, to cold crash and youll be able to make lagers..All around good investment..look on craigslist. Under $100 and you could be all set

My fermentation vessel is the FastFerment and a tank! Not sure how I can get it to fit in a cooler . I did make this for my chamber. How can I add to it to get it to control temperature? https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/son-of-a-fastferment-chamber.575923/

Got any ideas without tacking on a full A/C or fridge?

Thanks,
Lorne

 

[lorne17]

OK, so now the temperature in the garage is 31.8°. Should I be concerned? Should I move my fermentation into the basement again? I’m kegging tomorrow as a reminder.

 

[JimRausch]

I live in Maine and this year we are North Pole central. I cold crash and/or lager everything out in my unheated garage. Usually I have the fermenters in a water bath which will keep the beer at no lower than 32 until the water freezes all the way, at which point the beer might freeze, but it takes a couple days (and the beer is fine afterwards). So, one night at 30ish? No problem.

 

[lorne17]

I live in Maine and this year we are North Pole central. I cold crash and/or lager everything out in my unheated garage. Usually I have the fermenters in a water bath which will keep the beer at no lower than 32 until the water freezes all the way, at which point the beer might freeze, but it takes a couple days (and the beer is fine afterwards). So, one night at 30ish? No problem.

Ok cool. Thanks.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

OK, so now the temperature in the garage is 31.8°. Should I be concerned? Should I move my fermentation into the basement again? I’m kegging tomorrow as a reminder.

Not going to freeze at that temp. What temp is the beer? If it not near 32 buy the time the beer temp gets to 32 it'll be tomorrow. Throw a few towels over it to retain the heat if your worried and you "should" be fine

 

[lorne17]

One last question, I’m kegging my beer tonight. Should I leave the fermenter where it is in the garage and rack to keg from there? Or should I move it back inside where I typically rack? Will the yeast get disturbed if the beer warms up today if I move it

Thanks,
Lorne

 

[helibrewer]

Leave it where it is, the colder the better for racking

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

One last question, I’m kegging my beer tonight. Should I leave the fermenter where it is in the garage and rack to keg from there? Or should I move it back inside where I typically rack? Will the yeast get disturbed if the beer warms up today if I move it

Thanks,
Lorne

Move it where you want without shaking. The bottom couple inches will get a little stirred up a little but rack it all up. It will settle out in the keg by the time its carbed. Dump first pour or 2

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Leave it where it is, the colder the better for racking

Why is colder better?
I can see carbing cold but transferring liquid from one container to another makes no difference in temp. Not to mention the beer temp is not going to change one bit unless the OP lets it sit inside for hours before racking which seems unlikely. Might as well work inside where its warm and more enjoyable

 

[lorne17]

Thanks all. I already left for work. So I didn't get a chance to move it back inside. So I will leave it and rack it in garage after work.

Thanks,

Lorne

 

[helibrewer]

Why is colder better?
I can see carbing cold but transferring liquid from one container to another makes no difference in temp. Not to mention the beer temp is not going to change one bit unless the OP lets it sit inside for hours before racking which seems unlikely. Might as well work inside where its warm and more enjoyable

It just helps keep CO2 in solution, it's more important for counter-pressure transfers but there is still about 1.8 or so volumes of CO2 in finished (flat) beer....less foaming during transfer.

 

[ESBrewer]

I think it is something like 0.8+ vols residual co2 only in an ale that probably fermented in 60s or even 70s. Doesn't really foam that much If you are careful. I would say that it makes not that much difference whether you move it or not. Some of the tannin-protein complexes (chill haze) may be at the bottom and if you let it warm up they may dissolve back into the beer so you could transfer at cold but that doesn't really make a big difference, at least If you didn't use finings in the fermenter.

 

[Cevan65]

Theres a chart floating around that has freezing temps of beer by alcohol percentage.

If the temps were in the 20's outside and it stayed at 40 in the garage than it makes sense that if its in the teens you wont be below freezing in the garage.

Not sure how a garage stays 15 degs warmer than outside temps in an unheated garage

I have a detached garage that is insulated. It almost never gets below freezing in there here in Massachusetts. Heat comes up through the concrete floor as the ground underneath is probably 50 degrees.

 

[Nubiwan]

Theres a chart floating around that has freezing temps of beer by alcohol percentage.

If the temps were in the 20's outside and it stayed at 40 in the garage than it makes sense that if its in the teens you wont be below freezing in the garage.

Not sure how a garage stays 15 degs warmer than outside temps in an unheated garage

Couple of factors might help. Insulation and being out of the wind. On an icy day, you expose a water pipe to wind, a hole in the outer wall perhaps, then it will freeze. If you simply plugthe hole, you greatly reduce if not avoid any freezing. Most garages will have some minimal insulation, including some in the door, as well as some latent heat, if attached to the house.

I live in Canada. I have a detached garage that is pretty "porous" at the end of the day. If it is minus 10 C outside, i'd still seek refuge from wind and weather inside the garage. Simply being out of the wind helps. Now it gets cold in my garage, but I am willing to bet that it is still 5 degrees warmer than outside. If it was attached to the house.... then I'd expect it would be almost habitable. Certainly not able to freeze water over a week or two.

I have a non insulated porch in my basement apt that gets to around 40 degrees. It may vary 4-5 degrees depending on the weather outside, even dip below 40, but I'd be very surprised that my beer ever froze, even with outside temps well below zero. I have a cider out there now, that was essentially yellow, when I dumped it out there 3-4 days ago. It's already turning a nice orange and visibly clearing.

My question is how cold does it really needed be for bring the yeast out of suspension (if that is the correct term)? I could probably walk my pale to my garage about 15 yards and attain almost freezing temps, but is this any better than my 40 degrees? I am chiefly concerned about dropping the bloody thing, then all the further agitation from simply carrying it any distance at all, and defeating the actual purpose.

I would then want to transport it back, to bottle inside, as I am not flash enough to have a keg operation. All more. movement that I fear could agitate the cake/trub even after a crash.