That is why we have kidneys.
I have already cold crashed before, but have never noticed this. Maybe that’s why all my beers suck ;D But yes, please do tell how to avoid this…
Replace the airlock with aluminum foil. Or, if using a blowoff tube make sure there isn’t enough sanitizer in the jar to make it up the tube and in your fermenter. Or, cold crash in your keg. [emoji106]
If you have a conical, replace the blow off tube with the CO2 input set at 1PSI so as it sucks and it’s just sips on CO2 and you still have your blanket. For a while when I was using a carbon, I would take one of those kids big punchy balloons, wash it and sterilize it inside with starsan, and then fill it with CO2. I would then just take off my air lock and put the balloon on carboy so as the fluid compresses it would decrease the balloon size.
S-locks will work the same as foil, and both allow outside air in. I like solid stoppers, but 90% of the time I go straight to the keg.
Crashing in the keg for me.
The small amount of air sucked through the airlock will be negligible. I just don’t think it it worry worthy. The beer should still be full of co2 and that will be continuously coming out of solution after temps have stabilized.
I still bottle so no cold crashing in the keg for me. I have an s-lock with very little star san in it. I’m going to cold crash for 24 hours, and check whether anything funny happens. It’s a saison, not Dom Perignon!
Yep, I forgot about the S lock. As the liquid gets sucked back if there isn’t enough to make it to the end it will fall back down into the airlock and not get in your beer. Personally I wouldn’t crash a saison, but it won’t hurt the beer either.
+1 it’s really up to you. I used 3711 all the time and it seems to flock out very well so I tend to skip a cold crash of the carboy and let it clean up in the keg. However cold crashing the carboy on other beers/yeasts is a great technique if you can do it. Nothing bad has ever happened to beers that I’ve cold crashed.
For that photo I’d skip the crash it looks pretty clear to me.
Thanks for the advice. I bottled today after cold crashing for 24 hours @ 5C, because I want to reuse the yeast.
Slightly off topic, but still, it’s my thread: I put all the yeast and trub (no dry hops) in a sanitized jar with a 5 cm of beer floating on top of it. Is that OK? How long will it keep in the fridge?
I would read up on “yeast washing” if you want to harvest from a previous batch.
I’d say you are ok w/ what you did but try to use what you saved w/in 30 days. The sooner the better.
I’ve found yeast washing/rinsing offers no advantages and I stopped doing it years ago.
I agree. Not worth the time or effort IMO. I just use fresh yeast every batch.
OK, that’s what I thought I had read somewhere on this forum. And the yeast remains relatively healthy for how long in the fridge? Longer than a month?
I’ve gone 6+ months. As long as you make a starter most strains should be fine for a while in the fridge. You might need to start slow and do a few steps with your starters for older yeast slurries.
My philosophy lately is rinsing is no bueno. I store it on the beer it made itself. If I have time to make a starter, I make a starter. Meaning, if I repitch the next day (or that week) I just measure and repitch. If im brewing more than a week out, I make a starter.
+1 if its a lower OG beer under 1.060 you could just pitch what you have. Over that and a starter is a good idea There is no real set time 1 month 6 months no real way to tell. The fresher the yeast the better
I save and resue the yeast, but I just pour everything into a sanitized container and keep it refrigerated until I’m ready to use it.
OK, one more newbie question now that we’re at it: I bottled Drew’s citra saison (with French Saison, and NOT dry-hopped) yesterday. Should I drink this beer fresh or let it mature for a number (how many?) months? Saison and citra seem to compete with one another here…