Cold Crash Issues and Questions

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by DrewBrew87, Feb 23, 2015.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. DrewBrew87

    DrewBrew87 Initiate (0) Dec 17, 2013 South Carolina

    So yesterday I bottled my first AG batch of beer, an all cascade pale ale. Brew day went smoothly enough. I missed my OG, but I'm still obviously dialing in my system and I also will make a few tweaks to my process next brew day.

    I decided to cold crash this beer, something else I had never done before. So I dropped the temp in my chamber to 30 degrees for the final two days. Yesterday when I went to bottle there was a couple inches on clear liquid floating at the top of the carboy and the star san solution in the blowoff growler had frozen. I was initially concerned, but eventually convinced myself that it was water seperating out of the beer due to the cold temperatures (similar to the freezing method for increasing ABV some gimmicky brewers have used). So, I added priming sugar to my bottling bucket and racked my beer and the clear liqued to the bucket and gently stired everything together.

    The idea of creating a vacuum from cold crashing and drawing sanitizer back into the carboy had never occured to me until later that evening when I was thinking about it. So did I just bottle a beer with a decent amount of star san in it? 2-3 inches of liquid in a 3 gallon carboy is quite a bit. Is it possible some of that was truly just water separating from the rest of the beer (would make me feel a little better)?

    Is it safe to drink (I assume so)? What type of flavor impact should I expect?

    And how does everyone prevent suck back during cold crash? I would assume a 3 piece airlock with only a small amount of sanitizer solution in it may work.
     
    #1 DrewBrew87, Feb 23, 2015
  2. Brew_Betty

    Brew_Betty Initiate (0) Jan 5, 2015 Wisconsin

    You have maybe 2-3oz of StarSan in 350oz of beer. You probably won't be able to taste anything wrong because of it. An S shaped airlock won't put StarSan in your beer, but some air will suck back through the StarSan. If your carboy is plastic, you could try a solid stopper, but that will probably still let some unsanitized air in. A long blowoff tube immersed in StarSan is another option. It will suck back some StarSan, but if the tube is long and wide enough, it won't reach the beer.
     
    #2 Brew_Betty, Feb 23, 2015
  3. FlyingBull

    FlyingBull Initiate (0) Sep 3, 2012 California

    When liquids cool, they contract. In a sealed environment such as your fermenter, a vacuum will definitely be created. Depending on the type of construction (SS, glass, plastic), and how "air tight" it is, you'll definitely get some draw-back of sanitizer in your air lock/blow off hose due to the vacuum created. Brew_Betty had a good suggestion regarding your blow off hose.

    As for the effect on your beer, if it was starsan, if you get any flavors from it they'll most likely be acidic - a slight twang. I'd pop a bottle and taste it if you didn't already to see. Better get another batch in the queue! :-)
     
    #3 FlyingBull, Feb 23, 2015
  4. DrewBrew87

    DrewBrew87 Initiate (0) Dec 17, 2013 South Carolina

    Now that I've applied some reasonable logic to the situation I believe you're right on the amount and the impact on the final product. The amount of StarSan solution left in the blowoff container reasonably confirms that it was a small amount.

    The long blowoff tube is a good idea I hadn't considered for next time, but I'll probably go the easy route and just throw on an S shaped airlock.

    Thanks!
     
    #4 DrewBrew87, Feb 23, 2015
  5. DrewBrew87

    DrewBrew87 Initiate (0) Dec 17, 2013 South Carolina

    I'm an engineer, so I'm a bit disappointed in myself for not considering the vacuum effect as that's engineering 101, but that's another story lol. I tasted the sample I used to get my hydrometer reading and also the last couple ounces that were left over after bottling. I didn't detect any acidic flavors or other off flavors so to speak, so hopefully I'm good to go. Thanks!

    Don't worry already planning the next brew for this weekend!
     
    #5 DrewBrew87, Feb 23, 2015
  6. bathtubbrewer

    bathtubbrewer Initiate (0) Feb 23, 2015 New Hampshire

    Hopefully the sanitizer will not impede your bottle conditioning..
     
    #6 bathtubbrewer, Feb 23, 2015
  7. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    A couple ounces of Starsan solution would not impeded bottle conditioning. A gallon of Starsan solution (mixed with 5 gallons of beer) probably wouldn't impede bottle conditioning. Starsan effectiveness is based on pH staying below a certain threshold.
     
    #7 VikeMan, Feb 23, 2015
  8. minderbender

    minderbender Initiate (0) Jan 18, 2009 New York

    I am curious about the clear fluid at the top of the fermenter. I've never seen that before. One possibility, I suppose, is that several inches of the beer froze, and when it melted it didn't blend back into the beer below it.
     
    #8 minderbender, Feb 23, 2015
  9. GUNSLINGER

    GUNSLINGER Initiate (0) Nov 18, 2013 Colorado

    That's why its hst to use vodka instead of stars an in the airlock when cold crashing; ill also use whiskey if it is appropriate to the style.

    Not a big deal as not much stares. Gets in, but I'd prefer booze and not sanitizer getting into to my brews.
     
    #9 GUNSLINGER, Feb 23, 2015
  10. bathtubbrewer

    bathtubbrewer Initiate (0) Feb 23, 2015 New Hampshire

    Great, just what we need: spiked homebrews... We'll never give the stuff up! [​IMG]
     
    #10 bathtubbrewer, Feb 24, 2015
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.