Cold crashing

[akpolaris]

I’ve never tried this before and wonder if a modified version would work. I have a stout that has been fermenting and is ready to go. I usually shift to another carbon to settle out the solids. Can I set this carboy outside for a period of time, 6 to 8 hours? Temps outside in high 20 to mid 30 deg. Any benefit to doing this. I don’t have a fridge for this purpose so leaving it outside would be for limited period

 

[Rob2010SS]

As with any time you cold crash in a carboy, do you have a good way to reduce suck back? If you don't and you just have an airlock on it, your airlock will most likely freeze in the 20s.

Personally, I'd skip the cold crash. Unless you have a good way to eliminate suckback and protect the beer, you run more of a risk of oxidation.

If you keg, once you keg it and put it in the fridge, that'll act as a cold crash as well.
If you bottle, same thing, once it's carbed and you stick it in the fridge, that'll be like a cold crash as well.

Like I said, I'd skip sticking the carboy outside. The risk outweighs the benefits in my opinion.

 

[akpolaris]

As with any time you cold crash in a carboy, do you have a good way to reduce suck back? If you don't and you just have an airlock on it, your airlock will most likely freeze in the 20s.

Personally, I'd skip the cold crash. Unless you have a good way to eliminate suckback and protect the beer, you run more of a risk of oxidation.

If you keg, once you keg it and put it in the fridge, that'll act as a cold crash as well.
If you bottle, same thing, once it's carbed and you stick it in the fridge, that'll be like a cold crash as well.

Like I said, I'd skip sticking the carboy outside. The risk outweighs the benefits in my opinion.

Thanks. That is the kind of info I was looking for. I don;t think it will freeze but I can not regulate the temp like I could in a fridge. I just settle it out into the other vessel and bottle in a day or 2.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Regardless of where you cold crash, 6-8 hours probably won't help you much. I usually do minimum 24 hrs but 48 hrs is better. Also, I usually only cold crash lighter colored beers that benefit from the clarity. A stout really doesn't need it but it wouldn't hurt it.

 

[day_trippr]

It takes almost 2 days for my 17cf fridge chambers to drop 10 gallons of beer from ~68°F to ~34°F, so that's how long I crash - under light CO2 pressure, of course. But I have noticed when the beer hits ~50°F on the way down any pellet dry hop mush has hit the bottom of the carboys already. The rest of the time drops the yeasty bits and compresses the loss layer.

fwiw, I do not crash my imperial chocolate stout, preferring to simply rack off to a secondary atop dark rum-marinaded cocoa nibs and a couple of smushed and scraped vanilla beans to sit until it's time to keg. But I don't dry hop the stout so there isn't much debris to deal with...

Cheers!