So glad you brought this up. Airlock suck back is a topic we don't often see, whether cold crashing or lagering. I've seen some folks use sort of a "bladder" to capture Co2. The Brülosophy guy uses an old party-balloon. But what you're saying makes a great deal of sense too. Your clip here should give people the confidence to give it a go and not worry. Thanks again for posting on this topic. Cheers! - Vinnie
Cheers Vinnie. There are plenty of options but the simple things often work. I pretty much use pressure on every brew now so don’t need to implement stuff but have used the second keg for a gas reserve.
Hi. Thanks for providing such useful information. I’m preparing to cold crash for the first time so please excuse the potentially silly question. Do I crack the fermenter lid momentarily (just long enough for the CO2 to escape) or do I leave it cracked for the duration of the cold crash? Thanks.
people complicate brewing way to much i do homebrew and i was also a a brewer in a large brewery and we never had an issue with suck back on cold crash and i have not had an issue with my homebrew on it the co2 blanket is more than enough especially if your using co2 to transfer and such. we just use a long pipe from the air lock and have it halfway down the fv this way nothing can fall in and nothing should be sucked up and pressure is at an equilibrium and the co2 blanket will protect it
Couldn't you just replace the airlock with a blow off tube when the ferment slows down, in anticipation of cold crashing? I can't see liquid making it back into the fermenter when it has to travel 2 feet up a tube...plus you don't need to have much liquid in the reservoir to begin with (2 Oz in a weighted cup would probably do). Alternately....you might be able to replace the airlock liquid with fresh vodka, or everclear (right before cold crashing), surely a touch of vodka wouldn't hurt 23 liters of beer?
There are many ways to avoid oxygen ingress. This method is aimed at the intro or learning brewer who is worried about cold crashing and ruining their brew. All brewers need to judge the level of protection they implement into their process.
Interesting you mentioned the cap on airlock hole as whenever I've put a fermenter drum in fridge after fermentation is complete, I have removed airlock and simply placed a bottle cap over the hole. My reasoning is once airlock removed the pressure equalised inside and outside the drum so eliminates the suck back problem and the cap is merely a barrier in case any weird bacteria is floating around the fridge.
great video Little John I'm pretty new to this, but what I do is transfer the beer to a 20l sealed plastic water container after fermentation, then i cold crash for around a week, is this not a good idea?
no not a good idea. very risky, plenty of chance of infection..... go to bottles or keg directly. If you can't cold crash the fermenter, then cold crash your bottles or kegs after carbing.
Hi Little John great video, love your no nonsense approach to brewing. I was just wondering if you have ever tried pressure fermentation? I am just starting to play around with it. I fermented in the keg and served directly from it using a floating dip tube. I am one batch in and so far it was a success. I am interested on your thoughts on it, it might make a good experiment and video as it was super easy and there isn’t a lot of info out there on serving directly from the fermentation keg. Cheers and keep safe
I have recently purchased a Fermzilla All Rounder, so will be getting into pressure ferments, so some vids will be coming. There will plenty of thoughts involved no doubt. I will be learning as I go, but keen to try it out.
Dry hops are causing an issue as you say but cold crash suck back is real. Use a balloon and let co2 in that and see how much the barrel sucks back..let 5 litre of oxygen back in with hoppy beers and your risking poor beer
yep the barrel sucks back in this case, because the pressure isn't equalised. This a method to reintroduce co2 that may be lost. And I understand why people do it....fear. Big hoppy beers with massive dry hops are at risk from hop creep, which has nothing to do with suck back or post ferment oxygen exchange.... it happens in the beer during dry hop or in the package. A still beer will not exchange oxygen in any negligible amount...IMO. Oxygenated beers are coming from issue aside from the cold crash for the most part.
Great video. I bought this same subject to another RUclips sensation ( David heath ) and he’d probably hands down agree with you? Platto have bought out a device which is so simple in design and relatively cheap but apparently works? So on his advice i bought a couple. I was over thinking the whole process of cold crashing/lagering etc purely because I’m so new to this, thinking I’m going to need to hook up a balloon faff about etc etc, but watching this has made it so much easier to get my head around it all! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experience Many thanks James P.s you got my sub ; )
your a big hellp m8 thanks heeps i watch your vids evary day
btw, I crack the lid just for the main cold crash over night, then the lid get sealed again in the morning until it gets transfered to a keg,
Don’t think it would matter but can’t hurt.
So glad you brought this up. Airlock suck back is a topic we don't often see, whether cold crashing or lagering. I've seen some folks use sort of a "bladder" to capture Co2. The Brülosophy guy uses an old party-balloon. But what you're saying makes a great deal of sense too. Your clip here should give people the confidence to give it a go and not worry. Thanks again for posting on this topic.
Cheers!
- Vinnie
Cheers Vinnie. There are plenty of options but the simple things often work. I pretty much use pressure on every brew now so don’t need to implement stuff but have used the second keg for a gas reserve.
@@littlejohnsbrewing Sounds like a good setup. Cheers
Another top session with LJ. Many thanks.
Very informative video littlejohn
cheers Stephen...
Hi. Thanks for providing such useful information. I’m preparing to cold crash for the first time so please excuse the potentially silly question. Do I crack the fermenter lid momentarily (just long enough for the CO2 to escape) or do I leave it cracked for the duration of the cold crash? Thanks.
leave it cracked.
people complicate brewing way to much i do homebrew and i was also a a brewer in a large brewery and we never had an issue with suck back on cold crash and i have not had an issue with my homebrew on it the co2 blanket is more than enough especially if your using co2 to transfer and such. we just use a long pipe from the air lock and have it halfway down the fv this way nothing can fall in and nothing should be sucked up and pressure is at an equilibrium and the co2 blanket will protect it
Top channel Little John. cheers😎👍
Thanks 👍
Couldn't you just replace the airlock with a blow off tube when the ferment slows down, in anticipation of cold crashing? I can't see liquid making it back into the fermenter when it has to travel 2 feet up a tube...plus you don't need to have much liquid in the reservoir to begin with (2 Oz in a weighted cup would probably do). Alternately....you might be able to replace the airlock liquid with fresh vodka, or everclear (right before cold crashing), surely a touch of vodka wouldn't hurt 23 liters of beer?
There are many ways to avoid oxygen ingress. This method is aimed at the intro or learning brewer who is worried about cold crashing and ruining their brew. All brewers need to judge the level of protection they implement into their process.
Interesting you mentioned the cap on airlock hole as whenever I've put a fermenter drum in fridge after fermentation is complete, I have removed airlock and simply placed a bottle cap over the hole. My reasoning is once airlock removed the pressure equalised inside and outside the drum so eliminates the suck back problem and the cap is merely a barrier in case any weird bacteria is floating around the fridge.
great video Little John I'm pretty new to this, but what I do is transfer the beer to a 20l sealed plastic water container after fermentation, then i cold crash for around a week, is this not a good idea?
no not a good idea. very risky, plenty of chance of infection..... go to bottles or keg directly. If you can't cold crash the fermenter, then cold crash your bottles or kegs after carbing.
I agree Little John, isn't Co2 heavier than oxygen anyway? Therefore, the blanket would protect.
Hi Little John great video, love your no nonsense approach to brewing.
I was just wondering if you have ever tried pressure fermentation? I am just starting to play around with it. I fermented in the keg and served directly from it using a floating dip tube. I am one batch in and so far it was a success. I am interested on your thoughts on it, it might make a good experiment and video as it was super easy and there isn’t a lot of info out there on serving directly from the fermentation keg.
Cheers and keep safe
I have recently purchased a Fermzilla All Rounder, so will be getting into pressure ferments, so some vids will be coming. There will plenty of thoughts involved no doubt. I will be learning as I go, but keen to try it out.
Dry hops are causing an issue as you say but cold crash suck back is real. Use a balloon and let co2 in that and see how much the barrel sucks back..let 5 litre of oxygen back in with hoppy beers and your risking poor beer
yep the barrel sucks back in this case, because the pressure isn't equalised. This a method to reintroduce co2 that may be lost. And I understand why people do it....fear. Big hoppy beers with massive dry hops are at risk from hop creep, which has nothing to do with suck back or post ferment oxygen exchange.... it happens in the beer during dry hop or in the package. A still beer will not exchange oxygen in any negligible amount...IMO. Oxygenated beers are coming from issue aside from the cold crash for the most part.
Great vid LJ cheers
Great video. I bought this same subject to another RUclips sensation ( David heath ) and he’d probably hands down agree with you? Platto have bought out a device which is so simple in design and relatively cheap but apparently works? So on his advice i bought a couple. I was over thinking the whole process of cold crashing/lagering etc purely because I’m so new to this, thinking I’m going to need to hook up a balloon faff about etc etc, but watching this has made it so much easier to get my head around it all! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experience
Many thanks
James
P.s you got my sub ; )
cheers James... lots of stuff get over thought..... simple is often right and generally easiest.