EWildcat7 Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 I have taken my second hydrometer reading almost 48 hours after the first and I am satisfied that fermentation is complete. I have never cold crashed before, but want to try it. I have been reading that the fridge should be at around 35 degrees fahrenheit. So: a) does 1.6 degrees sound right if I was using celcius with +/- 0.3? b) depending on the answer above, should I just set the inkbird to that temperature? or should I disconnect the inkbird and plug the fridge directly into the wall? thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EWildcat7 Posted December 31, 2018 Author Share Posted December 31, 2018 P.S. the heavy yeast smell that I wrote about a few days ago is significantly less now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenyinthewestofsydney Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 Id leave your brew at ferment temp for another 3 or 4 days for the "clean up phase". Always helps to smooth out the flavours and get rid of any off flavors. The cold crash. Basically the coldest you can get the brew without freezing it. I usually set it on 2c but 1.5 is good as well. Just set the inkbird to that temp. But take the probe off the ferment vessel and leave it in the fridge. If you dont the fridge will work its ass off for hours straight to get down to that temp which isn't good for your fridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titan Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 +1 to Greeny. Having the probe off the fv ensures the bottom of the brew does not freeze. Its a nice gentle drop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EWildcat7 Posted December 31, 2018 Author Share Posted December 31, 2018 Thank you very much for the advice. I will take the probe off of the FV and set the inkbird to 1.5. Unfortunately, I can't let the brew ferment for a few more days because I have to bottle on Thursday (3 Jan). I am going out of town the following day for 2 weeks, so I have to get it done that day. The brew has been fermenting for 11 days, so hopefully it is "cleaned up" enough by now..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Worthog Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 I use 2 cheap digital thermometers. One lead under the FV insulation patch and one measuring the frdge internals. I do not use the Inkbird and simply let the fridge do it's work. After 1-2 days I adjust the fridge contoller to get the FV as close to 0-1c as possible, which I then monitor over the week. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EWildcat7 Posted January 1, 2019 Author Share Posted January 1, 2019 I have been cold crashing for about 15 hours. I have the inkbird set at 1.6 C (brew temp was 19 C). When I went to bed last night, the temperature was reading 10.6 C, so I assumed all was progressing nicely. When I got up this morning (about 5 hours ago), the temperature read 5.6. In the past 5 hours, it has gone as low at 4.9, but no lower than that. I have the fridge in the garage, so perhaps the heat around the fridge won't let it get colder. I know the brew is not getting as cold as would be ideal, but am I correct in assuming that it is better than not cold crashing at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenyinthewestofsydney Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 Mine usually takes just a little less than 24 hours to get down to 2c depending as you said on the ambient temp in my garage. Leave it there and it will get there eventually im sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porschemad911 Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 Just skip the cold crash for this one and bottle when you need to. Cheers, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 I set mine to zero and leave it plugged into the temp controller. Gets it down and doesn't turn it into a slushy. As for when, it depends. If I take two readings 48 hours apart and they're the same then I figure it's already had two days of cleanup phase and so I give it just another day and then drop it down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RepSpec Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 1 thing I forgot when cold crashing...make sure the fridge is on its coldest setting...otherwise it may not get cold enough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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