Cold crashing and oxidation

[Millhaus]

I just finished my first beer in my new MoreBeer 14 gallon conical. I was getting ready to cold crash it. Then I was listening to the latest podcast and didn't. I always cold crashed my carboys and always hated the sound the bung made when I pulled it out. There was a huge sucking sound. I always worried about oxygen.

I heard JP mention a cask breather that is setup to pull co2 into his conical. Does anyone else use this method? Because when I pulled the bung out of the conical it still had that sucking sound. I immediately hit it with co2 hopefully preventing any mixing of gas. I was having trouble getting the beer out of the conical without pulling the bung due to the vacuum created.

The beer was an IPA. I was scared to dry hop because I was trying to figure out how to get the dry hop to drop without cold crashing. Any advice on dry hopping in a conical?

[Stinkfist]

I am also interested in what JP uses to cold crash..anyone have any links to something that would work with a better bottle? Maybe I need to make something myself lol

[rossiski]

Any experts in the group care to weigh in?

[Kbar]

I have heard of a lot of people using this device;

http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-bee ... ASK-B.html

I was thinking about this last night. I am also sure you can get away with an really low setting on your CO2 regulator, say <<1 Psi, if that range is possible. Have not verified. The Regulator also has a relieving function as well, so any levels above that setting are vented to atmosphere. Seems to me, the product above, is doing the same thing. The ad states 5 Psi, but that seems to high to me. You are just trying to counteract the effects of Charles' law and the reduction in pressure that occurs in that head space due to temperature drop.

[Kbar]

Addendum to my previous post.

You could use these secondary regulators, which can not be hooked up to the CO2 tank (55-65 Psi Max, relief setting) and then set very low, say 1 Psi as I said above to make up for the loss in pressure due to temperature drop.

http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-bee ... -8011.html

[rossiski]

I have to say. I have brewed over 20 beers of all styles using an a shape airlock and many of those beers have cored very well in competitions. I have never tasted oxidation in any of my brews and it has never been noted on any scoresheets. One other thing when you lager you are basically doing the same thing as a pro longed cold crash.

[Kodos]

I've often wondered if filling a large party balloon with CO2 would do the trick.
You could attach the ballon to the end of the blow-off tube so that instead of sucking sanitiser/air into the tube it just sucks in co2.

So far I've figured I can get away with a blow-off tube into a 1L erlenmyer flask with barely 100mL of boiled water in the bottom. I presume that by the end of fermentation the flask has been purged of air with CO2, so any gas sucked back through the blow-off tube is just CO2...

I'm ready to accept this is something in my process that could do with improving. I recently picked up a cask breather (via a club bulk but from the uk to Australia) for using with my beer engine, so try using that for cold conditioning.

[Stinkfist]

I have heard of a lot of people using this device;

http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-bee ... ASK-B.html

I was thinking about this last night. I am also sure you can get away with an really low setting on your CO2 regulator, say <<1 Psi, if that range is possible. Have not verified. The Regulator also has a relieving function as well, so any levels above that setting are vented to atmosphere. Seems to me, the product above, is doing the same thing. The ad states 5 Psi, but that seems to high to me. You are just trying to counteract the effects of Charles' law and the reduction in pressure that occurs in that head space due to temperature drop.

Yeah I saw that device but $118? Bucks that is crazy?