Hard crash cooling creates a vacuum

[sleepyjamie]

So i crash cooled my belgian blonde really hard last night, ended up at 2 degC. Woke up this morning and checked my blow off tube from the 500ml mason jar was it empty. So the starsan in the jar got sucked back up into the primary. Never had this happen as i usually crash cool down to 5 degc. I remember rob (rubbertoe) said this happened to him as well.

[Jimmy]

So i crash cooled my belgian blonde really hard last night, ended up at 2 degC. Woke up this morning and checked my blow off tube from the 500ml mason jar was it empty. So the starsan in the jar got sucked back up into the primary. Never had this happen as i usually crash cool down to 5 degc. I remember rob (rubbertoe) said this happened to him as well.

I had it happen as well - sucked my pitcher of starsan into the fermenter!

[chalmers]

Ouch, that sucks.

So, how to get around that for next time? Remove the blowoff tube and cover with aluminum foil?

[sleepyjamie]

Yeah next time just cover foil. The mason jar and starsan were cleaned and sanitized before I put it in the fridge so I'm hoping it won't affect taste too much. Either way this is my test batch.

[RubberToe]

Don't worry too much about it, there shouldn't be any off effects. It's just a piss off lol.

[mr x]

I switch to an airlock.

[Stusbrews]

I use the one piece airlock when crashing. Handy cuz it works both ways!
I was lucky and discovered this by accident when cooling a carboy after cleaning.
on another note, Never been so scared as when I covered a hot carboy with saran wrap. 20 minutes later, .The resulting bang from the wrap was like a bomb going off, and the glass just RANG!

[chalmers]

If you're using a one-piece airlock, you must be leaving it empty, right? I'm guessing a two-piece doesn't have this problem?

[GAM]

Ouch, that sucks.

So, how to get around that for next time? Remove the blowoff tube and cover with aluminum foil?

Larger diameter tube to the starsan. You can make it longer as well.

Sandy

[RubberToe]

I think S type one piece will burp in either direction. With my last crash I switched to my 3 pice and I think it burped correctly as well; the fluid stayed the same level and there was no vacuum in the carboy. When that happens with the plastic ones they cave in on the side.

[mr x]

If you're using a one-piece airlock, you must be leaving it empty, right? I'm guessing a two-piece doesn't have this problem?

One piece (S type) works fine so long as you don't fill it up too much.

[amartin]

I use an S lock, and I've never had an issue with vacuums. It'll bubble backwards, but not enough to get in the beer.

[chalmers]

Mine has bubbled backwards into the beer, but I'm guessing I had it over-filled.

[John G]

If you have Star San in your beer will you have to declare it on your grain bill/ingredients list for the competition?

I can see Daniel now: "ok, I guess it's time to add star san to the fermenting wort"

[Tony L]

Mine has bubbled backwards into the beer, but I'm guessing I had it over-filled.

I would guess so. It's a mistake I learned the hard way also.

[John G]

I hope my above post didn't come off wrong. I think it'd be great to have a winning recipe that included star san as an ingredient. From my experience I wouldn't be surprised if one of my star san injected recipes rated better than a re-brew that I thought should have been better.

I've had my fair share of star san pulled back into my brews from cooling as well with no ill effects although using the one-piece airlock mentioned earlier has eliminated that problem for me.

[sleepyjamie]

Haha no not at all. This Belgian is a real run anyways. Gonna brew another before the comp.

[sleepyjamie]

Trial run I mean.