Not having any cooling mechanism for my fermenter(s), this time of year I can get more favorable temperatures outside than inside. I'm specifically talking about ciders in glass containers, but I'm also curious about hopped beer in glass and plastic containers. (hops in glass outside is obviously bad due to UV exposure) Is there any reason I shouldn't ferment outside, or cold crash outside? At what time in the fermentation process do I need to worry about temperature swings? UV …

Following the suggestion of my LBS, I made an Oktoberfest using a hybrid yeast (Wyeast 2565) because I didn't have a lagering fridge set up yet--bought myself at least 2 weeks before needing to crash cool, and got a setup to chill in time. The problem is, when I did I accidentally chilled it a bit much--enough to make a layer of ice on the top (don't trust the thermometer enough for a reading to really matter). I know that …

I just crashed 5 gallons of German Pilsner for lagering and I noticed that my airlock starsan level was significantly lower after cooling. I presume this is due to the liquid (beer) shrinking after a 20F drop in temp, but I am not sure how to prevent this or protect against it. I am not terribly concerned with starsan going into the carboy, but more that it can drop below the airlock level which essentially is opening up the carboy …

I have seen mostly two suggestions to cool wort. Ice bath and the coil method. My friend and I were thinking about just using ice. Ie pull the ice from the fridge that uses the same water source as used during the boil. Put it in the pale and run the wort into the ice. What are the drawbacks, I'm sure there are some because I can't find anybody recommending this method. For sure it will cool down pretty quickly …

Should I crash my beer first and then dry hop, or should I dry hop for a week and then crash cool? My thoughts, I should crash cool and then dry hop. Reasons: Less likely to loose aromas at cooler temperatures The beer will be ready to carbonate sooner The cold will assit in preventing spoilage What are your thoughts?

I've read that you can leave an ale to secondary for months and enough yeast will remain in suspension that you won't need to pitch additional yeast when bottling. But are there times when you do need to pitch more yeast before bottling to ensure you get carbonated beer? For instance... What if you crash-cool your ale? Will the yeast fall out of suspension such that there won't be any left to carbonate your brew in the bottle? What if …