Asked by jryan1074 ·January 11, 2022 ·20.1k readers

FAA in colder weather

I have almost a year old FAA in a cooler which is in my garage which is not a heated garage. Will my FAA be OK in a colder temperature during the winter? I am assuming that the microbes will go dormant until the warmer weather comes. Just want to make sure it will be OK before i go to strain it.

The answer

dagoofman · Jan 12, 2022 ✓ Marked as the answer

i make my FAA on my front porch in a glass jar unheated and it gets really cold on the porch when its -2 outside cold enough to freeze water iv not had a issue with it in fact theres a question on here somewhere about freezing solutions and if i remember correct the freezing assists in micronation of the the solution so iv never worried about keeping my KNF stuff in a tote on the porch the main player in the fermentation is lacto and it should just go dormant as u said no biggie plus u r using a cooler the insulation will keep it from freezing or even getting to cold u really should have nothing to worry about

From the KNF library

From the KNF library Drafted by Claude from Office Hours and the books · Sep 2026 · 6 sources

Drake says FAA keeps a long time. He has a 15-year-old batch, and it gets sweeter and finer with age. (Office Hours Ep. 146, 56:25)

FAA is ready as soon as it is fully liquefied. It keeps improving for up to three years. (Office Hours Ep. 126, 37:57) Sugar and fish waste already super-saturate it, so it needs nothing added while it waits. (Office Hours Ep. 142, 22:49)

Leftover fish at a year is normal. Bones and skin will not fully break down. (Office Hours Oct 2025, 31:03) Drake's advice for an aged batch is to pour off the liquid and dilute it 1 to 1000. (Office Hours Ep. 123, 40:09)

Cho lists 23~25°C as the optimum for making FAA. (Cho, Recipe, p. 48) The library does not say what a freezing garage does to FAA, or whether the microbes go dormant.

Sources