First competition - bottle cold crash?

Eugenio said:

Hey all, I'm submitting a stout for my first competition. It just started fermenting, but in my schedule im giving myself 5 weeks bottle conditioning. Main question is...

Would you recommend I cold crash the bottles 2 days before I hand them in? Will it help any or is the time better used conditioning?

Any other tips you would give for my first submitting?

Thank you all


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deepcdan99 said:

I don't see you gaining anything by cold crashing. It's a stout. Assuming is pretty black, you don't have to worry about clarity.

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smizak said:

Disagree. Cold conditioning is very beneficial, even for or maybe especially for a stout.

Cold conditioning causes the precipitation and drop out of proteins in the beer. This affects head retention and mouthfeel significantly. Carbonation takes on a different character as well, as more CO2 is dissolved in the beer at cooler temps. I find beers to have a much finer, tightly beaded carbonation after a week or so in the fridge.

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smizak said:

Disagree. Cold conditioning is very beneficial, even for or maybe especially for a stout.

Cold conditioning causes the precipitation and drop out of proteins in the beer. This affects head retention and mouthfeel significantly. Carbonation takes on a different character as well, as more CO2 is dissolved in the beer at cooler temps. I find beers to have a much finer, tightly beaded carbonation after a week or so in the fridge.

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deepcdan99 said:

Cold crashing a primary maybe, but after it has already been bottled

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deepcdan99 said:

Cold crashing a primary maybe, but after it has already been bottled Not disagreeing, just never thought about it.

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smizak said:

Give it a shot. Let a bottle warm up for a few days then chill it for a few hours. Compare it to one that had been chilled for a week or more. Big difference

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deepcdan99 said:

I keg everything these days.

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