Looking for Someone to Explain Crash Cooling

I just checked the Wiki page and came up with nothing. So, I'm asking here. Crash Cooling. How do you do it? Pretty much just put the secondary into the Fridge at 34 degrees and let her sit for a couple days prior to bottling? Sound about right?

Yup. Should help drop the yeast out as well as encourage protein-tannin complexes to form and drop as well. I would also suggest adding gelatin if you are looking to clear the beer, it helps a lot.

If you are going to add gelatin make sure to do it after you crash the beer. If you do it at fermentation temps you can set a permanant haze.

You should actually be crash cooling your beer twice for best results.

The first time is right after the boil, using a wort chiller. The faster you get your wort from boiling to pitching temp, the better. You'll get a good cold break, and many of the haze producing proteins will drop right out of solution. The added benefit to a speedy cool down is reduced time in the "infection zone."

The second time is the one to which you refer above. In this case, speed isn't so important, but time is. Cooling your beer to near freezing will force the yeast to flocculate and may cause a few more impurities to precipitate out of solution. A little patience during this stage usually results in a pretty clear beer without the use of finings.

So where do these haze producing proteins go? I still pour every last drop of wort through my strainer after getting it chilled. Of course I mostly brew ales so I'm not that concerned with a little cloudiness. But do they go to the bottom of the brew pot?

Willy Boner said:

So where do these haze producing proteins go?
...
do they go to the bottom of the brew pot?

Click to expand...

That's exactly where they go. The cold break material is mostly coagulated proteins.

Just to be clear...
After using a wort chiller and moving my wort to a primary...

Then I move to a secondary and chill it... to what temp... ? in the 30s?
And then when I rack to a keg.. I make sure I leave the sediment behind?

Anyone use an ice/water bath to do this? I do not have space in my kegorator for something like this...

Can I cold crash it.. in a keg? chill it and then warm it back up?

Just trying to get my mind around the different options..

Thanks.
T

Is this crash cooling primarily for kegging with forced carb? I'm concerned about doing it and the yeast not eat the priming sugar if i'm bottling.

There will be plenty of yeat left for carbing.

I can't comprehend how if you crash cool to get the yeast out or at least shock the yeast, how there can be enough to carb. I guess i'm in denial of how much yeast is in there

It takes very, very little yeast to carbonate the beer. You aren't looking for much to happen there.


TL

ETA: Just to further clarify, you're only looking to get a couple points of gravity. Even in a five gallon batch, that's not much of a burp.

Can I ask one more about this...
I understand the concept. ie. to cool and drop out of solution.
I cool with a wort chiller and shipon out my wort to the primary. I leave behind a good deal of trub or stuff... generally.. depends on how "big" a beer I am doing.

Then... after the primary I rack to a secondary.
wait a week to get the yeast to finish.. lets say...
Then.
do I crash cool in the glass cayboy?
or
can I keg and crash cool?
and the warm it back up?

I have been cast conditioning and not force carbing as an FYI.

Thanks for your insight.
T

Crash cool in the secondary. The idea is to keep some of that crud out of the keg. After you think your secondary might be done (and I would give it at least 10 days), crash the temperature and give it at least a few days before you keg.


TL