Cold crash length?

Black IPA that I want to cold crash, now I have capabilities. Any recommendations for length and at what temp? 50-55 seems to be the consensus just haven't got a solid time frame.

Also, should I allow to come back to room temp before bottling?

Thanks all!

I cold crash at 34 degrees for 5 to 7 days. And yes bring I bring it up to temp for about 5 hours before bottling.

50-55°F isn't even cold, never mind "crashing"

I cold crash at 34°F as well, for as many days as it takes to get the result I'm looking for. For ales that I've dry hopped with free-swimming pellets, the pellets will hit the bottom within 48 hours, and each successive day will brighten the beer from the top down. For light colored beers I might let it run for a week, for dark ales four days is usually enough. Either way, I keg, so this gets the beer in prime shape for the carbonation process...

Cheers!

I cold crash at 34 as well but only for 24-48 hours. I use whirlflock (sp) in the boil and go 3 weeks before cold crashing. After three weeks the beer almost clear already. 24-48 hours at 34 and its clear. I will admit that there is usually a little settlement on the bottom of the keg when its empty, so I will admit that I could crash longer but what little is there isn't much and of course stays clear of the pick up tube after the first pour anyway.

And that's why I asked!😜

Thanks all for the advice. I kick it down to 34ish Wednesday/Thursday for a bottle day of Saturday and bring up to room temp that afternoon.

Appreciate the help. Can't wait to get to the point I can answer others questions!

Prost!

Don't being it up to room temp. Rack into keg or bottles while it's cold. The yeast cake is nice and firm after a few days at 34 and drastically reduces sediment in your legged or bottled beer. Otherwise you will just stir everything up. I cold crash, remove from fermentation chamber and keg. Cheers.

If you cold crash and bottle before bringing to room temp does it cause any issues?

2 or 3 days at 34 degrees works well for me

S_M

I haven't cold crashed and gone into bottles before, but I'd imagine you'd want to warm it back up for carbonation purposes. Also, if you cold crash, are you crashing too much yeast out to actually perform bottle conditioning / carbonation? Seems like all of the yeast will have crashed out of suspension, but just a thought (again I've never tried that).

Anyone cold crash and bottle condition / carbonate with good success? Any secrets or tips?

I hadn't even considered that!

If it does, I'll find out with my Brett IIPA. My cold crash ended up being for 21 days because I couldn't bottle. It's only been in the bottle 3 days, so I can't check yet.

I warmed it back up to 45F prior to bottling.

You dont have to warm it before bottling. The beer will warm in the bottles. Prime and condition as normal.

If I could jump in with a further question...given enough time could enough yeast fall out that carbing in the bottle becomes a concern without adding fresh yeast or will some amount always be present and this is adequate?

Thanks for additional info. For those with questions like mine, I'll post the results for a 2-day cold crash and bottling ( still determining whether to bottle and prime cold or bring to room temp based on both sides presenting good arguments)

I generally cold crash for 24-48 hours @32-36 (no real method to the madness) and I don't warm it up really prior to bottling. I just get the beer out and let it settle a little bit from the move while I get everything else ready. This seems to work for me. I did have a batch that took ~4+ weeks to carb (5.5% ABV) but I don't think it was due to cold crashing/bottling cold, since I've done it before w/o issues.

How are you guys dealing with the suck back from the airlock? I haven't been cold crashing for this reason.

WDT said:

How are you guys dealing with the suck back from the airlock? I haven't been cold crashing for this reason.

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I have never had it happen with a three piece airlock. You can use an S airlock, as they allow gas to go both ways. Even if it did happen, I doubt the 1/2 oz of StarSan would make a difference in the end product.

reverendj1 said:

I have never had it happen with a three piece airlock. You can use an S airlock, as they allow gas to go both ways. Even if it did happen, I doubt the 1/2 oz of StarSan would make a difference in the end product.

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What about the starsan freezing?

35 degrees for 3-5 days depending on keg room.

WDT said:

What about the starsan freezing?

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Never been an issue. You generally keep it slightly above freezing anyway.

Jipper said:

I haven't cold crashed and gone into bottles before, but I'd imagine you'd want to warm it back up for carbonation purposes. Also, if you cold crash, are you crashing too much yeast out to actually perform bottle conditioning / carbonation? Seems like all of the yeast will have crashed out of suspension, but just a thought (again I've never tried that).

Anyone cold crash and bottle condition / carbonate with good success? Any secrets or tips?

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I have bottle conditioned lagers before. It works. You can cold crash even flocculent English yeasts, and use gelatin during, and still bottle condition.

I always bottle condition german wheat beers, and they do not have trouble carbonating within 2 weeks, but the cold crash + gelatin finings require about 3 weeks at 68-78F to fully carbonate and perhaps one more week after that for the flavors to really come together.

So no worries. If you have concerns about bottle conditioning, you can always add a pittance of yeast at bottling. It takes *maybe* 10 ml of a yeast slurry mixed into the bottling bucket to provide ample yeast to bottle condition even the biggest beers that have been fermenting for many months.

WDT said:

What about the starsan freezing?

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Use vodka. Some beers I like to cold crash at 27-28F.

WDT said:

How are you guys dealing with the suck back from the airlock? I haven't been cold crashing for this reason.

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I always use vodka in the airlock so if it does suck back It just adds to the beer

I also always take a cold crashed beer from the fridge and bottle it still cold. I have been having issues with carbonation but am not sure if this is the cause. I use screwybrewer's recommendations for priming sugar amounts and that could also be the reason. Most of the time it says about 2-3oz corn sugar for 5 gallons, when ive done the whole 5oz packet on my first couple brews and they carbed up perfect.

reverendj1 said:

I have never had it happen with a three piece airlock. You can use an S airlock, as they allow gas to go both ways. Even if it did happen, I doubt the 1/2 oz of StarSan would make a difference in the end product.

Click to expand...

+1 S-type airlock solves this completely.

You cold crash for as long as is required for the beer to clear. Generally 3 days is fine, but some yeasts require a few more days. I use 35 degrees for cold crashing.

Don't warm it up before bottling - there's no reason for that. There is always plenty of yeast still in suspension to get the job done. Letting it warm up will allow the sediment on the bottom to more easily come back into suspension during the transfer.

Transfer to bottles while still cold, then let them warm up to room temp during the carb process (obviously).

When suck-back happens, that is the time you want your airlock fully functional. As long as you use the proper amount of liquid and don't overfill it, it won't pull water into the beer. You want the airlock in place to do it's job of filtering the air. Use an S-type airlock, also - they are the best.

Conclusion: you can still bottle carb after 3 weeks of cold crashing. (This is only 6 days in the bottle.)