Cold Break Help

I'm hoping to get a clearer beer out of my next batch by doing a cold crash. From what I've learned here, cold crashing is placing the beer in a cold place for a day or three. Here are my two questions.

When do I put the beer in my cold garage, between primary and secondary or between secondary and bottling bucket?

Will I loose so much yeast to cause a carbonization problem? (I've read that the answer to this one is no, but I'm still nervous about flat beer).


Thanks in advance all,

iXanadu said:

When do I put the beer in my cold garage, between primary and secondary or between secondary and bottling bucket?

Will I loose so much yeast to cause a carbonization problem? (I've read that the answer to this one is no, but I'm still nervous about flat beer).

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If you're using a secondary (and generally, you don't really have to) then crash cool it right before racking to your bottling bucket. I routinely drop my fermentation freezer down to about 40 a day or two before kegging/bottling. This causes suspended yeast to drop, as well as firming up the trub at the bottom, which makes racking easier.

You'll still have enough yeast to carbonate your beer, don't sweat it.

I will have to try that next time. So you are bottling cold beer, then?

Also, does it really make that much difference?

alpo said:

I will have to try that next time. So you are bottling cold beer, then?

Also, does it really make that much difference?

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I've never cold crashed (yet), but from what I read, it can really make a difference if you are in a hurry. Of course you could let it sit a few more weeks, but why?

Cold crashing will help settle out excess yeast and other particulates.

However chill haze will still be an issue. Even with irish moss, gelatin and cold crashing, your beer will still need to move through the chill haze phase. Cold crashing your secondary (only after your beer is completely fermented out) will shorten the process.

Everyday your beer is resting at cold temps (37ish), is a day that your beer is transforming through the chill haze. Cold crash your secondary for 3-4 days. Rack and bottle, then return as many of those bottles as you can to chilled conditioning. Every week, those bottles will become more and more clear. Extended cold storage is really the cure-all for chill haze and cloudy beer.

BierMuncher said:

Cold crash your secondary for 3-4 days. Rack and bottle, then return as many of those bottles as you can to chilled conditioning. Every week, those bottles will become more and more clear. Extended cold storage is really the cure-all for chill haze and cloudy beer.

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Do you mean after a few weeks at 70F for carbonation? Or do you keep the bottles chilled for a longer time to achieve proper carbonation?

I just picked up a second fridge, so I'm trying to decide how long to keep my bottles at room temp before moving them to the fridge. Do the bottles age better at room temp or chilled?

Bottles age (carb) when around 70F. You'll need about 3 weeks (sometimes more depending on the beer) for this. After they've aged for ~3 weeks that is when you'll want to chill them to reduce haze and cloudiness

Eves said:

Bottles age (carb) when around 70F. You'll need about 3 weeks (sometimes more depending on the beer) for this. After they've aged for ~3 weeks that is when you'll want to chill them to reduce haze and cloudiness

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Right...sorry about that. Sometimes I forget about the bottle priming folks.

Thanks all for the comments. The secondary is on the back porch with a 24hr weather temps 45-54 (best nature will do for me). I'll bottle tonight because it isn't going to get any cooler until mid-late next week and I'm anxious.