Cold Crashing

Hi, all...I believe I have asked this question before but want to clarify it again.

So I have now brewed two partial mash Kolsch's. Both different recipes.
I am going to ferment both in the primary carboys at 68 degrees for two weeks.
I was then going to move to secondary carboys and cold cash between 36-40 degrees.

If any of you have ever brewed a kolsch and cold crashed it how long do you usually cold crash it for? I believe last winter I cold crashed two different Kolsch's for two weeks. One came out ok the other sucked (for different reasons). I am wondering if I should go longer with cold crashing it to let the beer thin out more and really break down. Will going 4 weeks be to long?

Any help would be great.

Thanks.

I'd also like to ask in addition, is there any issue with cold crashing, than kegging & storing at room temp? Or is there truth to the once cold, stay cold myth?

I do not keg yet so I dont really know. The past two times I have cold crashed I have bottled both batches and stored at room temp. I would believe that if you are trying to carbonate the beer you would need to store at room temp?

I always lager my kolschs for 4 weeks. It helps and should be consumed immediately after.

I chill down and 'lager' almost all of my beers these days. If I am only going for clarification, then I usually leave it for 4-7 days before moving to bottling or kegging. I have left beers at 34F for 6 weeks and had no trouble with bottle conditioning; there are still more than enough yeast at that point. If you freeze the beer at all, then I would repitch yeast for bottle conditioning, or just keg as normal.

If you are bottle conditioning, then bring the beer up to room temperature a day or two in advance, in order to equalize the dissolved CO2, and then carbonate as normal. As for leaving it cold as much as possible, I think that is more for shelf life. A cold beer will stay fresh far longer than a room temperature beer.

Joshua

jfkriege said:

As for leaving it cold as much as possible, I think that is more for shelf life. A cold beer will stay fresh far longer than a room temperature beer.

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This sounds accurate, I've heard lots of people say going from cold to room temps won't actually affect quality. I ain't scared...

Cold Crashing as you refer to seems to have two separate meaniings when it comes to brewing.

"Cold Crashing" in the way you are applying its use, is refered to as "Cold Conditioning" in a brew fermented with an ale yeast, or "Lagering" in a brew made with lager yeast. This is done after the primary fermentation and is usually done in what are called bright tanks before cabonation/bottling are done.

"Cold Crashing" on the other hand, is a term used and what breweries do from the boil kettle to separate the break materials before pitching their yeast, especially in lager type brews.

By bringing the wort down very, very, quicky to 1 or 2C, it gives them maximum separation of the break materials. The wort is then moved off of these materials, and temps are raised, yeast is pitched,, and fermentation starts.
In the end it leaves them with a much clearer finished product.

In the wine world, cold crashing also refers to stopping fermentation before all fermentable sugars are consumed by lowering the temperature to near freezing and flocculating all of the yeast. The wine can then be stabilized and the remaining sugars left to provide sweetness.

Well I want to get both of these beers as clear as possible...so maybe I will shoot for 4 weeks of cold crashing.

If that doesn't work, use some gelatine.

OLDBREW said:

Cold Crashing as you refer to seems to have two separate meaniings when it comes to brewing....

"Cold Crashing" on the other hand, is a term used and what breweries do from the boil kettle to separate the break materials before pitching their yeast, especially in lager type brews.

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"Cold Crashing" does have a second meaning for ale brewers as well. Bringing the primary fermenter down to the mid 30's for 24 hours will cause most of the yeast to flocculate and drop out of suspension prior to racking to either the bottling bucket or the keg, thus creating a much clearer brew. And don't worrty: enough yeast will remain in suspension to carbonate if you are bottling or naturally carbing in the keg.

It's pretty much standard practice around my place. As a matter of fact, I just put my primary fermenter full of Patersbier on the back porch last night, since our temps got down to around 25*F overnight in Portland (and today the high will be 33). The beer was at 44*F when I left for work, so tonight I'll rack the beer into a keg, and it will be clear as day.

BriantheBrewer,
Brewery's and some homebrewers have sealed systems that don't expose the product to air during the fermentation conditioning stages. Most homebrewers have two vessels that some air can get at the exposed product during transfer.

A tip on racking to a secondary in a homebrew enviroment!
When you rack the brew over, you should do it while there is still some signs of primary fermentation going on. Usually I'll do it in the latter stages (airlock is spitting about 4-6 bubbles per minute). This way the fermentation is still producing CO2 which will almost eliminate the chances of oxidation. You also at this point have enough alcohol in the solution to fight off infections.

If you have a kegging system, you can flood the bottom of the secondary fermenter with a little CO2, this will lock out the O2 during transfer. If not just keep the siphon tubing on the very bottom of the secondary and channel the flow to eliminate splashing when the transfer first starts. Finish the fermentation completely in the secondary carboy.

At this point you have to think about how clean your bubbler is(sanitized), and what you are using for the liquid in the bubbler if you are going to keep the bubbler attached.

Droppng temps out using a bubbler will suck the liquid into the wort through vacuum from contraction, so you have to make sure you are not using an idorphor solution or anything of that nature. I find using cheap vodka in the bubblers when fermenting is about the best way to go if you want to use a bubbler and just top it off if need be.

The other way to go at this point is to just use sanitized plastic wrap, or sandwich baggie wrapped around the one hole stopper, and plug up the secondary. It will want to suck the stopper in some, so just be aware if the stopper is small and has a chance of getting sucked into the vessel while cold conditioning.
Hope this helps!

That does help...thank you

Brian,

I personally would skip the secondary entirely, but of course it's up to you. What I usually do w/ my Kolsch(es?) is primary for 10-14 days, crash-cool in the primary for 3-7 days, keg, and let it "lager" in the keg for a couple weeks. I sometimes have a tiny amount of sediment in the first 1/2 pint or so, but it's crystal clear after that.

CharlosCarlies said:

Brian,

I personally would skip the secondary entirely, but of course it's up to you. What I usually do w/ my Kolsch(es?) is primary for 10-14 days, crash-cool in the primary for 3-7 days, keg, and let it "lager" in the keg for a couple weeks. I sometimes have a tiny amount of sediment in the first 1/2 pint or so, but it's crystal clear after that.

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I am not kegging though...I will bottle.

BrianTheBrewer said:

I am not kegging though...I will bottle.

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Doh! I'm retarded.

I am leaving the brew in the primary for 14 days then I am going to move to a secondary. Then drop the temp very low. Leave the secondary at 34 degrees between 4-5 weeks. Bottle after that and see what it is like.

To me brewing a true Kolsch is very hard. I am looking for that bread like taste. Nice and crisp with some hint of german hops. Very clear color with a nice head on it.

I have brewed a Kolsch a few times now. Only one came out just "ok".
I want better than "ok". I am looking for the right way to do it.
If it takes me many times to find the right way, recipe and time...well then it will be worth it in the end.

I have tried many many versions/styles of a Kolsch. Most are very good. I would say one of the best is Ballast Point Yellow Tail Pale Ale. Harpoon Summer is a nice Kolsch style ale. Alaskan Summer is also pretty good. Here on the east coast we have Mayflower Golden Ale and Cape Ann Fisherman's Ale, both are very nice.

I have tried a few imports from Germany that are wonderful. I am going to keep trying many different recipes and ways to brew a true Kolsch.

If you haven't tried it yet, Ed Wort's Kolsch recipe is fantastic IMO.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f62/bee-cave-brewery-koelsch-33548/

I may have to try that recipe.