Yet another Cold Crash question

Hey all. My friend and I brewed an Alaskan Amber clone this past Saturday. My friend was reading that you can cold crash it after 5 days to really get it clear, but most of what I've read says to have it in the primary for at least 2-3 weeks before cold crashing. So is there a right or wrong answer here? I don't want to screw up what looks like an awesome beer..

You're going to want to wait until it's done, and then wait another week or so before cold crashing.

Even after the bulk of fermentation is finished, the yeast are still working. After the fermentable sugars are gone, the yeast then begin to digest their own waste products like diacetyl. That works best if you allow the yeast to finish up at fermentation temperature. After that, you can cold crash if you want. Yeast still in suspension will flocculate out and give you a clearer beer, and haze-inducing proteins will fall out too, given enough time.

Thanks Yooper - That was my thought as well.

I'm going to ask what I'm sure will be a dumb question - but what exactly is "cold crashing"? I was just reading some posts in the Cider area and there was reference to it.

rocketcrab said:

I'm going to ask what I'm sure will be a dumb question - but what exactly is "cold crashing"? I was just reading some posts in the Cider area and there was reference to it.

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taking your beer down to just above freezing to drop the yeast and chill haze. This is done in bulk then transfer to keg or bottle