Cold crash before kegging for dry hop in primary?

I usually go straight from the primary to the keg after about 4 weeks and then condition at fermentation temp in the keg for another month before going into the fridge for a week for carbonation. This usually gives me some yeast in the first pour, but otherwise works fine.

If I dry hop with pellets for the last seven days in the primary, should I cold crash the primary for 2-3 days before going to the keg and warming it back up for conditioning? Or are pellets easy enough to separate when racking to the keg that it is not a concern?

kman

After seven days, the majority of the hops will have sunk to the bottom of the vessel, especially if you have roused the beer during dry-hopping. Any carry over hop matter will gather at the bottom of the keg (just like residual yeast) and will be purged with the first pour.

Have you tried cold conditioning? Is there a reason you condition at room temp? Just a cold-storage situation?

You may even consider cold-crashing BEFORE you dry hop. I understand the residual yeast can help scrub oxygen from the hops out of the beer, but yeast also binds to hop oils/matter and drags them out of solution.

I cold crash with gelatin before I dry hop. Then transfer to the keg with a hop sack over the end of my auto siphon. I came up with that after I read Vinny likes to centrifuge his beer before he dry hops and he does make the top rated IPA.

Grizzlybrew said:

Have you tried cold conditioning? Is there a reason you condition at room temp? Just a cold-storage situation?

You

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I've just always key conditioned at room temp, but I admit I don't have a good rationale for it. Is there any reason to condition cold vs room temp?

kman42 said:

I've just always key conditioned at room temp, but I admit I don't have a good rationale for it. Is there any reason to condition cold vs room temp?

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If the beer isn't "done", it ages faster at room temperature. Cold conditioning helps smooth it out some. If a beer needs time, it's best done at room temperature.

The problem with dryhopping and THEN aging, though, means by the time your beer is done conditioning the dryhops will have faded away! I am a big believer in dryhopping the last 5-7 days before packaging to maintain the fresh hop flavor and aroma.

IPAs and APAs, which are the beers most often dryhopped, don't need a month of aging before consuming! Fresher is better!