How long to cold crash?

How many days do I need to cold crash the beer before bottling or kegging, I just dry hopped a minute ago, this will be my first cold crash by my new ferm chamber, any opinions welcome, thanks.And what temp do I cold crash?

I wouldn't cold crash till you were done dry hopping. After that, well, I don't think there's a set in stone number. I just take samples and see how it's clearing. When it's to my liking, I keg. I try to hover right around 32F.

i agree with chef. when its clear enough its been long enough. assuming you have no chill haze.

I am rather lazy. After the week ferment, I secondary...Yes i know, There is a ton of debate on this....Personly,I Cold crash in secondary and just move it over to the keg after a week.
after a wekk i transfer over to a corny, Stick it in a dark and hopefully cold corner and
Lately, I have been evern more lazy and let it go. Seens to be working out great so far

I leave the hops in a week or so also before sampling.

I did 26 days once...got a little grassy, so I wouldn't recommend that long.

homebrewer_99 said:

I leave the hops in a week or so also before sampling.

I did 26 days once...got a little grassy, so I wouldn't recommend that long.

Click to expand...

So, you are saying when I add the dry hops, go ahead and start the crash? It has been 2 weeks in the primary already, I was planning on bottling 6 gallons, and kegging the other 10 gallons, doing this on Saturday was the plan, that will be 3 weeks time in the primary, thanks again for the replies.

I tend to do primary for a week, rack to secondary and let it sit for another week, then move it into the keggerator for a week to cold crash. And I do dry hop before moving into the keggertator, for an average of 1 week. I don't dry hop with much though, usually just around .25 ounce. (I have to put in a bulk order for hops.)
The minimal time for me to cold crash is two days, but I usually do it for a week.

jagg said:

So, you are saying when I add the dry hops, go ahead and start the crash? It has been 2 weeks in the primary already, I was planning on bottling 6 gallons, and kegging the other 10 gallons, doing this on Saturday was the plan, that will be 3 weeks time in the primary, thanks again for the replies.

Click to expand...

No, it's best to dry hop before the cold crash. I was just listening to a podcast yesterday that talked about how the dry hopping oils were released at different temperatures. It only takes 3-7 days at 68 degrees to get out all of the goodness out of the dry hops. If you cold crash while dry hopping, it'll take much longer to get the flavor out.

YooperBrew said:

No, it's best to dry hop before the cold crash. I was just listening to a podcast yesterday that talked about how the dry hopping oils were released at different temperatures. It only takes 3-7 days at 68 degrees to get out all of the goodness out of the dry hops. If you cold crash while dry hopping, it'll take much longer to get the flavor out.

Click to expand...

Thanks Yooper, that is some good info, I was also wondering what the cold crash will do to the beer that I am going to bottle, will there be any adverse things that will happen when they warm up to carb and then chill them again when they go in the fridge?I just thought of that, any opinions?The beer is in the ferm chamber at 64.5f should I up the temp a bit to 68f? This is sooo new to me, thanks again for any info.

jagg said:

How many days do I need to cold crash the beer before bottling or kegging, I just dry hopped a minute ago, this will be my first cold crash by my new ferm chamber, any opinions welcome, thanks.And what temp do I cold crash?

Click to expand...

I only get to brew on weekends, so always cold condition for a week before bottling.

Takes at least 4weeks to carb up though, 6 to 8 weeks is better (but its winter in southern hemisphere and my storage room is not heated).

I've got an ale I'm planning on cold crashing. Two questions. Should I gradually reduce the temperature, like when you're switching to lagering temps, or can I just throw the carboy into a fridge set at 34F? Also, I'm sure this will shock the yeast a bit. Should I worry about the yeast being able to carb my bottles after I prime or is this a nonissue? Thanks

opteek said:

I've got an ale I'm planning on cold crashing. Two questions. Should I gradually reduce the temperature, like when you're switching to lagering temps, or can I just throw the carboy into a fridge set at 34F? Also, I'm sure this will shock the yeast a bit. Should I worry about the yeast being able to carb my bottles after I prime or is this a nonissue? Thanks

Click to expand...

You want to cold crash quickly. Don't worry about yeast not being around for carbing. There will still be yeast in suspension, just not as much. Although I suppose if you cold crashed for a very long time, like a couple of months, you might want to add some more yeast at bottling time just to be sure. At worst you'll need to let the bottles sit a bit longer to carb, but I've been cold crashing and bottling for a long time and not run into troubles with carbonation.

opteek said:

I've got an ale I'm planning on cold crashing. Two questions. Should I gradually reduce the temperature, like when you're switching to lagering temps, or can I just throw the carboy into a fridge set at 34F? Also, I'm sure this will shock the yeast a bit. Should I worry about the yeast being able to carb my bottles after I prime or is this a nonissue? Thanks

Click to expand...

Even if you throw the beer in the fridge at 34F, it's not going to get the beer to that temperature quickly. We're talking about bringing 5 gallons of beer from about 70F to 34F. It will take a while either way. So I just throw it in the fridge at crashing temperatures.

Ahoy hoy,
When I brew anything, its in the carboy for 3 weeks. If I am dry hopping, I add it at that point, give it 3 days, then cold crash the carboy to 32-34 degrees for 4 days. At that point, its been one month, time to bottle or keg. I have had no problems with off tastes or any such thing, and I use this standard operating procedure for all my brews. Works just fine for me.
Your mileage may vary. Void where prohibited by law....
Adios.....FYI

opteek said:

I've got an ale I'm planning on cold crashing. Two questions. Should I gradually reduce the temperature,

Click to expand...

My guess is the term 'crash' is used because it is supposed to be a sudden change.

chefchris said:

Even if you throw the beer in the fridge at 34F, it's not going to get the beer to that temperature quickly. We're talking about bringing 5 gallons of beer from about 70F to 34F. It will take a while either way. So I just throw it in the fridge at crashing temperatures.

Click to expand...

Exactly correct. When I crash two 5+ gallon carboys from ~68°F down to 34°F in a 17cf fridge, it takes a good two days for them to get to terminal temperature. So I budget four days for the "crash" to drop everything to the bottom, and that's usually spot on...

Cheers!

I try to hover right around 32F.