Cold crashing question:

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kornbread

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Hey guys,

I keep seeing references to "cold crashing" beer. What is the purpose of this? And they usually seem to be referring to kegging. Is this technique strictly for keg setups? I bottle my beers and I put them in the fridge a couple of days prior to drinking. Is that considered "cold crashing"?

Just curious,

Kornbread
 
I'm no expert, but I think the cold crashing quickly puts the yeast into a dormant state, causing them to fall to the bottom of the vessel they are in (along with other sediment). As far as I know, this can apply to any container the beer is in; keg, carboy, or bottle.

Putting your bottles in the fridge for a couple of days would do this, as long as you don't disturb the yeast sediment when pouring. I think most people use this technique to get the yeast out of suspension when kegging, since you can force carb your keg and keep the yeast dormant (no added priming sugar for them to feed on).

Keep in mind that I'm still a noob, so I'm sure one of the more experienced brewers here will give a better explanation.

Try this thread:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=73188&highlight=cold+crashing
 
You can do that with a carboy too- just stick the carboy in the fridge for a few days, and the beer will be clearer. Usually there is still plenty of yeast in suspension for bottling.
 
You can do that with a carboy too- just stick the carboy in the fridge for a few days, and the beer will be clearer. Usually there is still plenty of yeast in suspension for bottling.

Does the addition of priming sugar in the bottles negate the effects of cold crashing? Or are there other solids in the beer that come out of suspension when cold crashing?

Thanks, I'm still learning!
 
Oh, the cold crashing helps alot! You'll have more yeast flocculate out, and those proteins that cause chill haze will precipitate out. So, the beer is usually much clearer than not doing it. Then, when you add the priming sugar, you cause a mini-fermentation in the bottle, but once it sits for those 3 weeks to carbonate, the yeast will flocculate out and the beer remains clear.

Many things help make clear beer- kettle finings (say, whirlfloc in the boil), chilling the wort ASAP to get a good cold break (which is generally coagulated proteins), allowing the beer to remain in the fermenter for 3-4 weeks (to allow more suspended stuff to fall out) and then cold crashing. If you follow those steps (or most of them), you should have clear beer without using gelatin or other finings. Bottle conditioning won't affect an already clear beer, once it's done carbonating and the yeast flocculate out. Especially if you stick the bottle in the fridge 48 hours or more before you drink it.
 
Yooper- How would what you are saying be done with bottles? Would you bottle the batch and place it in the fridge for a couple days. Then uncap them all and add priming sugar, and wait the normal three weeks for carbonation?
 
Yooper- How would what you are saying be done with bottles? Would you bottle the batch and place it in the fridge for a couple days. Then uncap them all and add priming sugar, and wait the normal three weeks for carbonation?

No, I wouldn't suggest that at all. If I didn't have a way to chill the carboy before bottling, I'd bottle as normal. After a month or so at room temperature, I'd stick them in the fridge.

If you bottle, then uncap, you'd be asking for problems. First, risk of infection, but mostly adding priming sugar then would cause beer volcanoes (nucleation points in the beer) so I wouldn't try that.
 
Cold crashing the carboy is about getting the most sediment/yeast to floc out BEFORE kegging or bottling. However, if you just can't do that, you can carb your bottles and then dedicated some fridge space to an extended cold conditioning (only after you've verified proper carbonation). The longer the bottles stay cold, the more clear the beer is and the more compact the yeast cake will be allowing you to decant nicely.
 
Here is a picture of an accidental cold-crash in a secondary - I had racked to my secondary the night before and the temps in my garage dropped down into the low 40's unexpectantly. You can see how much difference just a few hours of cold crashing can make. Thanks again to Bobby M for letting me know what happened.:mug:

coldcrash.JPG
 
So, to be clear, you ferment primary, sit in secondary, cold crash (a couple of days), then keg? Do you keep the keg cold? Or bring the keg back up to ferm temp for conditioning/aging?
 
So, to be clear, you ferment primary, sit in secondary, cold crash (a couple of days), then keg? Do you keep the keg cold? Or bring the keg back up to ferm temp for conditioning/aging?

Some secondary, I don't unless it's a huge beer (e.g. Barleywine). I drop primary to 30f for 2-3 days after fermentation is complete, then keg and store and carb at serving temp, which for me is 42f.

No problem with storing/aging at a higher temp, I do that at 55f.

_
 
Does cold crashing result in slower carbonation? I have cold crashed a couple fo beers of late and it seems those have taken longer to carb than non cold crashed beers. I drag my auto-siphon through the cake just a little to get some of the yeast from the cake.
 
I just cold crashed my brown ale (5.5% ABV) for two days prior to bottling, and today is three weeks of conditioning at 70F. Tomorrow I'll find out if they are fully carbed, as they were half way last week.

If cold crashing and bottling, expect an additional week due to the lower yeast numbers.
 
Cold crashing can also be used to purposely keep fermentables in the beer to keep it sweet. This is most commonly used when you want a real fruit flavor in your beer. Instead of letting the yeast completely ferment the sugars of, say, real raspberry juice, you could ferment out the beer, add the raspberry juice to the keg, cold crash so the yeast hibernate and don't ferment out the juice, and force carbonate. Cold condition for 3-4 weeks, then you'll still have the sugars you want in your final product.
 
Cold crashing can also be used to purposely keep fermentables in the beer to keep it sweet. This is most commonly used when you want a real fruit flavor in your beer. Instead of letting the yeast completely ferment the sugars of, say, real raspberry juice, you could ferment out the beer, add the raspberry juice to the keg, cold crash so the yeast hibernate and don't ferment out the juice, and force carbonate. Cold condition for 3-4 weeks, then you'll still have the sugars you want in your final product.

This sounds like a good idea. Would this work to sweeten an Apfelwein if you were to keg it? Such as add some apple juice to the carboy, cold crash, and then keg and force carb?

I'm guessing that as long as everything stays cold (~40 degrees), then the yeast will stay dormant.

Also, is it necessary to cold crash for a couple of days? Or is 24hrs sufficient?
 
Sorry to revive this thread. Just a quick question on cold crashing. Bobby mentioned that the purpose for this is so that the yeast can floc out faster before kegging.

I am able to cold crash in my currently empty keezer, however lifting the carboy out of the keezer will cause turbulance and shaking of the yeast a bit. Does this mean that my 48 hours of cold crashing rendered useless?
 
Cacaman said:
Sorry to revive this thread. Just a quick question on cold crashing. Bobby mentioned that the purpose for this is so that the yeast can floc out faster before kegging.

I am able to cold crash in my currently empty keezer, however lifting the carboy out of the keezer will cause turbulance and shaking of the yeast a bit. Does this mean that my 48 hours of cold crashing rendered useless?

No, it will settle in time for you to bottle. I do this with every batch. Liquid will remain cold and yeast is already in the hibernation stage so it just settles back down .
 
Ozzfest05 said:
No, it will settle in time for you to bottle. I do this with every batch. Liquid will remain cold and yeast is already in the hibernation stage so it just settles back down .

I'll probably be kegging, how long do you think I'll need to let the Carboy sit before siphoning into the keg?
 
Ozzfest05 said:
Few hours I do my sanitizing and get things ready .

Appreciate your help. I'll do this plus add gelatin (in the keg) to my next batch. Excited to see how these two elements will help clear the beer.
 
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