cold crash and priming keg

Hello everyone,
I was wondering..... if a person cold crashes their beer after fermentation is complete, would there be enough yeast left to carbonate? I was planning on priming in the keg from now on and was woundering if this would work. If it works, wouldn't it cut down on the amount of sediment in the bottom of the keg?

When you say priming in the keg, are you planning on carbonating in the keg with CO2? If that is the case, you won't need any residual yeast inside the keg. I typically use about 1/2 the recommended about of corn sugar inside the keg and a few blasts of CO2 to seal the keg, then let it carb and condition until I'm ready to put it in the fridge. Cold crashing your fermenter before racking into the keg will definitely reduce sediment.

I was planing on carbing in the keg with corn sugar. Would there be enough yeast left to carb it if I was to cold crash it first?

I would transfer it to the keg and prime for a couple of weeks before the cold crash. The yeast needs the warm temps to condition the beer properly, and the sediment would be minimal, and would be drawn out in the first few pints. Yeast sediment is not a bad thing unless it is allowed to attolisize (yeah, I know its spelled wrong), but that takes a long time.

One question, pfowl01, are you priming in a keg and planning to serve from the keg via CO2? If that's the case, why not force carbonate after a cold crash in the carboy, and avoid the sediment altogether? Is this some sort of "real ale" thing?

pfowl01 said:

I was planing on carbing in the keg with corn sugar. Would there be enough yeast left to carb it if I was to cold crash it first?

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When I used to bottle I'd cold-crash my secondary carboy to 34°F for 3-4 days before racking to a bottling bucket on top of the priming sugar mixture. Just in case too much yeast had dropped out of the young beer I always scooped a tablespoon of yeast from the carboy and mixed it in before filling the bottles. Never had any problem with carbing, and one tablespoon across 60-odd bottles is very little yeast coating the bottle bottoms.

I wager you could do the same thing, just for the assurance...

Cheers!

Chessking,
I was planning on brewing a few batches and bulk ageing them in the kegs. I force carb my beer now using the low and slow method,but I only have so much room. The thought was why not carb them as they age and then....when I'm ready for them all I have to do is chill them,release the pressure in the headspace,hook up my Co2 and serve.

pfowl01 said:

Chessking,
I was planning on brewing a few batches and bulk ageing them in the kegs. I force carb my beer now using the low and slow method,but I only have so much room. The thought was why not carb them as they age and then....when I'm ready for them all I have to do is chill them,release the pressure in the headspace,hook up my Co2 and serve.

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I can dig that. I think perhaps, that after a cold crash of a couple of days, there should be enough yeast. Of course, the longer in the cold the more yeast will drop. Try it and see. If it doesn't work you can always pitch fresh yeast, or just force carbonate. Let us know how it works. Cheers.