Cold Crash Question

I have a pale ale that's been in the primary for three weeks and I'd like to cold crash it before bottling. I'm planning on packing a utility sink with frozen water bottles to do the job. So here's my dilemma: I am going to be out of town for the next four days, should I toss the fermenter in with the ice bath now and let it sit and eventually warm up over the weekend, or should i wait until i get back crash it for 24 hrs and bottle? Does it make a difference?

My vote is to just wait patience is usually a virtue in this hobby

I have limited experience with this, but I'd say do it both times if possible The first round would get a lot of the sediment to drop out and then the second round would further drop out sediment and also solidify the cake before racking. For my last several beers I have started cooling it down 3 or 4 days before I rack because it takes a a day or so to get the temperature down. Btw, I use a cooler and ice bottles to cool it down, similar to your method. If you can't do it both times I would do it when you get back home. Who knows? Like I said, I don't have too much experience. I could be wrong and the temp change could cause the yeast to freak out and cause off flavors or something like that. I'm sure someone more experienced will chime in soon.

I've been thinking about this alot lately... Is there any concern with not having enough yeast left in suspension to get adequate carbonation when cold crashing?

thanks for the responses. i'm going to let it sit while i'm away and then cold crash when i get back. i guess part of my question is will cooling it down and letting it warm back up produce off flavors? i ask because i know my frozen bottle trick isn't going to be the most effective method.

as for the active yeast question above, this is my first time so i'm not sure, but from all i read there should be plenty left in suspension to work on carbonation. anyone want to give us more reassurance?

So, I noticed there is yet another thread about the wonders of cold crashing but I'm still leery of doing this and then bottling. Tagz, have you done your cold crash yet?

If anyone has ever cold crashed and then successfully bottle carb'ed, I would love to hear about it!

ajwillys said:

If anyone has ever cold crashed and then successfully bottle carb'ed, I would love to hear about it!

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I've not yet tried this as I've only just acquired a beer fridge, but TBH I get the impression it's an very common and normal thing to do. I believe there might be a need to repitch additional yeast at bottling time if you've cold conditioned for a period of months, but I've read a heap of posts on here from people who recommend a few days' cold crashing before bottling, without the need to add any extra yeast. There really is an awful lot of yeast in a fermenter, and you don't need anything like that amount for successful carbonation, so for only a few days' cold crashing, I wouldn't worry - there'll be plenty of yeast.

Reading the posts two things come to mind...

1) Is the beer done fermenting? Even though 3 weeks have past doesn't mean it's done.

2) I'm certain no amount of cold crashing is going to strip all the yeast from your brew as much as filtering will. Rack the brew off the yeast after crashing then allow it to come back up to room temp before adding priming sugar and bottling.