Cold Crashing too high maintenence...

[VonAle]

Too much work for me personally....aka high maintenance!

Time spent preparing the recipe, procuring the ingredients, 5 hour brew day, managing fermentation temps, racking and packaging is a lot of work / maintenance too. Crashing in the swamp cooler is just another small part of it all.

Be easier to run up to BevMo and back.

 

[RCCOLA]

Here's an example of what gel can do for you on bottle conditioned beers. Double brewday, same yeast. Left primaried 14 days and then bottled. Right cold crashed to 34F, racked to secondary with gel for a few days.

 

[m3n00b]

Here's an example of what gel can do for you on bottle conditioned beers. Double brewday, same yeast. Left primaried 14 days and then bottled. Right cold crashed to 34F, racked to secondary with gel for a few days.

Wow! Was that the same batch?

 

[RCCOLA]

Wow! Was that the same batch?

The left one was an amber ale fermented at 58F, the right one was a summer(light) Vienna lager fermented at 52F. Both used harvested S-23 lager yeast. The left beer never did clear like the right one--even after months in the fridge. It cleared, but not crystal clear like the gelled one.

ETA: I have gently stirred gel into a cold crashed primary with similar results. I only do this if I don't plan to harvest the yeast though.

 

[butterpants]

What type of gelatin? Commercial product like Sparkelloid or DIY grocery store?

 

[m3n00b]

The left one was an amber ale fermented at 58F, the right one was a summer(light) Vienna lager fermented at 52F. Both used harvested S-23 lager yeast. The left beer never did clear like the right one--even after months in the fridge. It cleared, but not crystal clear like the gelled one.

ETA: I have gently stirred gel into a cold crashed primary with similar results. I only do this if I don't plan to harvest the yeast though.

You used lager yeast to make an amber ale?

 

[RCCOLA]

What type of gelatin? Commercial product like Sparkelloid or DIY grocery store?

Knox gelatin from the grocery. 1/2 tsp per 5 gal batch. Dissolve in 3/4 cup of 120F water, let sit covered for 20 mins, heat to 170F, then gently stir in hot--do not chill it. Or add to secondary and rack on top of.

ETA: This needs to be added to cold beer. The cold makes the proteins clump together. The gel clings to them and they fall out, leaving the beer clear.

You used lager yeast to make an amber ale?

I do this all the time. I brew mostly lagers and use the yeast for any ale style that has a clean yeast profile. My starter for a lager is usually a 6 gallon batch of beer fermented at 58-60F.

 

[m3n00b]

I do this all the time. I brew mostly lagers and use the yeast for any ale style that has a clean yeast profile. My starter for a lager is usually a 6 gallon batch of beer fermented at 58-60F.

Wouldn't this make an amber lager?

 

[RCCOLA]

Wouldn't this make an amber lager?

Yep.
Deleted the rest out of respect for the OP's thread. OT.

 

[butterpants]

Knox gelatin from the grocery. 1/2 tsp per 5 gal batch. Dissolve in 3/4 cup of 120F water, let sit covered for 20 mins, heat to 170F, then gently stir in hot--do not chill it. Or add to secondary and rack on top of.

ETA: This needs to be added to cold beer. The cold makes the proteins clump together. The gel clings to them and they fall out, leaving the beer clear.
.

Excellent, thanks!

 

[ballsy]

So is it safe to say cold crashing is only worth it if ur also adding gelatin?

 

[BigFloyd]

So is it safe to say cold crashing is only worth it if ur also adding gelatin?

No. That's not correct at all.

Cold crashing by itself is beneficial and I have gotten much clearer beers using it even when I've either forgotten to use gelatin (when kegging) or chosen to not use gelatin (when bottle carbing).

 

[m3n00b]

No. That's not correct at all.

Cold crashing by itself is beneficial and I have gotten much clearer beers using it even when I've either forgotten to use gelatin (when kegging) or chosen to not use gelatin (when bottle carbing).

So you wouldn't use it while bottle conditioning? Why?

 

[Jobe5217]

This may be a noob question but is it possible to significantly reduce the sediments in bottles when bottle conditioning? I thought that was just the cost of dong business when bottle conditioning.

 

[cheezydemon3]

This may be a noob question but is it possible to significantly reduce the sediments in bottles when bottle conditioning? I thought that was just the cost of dong business when bottle conditioning.

You can reduce it, but only so far. You want some yeast in there to eat the priming sugar.

I don't see the big deal. You pour it in a glass, right?

 

[brewfreeordie]

I'm of the opinion that cold-crashing before secondary or before bottling is not entirely necessary, but will speed things up. Lowering the temp will get the yeast to drop out quicker, but I'm getting better at being patient. I just leave it for an extra week or two in the fermentor (no secondary for ales) and let the yeasties do their thing. I bottle all my brew so the cold crash inevitably comes.

I have both a fermentation fridge ($50 and well worth it IF you've got the room) as well as a lagering/storage chest fridge ($20 if you don't count the new freezer I had to buy my wife to get the old one) so it's not really work to do it. I just think it's better to let the yeast tell you when the beer is done.

 

[beaksnbeer]

I don't see this as an issue, It's part of brewing for me it's just part of the process no different then crushing your own grain. If it makes my beer better I will go that route "IF" it's affordable. I don't use gelatin (vegan friends) Irish moss at the end of boil and cold crashing and you can read through most of the beers. Wheats, stouts, and porters by style of course.

 

[Jobe5217]

You can reduce it, but only so far. You want some yeast in there to eat the priming sugar.

I don't see the big deal. You pour it in a glass, right?

I don't mind it too much, it's not a big deal. Just curious if it was possible. This is the first I've heard of using "gel", I think I am going to read this thread all the way through.

 

[BigFloyd]

This may be a noob question but is it possible to significantly reduce the sediments in bottles when bottle conditioning? I thought that was just the cost of dong business when bottle conditioning.

I've noticed that the bottles of brews that I've cold crash have a thinner layer of yeast trub in the bottom. They're carbed just fine, so there's enough yeast present after crashing, but you avoid a thick layer of gunk in the bottle that can more easily pour into the glass and cause it to be cloudy or taste yeasty. Since most of my bottled stuff gets given away to non-brewers who aren't experienced at pouring home brew, that's important to me.

I know that some folks do gel the bottled batches and report no issues. I don't do it simply because I'm a bit afraid of taking too much of the yeast out of suspension. I also harvest liquid yeast out of the primary, so I don't want to gel there.

 

[RCCOLA]

On Gel:

I brew a lot of light colored(and flavored) lagers. I have 7 lagers on tap right now and 5 are 4 SRM or less. Lager yeast is not as flocculent as ale yeast and will greatly affect the flavor of these beers. The pic I posted above is of a recipe I regularly brew, my house lager.

That was the first time I've gelled it and the difference between it and the non-gelled version is striking--Both in clarity and flavor. It tastes like a commercial, filtered beer and will be gelled from here on.

I've been brewing a series of lagers with the new Mangrove Jack's M84 lager yeast. That stuff is hazier than wheat beer. I didn't gel one batch with it and it's not as clear or clean tasting as one brewed 3 weeks later. Here's the gelled Helles at 36F serving temp 4 weeks from brewday:

 

[libeerty]

That's a cool pic.

 

[Cider123]

I make my beer for me. I don't really care if people are scared of cloudy beer. I'll start crashing if I enter some into a competition. For now I'm completely happy with a little chill haze.

+1 to this.

If interested, https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/i-like-cloudy-beer-407272/

 

[RCCOLA]

That's a cool pic.

Had to jack the glass off and snap the pic quickly due to the condensation. That was one happy Helles.:cross:

 

[ballsy]

+1 to this.

If interested, https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/i-like-cloudy-beer-407272/

I'm no fan of clear beer either....the first cask beer I had was in Portland OR and I actually liked how unfiltered it was....but cloudy and chunks floating off bottom are two different things IMO.

 

[BigFloyd]

On Gel:

I brew a lot of light colored(and flavored) lagers. I have 7 lagers on tap right now and 5 are 4 SRM or less. Lager yeast is not as flocculent as ale yeast and will greatly affect the flavor of these beers. The pic I posted above is of a recipe I regularly brew, my house lager.

That was the first time I've gelled it and the difference between it and the non-gelled version is striking--Both in clarity and flavor. It tastes like a commercial, filtered beer and will be gelled from here on.

I've been brewing a series of lagers with the new Mangrove Jack's M84 lager yeast. That stuff is hazier than wheat beer. I didn't gel one batch with it and it's not as clear or clean tasting as one brewed 3 weeks later. Here's the gelled Helles at 36F serving temp 4 weeks from brewday:

Very nice. Are you gelling in the keg or did you bottle this?

 

[RCCOLA]

Very nice. Are you gelling in the keg or did you bottle this?

I chilled the beer to 32F and then racked to a bucket on top of gel for a few days with the fridge set to 32F. Then to keg with a few bottled--I brew 7gal batches and bottle what doesn't fit in the keg. No problems with bottle carbonation post-gel either.

 

[BigFloyd]

I chilled the beer to 32F and then racked to a bucket on top of gel for a few days with the fridge set to 32F. Then to keg with a few bottled--I brew 7gal batches and bottle what doesn't fit in the keg. No problems with bottle carbonation post-gel either.

That's good to know. Thanks.

I gel most of my keg stuff and will have to consider doing the next bottle batch as well.