Crash cooling -- will it cause spices to drop out?

[Naked_Eskimo]

I'm busy brewing a spiced Christmas ale. It's almost done fermenting, and want to crash cool it before bottling to try clear it up a bit.

My concern is that crash cooling may pull out the spices as well as the yeast.

Does anyone have any experience with this....or am I worrying too much?

 

[smizak]

You probably don't want the actual spices in your beer. The alcohol and water will dissolve the aromatics and flavors from the spices. Go ahead and crash cool, no worries.

 

[Naked_Eskimo]

Why would having the spices in the beer be a bad thing?

 

[smizak]

If you don't mind a bit of sludge in the bottom of the bottles, then go ahead. Personally, I prefer a minimal amount of sediment in my bottles as possible.