Cream Ale Fermentation question

[GroosBrewz]

hey all, brewing my first cream ale that requires lagering. Directions are vague- "when krausen drops crash to 40 for twenty four hours then two weeks at 33." What does "when Krausen drops mean? After initial fermentation? Its been fermenting now for three days at 68 and SG still dropping. When do I put it in fridge?

 

[NGD]

Pretty much when your krausen has stopped rising and is fallen back down.

Unless you have a way to prevent oxygen from sucking back into the fermenter I would recommend bottling/kegging then lagering at the those temps.

Side note: I’ve only done a few cream ales and far from an expert, but I haven't seen a recipe thats called for lagering. Which recipe are you using?

 

[KeizerBrewr]

What @NGD said. What yeast are you using? I get if you were using WLP080 or maybe 34/70, but for the most part, the only "lagering" I've seen with a typical cream ale is packaged and in the fridge.

 

[Surly]

Is the issue here lagering with a lager yeast? Or, are you asking about cold crashing an ale?

 

[McKnuckle]

The lagering part is simply the direction to store the beer at 33ºF for two weeks. That's essentially just cold conditioning before serving. However, you can accomplish this in the package itself (bottles or keg) by storing them cold, which you would do anyway when preparing them for serving. Just wait two weeks before pouring one.

Three days of fermentation is just the beginning. Patience... Wait at least a week to reach FG and have some yeast clean-up, then drop to 40ºF. After a day or two at 40, rack to your keg and place it in the cold, hooked up to gas if you can to force carbonate while you wait. If you are bottling, bottle the beer with priming sugar, carbonate it WARM for three weeks, and then store it cold.

 

[Holden Caulfield]

Unless you have a way to prevent oxygen from sucking back into the fermenter I would recommend bottling/kegging then lagering at the those temps.

This is very important. Oxygen is the enemy of beer.

In my opinion (which isn't worth a lot), unless you have a way of preventing suck back (such as using a balloon filled with CO2), it is better to cold crash and lager in the keg or bottle. BTW, I have zero data to support this assertion.

Here is a link to a Brulosophy experiment where they compare a beer kegged warm vs one kegged after cold crashing.

https://brulosophy.com/2017/11/20/t...ous-beer-characteristics-exbeeriment-results/
Only 9 out of 26 picked the odd sample which is very close to chance. Two interpretations here - cold crashing doesn't make a difference, or cold crash suck back doesn't make a difference. Between the two pathways, I think it is safer to err on the side of cold crashing after bottling or conditioning vs experiencing suck back and risk oxidation.

Note - many do not agree with Brulospophy's process and interpretations. So interpret the results with a grain of salt - one experiment in a non-laboratory setting, requiring statistical significance of the variable to conclude it makes a difference rather than it doesn't make a difference. In the end, their exbeeriments are fun to read, and it is some data with good explanation of how it was generated, which is better than no data.