How long to cold condition a dubbel?

[Skyforger]

Hey, all. I brewed a dubbel about a month ago; OG 1.066, WLP500 Trappist yeast (from Chimay). Fermented at 70-75 deg F. I let it sit in primary for 27 days, at which point it had finished off and cleared nicely. Then, knowing that all trappist brewers cold condition their beers after fermentation, I moved it out into the shed where it's hanging at about 30 deg F.

My question is, how long should I cold condition for? The actual time the trappist abbeys do this varies widely, and I'm not actually sure if they do it to improve flavor, or just to settle out their (not very flocculent) yeast more quickly. It's been out for five days now; should it go longer?

 

[Justibone]

I don't have specific information, but generally 48 hours improves the flavors and longer is more towards settling/stabilizing the beer. That's just what I've picked up around the forums, maybe someone else would have more specific info for ya.

 

[Houblon]

How soon do you want or need to drink it? If you could leave there @ 30+/- for a few weeks or months it will only get better, alot better.


Just reyeast if bottling, couple grams of nottingham will do 5gal.

 

[Skyforger]

I'm certainly willing to wait if the product will improve. Do you think leaving it in the cold for an extended period would be a better use of aging time than, say, in bottles at cellar temps?

Oh, I've also left it on the original yeast cake. I don't imagine this will be a problem, but please tell me if I'm wrong.

 

[Justibone]

On the yeast cake is probably not a problem, even for an extended time.

There are those who worry about autolysis, but with modern yeast and homebrew methods I have yet to meet a homebrewer who has experienced it. With all the bad beer BJCP judges have to taste, I'm sure they would be warning us about it if it were a real problem.