A few questions about cold crashing beer

[thehopbandit]

I recently built a temperature controller for my fermentation chamber and have thought about trying out cold crashing the beer. I have a few questions.

For the purposes of these questions, I'm mainly referring to ales. Let's say the fermentation has finished.

1. How long do you let the beer "condition" after fermentation ends before starting the cold crash?
2. At what temperature do you want to cold crash at?
3. How many days do you let it go for?

Since I currently bottle condition my beers:
4. Will there be enough yeast in suspension to adequately carb the bottles? I have read that the answer is, "yes", but anyone have any direct experience with this?
5. Do I need to let the beer warm up to room temps before bottling? Or can I just bottle with the beer at the cold temps and then let it warm up while it's in the bottle?

Any other general tips or techniques? Thanks!

 

[passedpawn]

See my answers in blue.

I recently built a temperature controller for my fermentation chamber and have thought about trying out cold crashing the beer. I have a few questions.

For the purposes of these questions, I'm mainly referring to ales. Let's say the fermentation has finished.

1. How long do you let the beer "condition" after fermentation ends before starting the cold crash?

If kegging, I start the cold crash 10 days after pitching yeast.
If bottling, give it another week. Mistakes here = bottle bombs.​

2. At what temperature do you want to cold crash at?

35F​

3. How many days do you let it go for?

2 days. I also add gelatin.
​

Since I currently bottle condition my beers:
4. Will there be enough yeast in suspension to adequately carb the bottles? I have read that the answer is, "yes", but anyone have any direct experience with this?

Yes, absolutely. Did this for years, no problem. ​

5. Do I need to let the beer warm up to room temps before bottling? Or can I just bottle with the beer at the cold temps and then let it warm up while it's in the bottle?

Definately, bottle when cold. ​

Any other general tips or techniques? Thanks!

 

[jwalker1140]

Passedpawn gives great advice. At one point I wondered these same things and eventually came up with these same answers ... after much trial and error. Emphasis on 'error.'

 

[thehopbandit]

See my answers in blue.

Awesome! Thanks so much! That definitely helps me out.

 

[SadDog]

Is it bette to cold crash when it's still in the primary fermentor or rack it to secondary before cold crashing?

 

[jwalker1140]

Is it bette to cold crash when it's still in the primary fermentor or rack it to secondary before cold crashing?

I cold crash in the primary. It's not a problem at all. That said, be careful with what you put in your airlock (I use cheap vodka). Some may get sucked in as the temperature drops. I know some people remove the airlock and replace with foil or something else until the the beer reaches crash temp and then they put the airlock back on.

 

[Huff360]

Set times is not really the best way to do it IMO.

Fermentation should take as long as the yeast needs. A hard number of 10 days, while fine for 'most beers', may not be the ideal for 'this beer.' It is a good guideline though. You should watch fermentation and measure as needed to verify everything is done. At that point you can crash.

It might be 5 days or it might be 15.

Same goes for the crashing time. Some yeast will drop clear super fast (002) and some may hang in there after a month of crashing (Denny's Fav - sometimes). Only way to know is to take a look.

35 is a good number as well, but don't flip out if you are at 32 or 37 or 40 or whatever. Get it cold, don't freeze it, you'll be fine.


I typically start ferments at the lower end of the yeasts range, then ramp the temp up based on the activity in the carboy. As the yeast starts slowing down, I raise the temp slowly. I stop raising it when I reach the upper end of the temp range. Usually another day or two and the fermentation is done. I give it a couple days to "finish up" and then drop the temp and watch what happens. Most beers are crystal clear in 3-4 days. Some take 7-10. (this is with no other finning agents)


I'm not saying passedpawn's method doesn't work, I'm just saying be careful with assigning set numbers to each step of the process. You need to be flexible and respond to the needs of the particular beer.

 

[passedpawn]

I'm not saying passedpawn's method doesn't work, I'm just saying be careful with assigning set numbers to each step of the process. You need to be flexible and respond to the needs of the particular beer.

Can't argue with that. Know your target gravity and trust your hydrometer to know when it's done.

 

[Huff360]

Can't argue with that. Know your target gravity and trust your hydrometer to know when it's done.

Just doing my part to cut down on the "I can't keg at exactly 10 days, will 11 be okay?" threads.