Accidentally Cold Crashing Bottles After 1-1/2 Week

[Singletrack]

Oops. I bottled a batch and left it in the fermentation fridge before I left for work -- for 2 weeks. The bottles are in there along with another batch in primary that will start automatically cold crashing in 1-1/2 weeks. So my bottles will have carbed/conditioned for 1-1/2 weeks, and then chilled to drinking temperature.

Typically I like to bottle condition for 3 weeks. If I reheat the bottles when I return, will they continue to condition? Will they condition so slowly that I need more than 3-1/2 weeks total? If so, how long?

Yeast is WLP002 English Ale in an India Black Ale with OG 1.072. Priming is corn sugar to 2.2 volumes. Conditioning temp is 71 degrees (prior to cold crash).

My thought is that this beer has enough flavor to overcome the need for "clean-up." I just need carbonation. I could just try one when I get there and decide whether to reheat. But I could get someone to save the day if really needed, so if anyone has experience with this, it would be appreciated. Thank you!

 

[dnslater]

Try one and see how carved they are. Yeast should wake back up. Maybe give them a shake as they may be compacted at the bottom.

 

[Singletrack]

Try one and see how carved they are. Yeast should wake back up. Maybe give them a shake as they may be compacted at the bottom.

That's what I will do. Thanks. It doesn't seem worth bothering anyone to go there and take the bottles out. If they aren't carbed properly, it will be interesting to see if the yeast will wake up and go back to work.

 

[Singletrack]

Just to close this out:

I returned to find that my bottles were fully carbonated (and tasty). Since this was a Black IPA with over 100 IBU and heavy dry-hopping, the lack of conditioning time is inconsequential.

Since there was no carb problem, I will not learn (this time) whether the yeast could be awakened to eat a tiny bit of sugar after cold crashing. If you decide to conduct this experiment using a few bottles, post up the results.