Bottle my kolsch @ the 40*F it's sitting at?

[jestmaty]

First kolsch, nowhere near my first ag brew

I'm ready to bottle and it's been sitting for weeks in 2ndary at 40-41*F.

Do I bottle as usual (my all ale batches ferment in the mid 60's to 70*F)? My usual protocol is to boil my cup of water/5oz priming sugar, cool down to beer temp, stir & bottle.

Should be kolsch be brought up 20-30*F to around 65* over a few days before bottling?

If not, I'll just cool my priming sugar solution down to about 40*, stir it into my beer, and bottle as usual. Bottles will be stored in a dark closet at 70* till carbed :rockin:

 

[aiptasia]

IMHO, i'd let it warm up. Might give a little of the yeast a chance to vigorate before bottling.

 

[StoneHands]

I've wondered this about bottling lagers in the past, and this is what I decided: Bottle it cold. The cold crash allows some of the haze forming particles to drop out, I've thought (this is all conjecture on my part) that by allowing it to warm up, you could allow the haze to get back into solution - chill haze specifically.

I've encountered two issues with bottling cold: If you're in a humid climate, the bottling bucket sweats, potentially dripping everywhere, including into your uncapped beers (it just makes a mess). Also, What temp do you use for your carbonation chart? The answer is the highest temp it was once fermentation was complete. So if you fermented your kolsch at 60 and it finished at that temp, use 60 degrees for your calcs even though it's currently lower.

Oh, and no sense in cooling your priming solution down, dump it in hot if you want, no harm done.

 

[solbes]

I'd keep it between 32 and 40 prior to bottling. Did the Kolsch yeast (assuming you used WY2565 or WLP029) drop clear yet? If not, you might want to add some gelatin and let sit for another week while it clears. At least the 2565 is a bugger to floc, otherwise love the yeast though.

Agree with STone above. Let your priming sugar cool a little, but the cold beer mass is much higher so it has little effect on anything.