Bottling bucket and carbination question. Cold crash still?

[Turfgrass]

Ok, I haven’t decided yet on whether to primary ferment in my glass carboy or plastic bucket with a spigot at the bottom. Either way is “cold crashing” still part of the process before siphoning into the bottling bucket with the sugar mixture for carbination? What temp to store bottles? Guessing from other posts that bottling carbing will take about a month....also read about CBC-1 yeast to scrub o2 and carbonate. Thanks in advance.


Plastic bucket- just like the idea of the spigot for easier siphoning.

 

[eadavis80]

I've never cold crashed anything in nearly 100 batches, but that's probably because I don't have a fridge to do so with. I don't have a glass primary, but I do have a glass secondary and I hardly ever use it as I find it heavy and slippery when cleaning so I'm afraid I'll end up with one of those emergency room stories this forum has lots of. I store my bottle conditioning beer in a bedroom that is now in the 70's in the summer. They're usually drinkable in two weeks - sometimes at 1, sometimes at 3. I always try one only 1 week after bottling just out of curiosity. I know some will say that's "wasting" a beer, but I am fine "wasting" a beer out of a batch of around 50 to satisfy my curiosity.

 

[RM-MN]

Ok, I haven’t decided yet on whether to primary ferment in my glass carboy or plastic bucket with a spigot at the bottom. Either way is “cold crashing” still part of the process before siphoning into the bottling bucket with the sugar mixture for carbination? What temp to store bottles? Guessing from other posts that bottling carbing will take about a month....also read about CBC-1 yeast to scrub o2 and carbonate. Thanks in advance.

This is a false dichotomy. Put the carboy somewhere safe so it cannot break and send you to the emergency room, then spend a bit of cash to buy another bucket, one without a spigot. The one with the spigot is used for bottling where a slight leak won't spread all your beer onto the floor as it sits for a couple weeks fermenting.

Cold crashing serves a couple purposes, one to drop most of the yeast and the other to drop the proteins that give you chill haze. You can do it prior to bottling or you can simply put enough bottles in the refrigerator that they can sit for a few days before serving to let the chill haze settle.

You can store bottles chilled after they are fully carbonated (minimum 3 weeks) or at room temp. I leave mine at room temp but never for more than 2 years (because I can't keep my hands off them any longer).

 

[Turfgrass]

So, would either process be wrong to cold crash the primary and then transfer to.....

1. the keg and carbonate with co2

2. Or, crash and then transfer to bucket with the sugar mixture and bottle fill?

Also once cold crashed does the beer need to remain At refrigeration temp to prevent spoilage? Assuming I need to bulk age until I’m sure that I’m ready to crash and keep cold. I’m just a bit confused on the timing after fermentation is complete. Thx

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

So, would either process be wrong to cold crash the primary and then transfer to.....

1. the keg and carbonate with co2

2. Or, crash and then transfer to bucket with the sugar mixture and bottle fill?

Also once cold crashed does the beer need to remain At refrigeration temp to prevent spoilage? Assuming I need to bulk age until I’m sure that I’m ready to crash and keep cold. I’m just a bit confused on the timing after fermentation is complete. Thx

I cold crash then rack to my bottling bucket with priming sugar in the bottom, the racking mixes up all the beer/priming solution, then into the bottles it goes. I keep it cold up until racking and don't freak out about temps just try to do it relatively quickly. Also note that if you position your fermenter in the spot you will rack from about an hour beforehand it seems like you keep more trub settled/less goes into the bottles.

 

[Smellyglove]

I myself don't advise coldcrashing if you're bottle-carbing. Cold temperatures doesn't promote yeast activity. You need quick yeast activity to scavenge some of the oxygen which will be induced during bottling, before it can start to do any damage to the beer. The yeast will only scavenge the oxygen which is dissolved in the beer. Healthy and preferably yeast still in suspension (or new added yeast for carbonation) is your best friend when bottle carbonating to reduce the effects of the oxygen which will be picked up when bottling.

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

I myself don't advise coldcrashing if you're bottle-carbing. Cold temperatures doesn't promote yeast activity. You need quick yeast activity to scavenge some of the oxygen which will be induced during bottling, before it can start to do any damage to the beer. The yeast will only scavenge the oxygen which is dissolved in the beer. Healthy and preferably yeast still in suspension (or new added yeast for carbonation) is your best friend when bottle carbonating to reduce the effects of the oxygen which will be picked up when bottling.

This makes a lot of sense, I am guessing I haven't seen adverse carbing effects because my cold crash is half-assed. Don't have a fridge so I ice it down in a tub in the basement, probably really only makes a marginal difference in the final product, and now thinking about it I must not be knocking many yeast down by dropping it about 10 degrees as my brews carb fine. Welp save the ice money for a proper fermentation chamber is my plan going forward!

 

[Smellyglove]

This makes a lot of sense, I am guessing I haven't seen adverse carbing effects because my cold crash is half-assed. Don't have a fridge so I ice it down in a tub in the basement, probably really only makes a marginal difference in the final product, and now thinking about it I must not be knocking many yeast down by dropping it about 10 degrees as my brews carb fine. Welp save the ice money for a proper fermentation chamber is my plan going forward!

It will "always" carb up in the end if you CC, some times slow, other times faster. What you want is rapid carbonation, which is a sign of quick and good yeast activity. My hefes are usually at what I just guess is about 85% there after five days. Maybe 60-70 % after three days. I carb them sideways as I believe it helps getting the oxygen in the headspace faster into solution.

 

[Turfgrass]

So, Do you C.C. before fermentation is over to continue on with good yeast health, or are there leftover yeast after you reach FG?

Does the CBC-1 get used to help with this?

 

[brandonlovesbeer]

I myself don't advise coldcrashing if you're bottle-carbing. Cold temperatures doesn't promote yeast activity.

I’ve never had any trouble with bottle condition when I bottle cold.

Last beer I made, I cold crashed to 30°F for 24 hours.
Moved the carboy to the fridge side where it warmed to 38°F. I left it there for a few days. Then added gelatin to fine the beer. Then let sit for 2 more days.

Bottling day, I removed the carboy from the fridge (temp 38°F) and placed it on the counter to warm up a little while I prepped everything.

At bottling the carboy temp was 50°F.

By that night the bottles were at room temp.
And conditioning only took a week.

Moral of the story. It doesn’t matter if you cold crash or not.