Bottling very cold beer - effect on yeast?

[jat147]

Howdy,
I've always bottled indoors during the winter at room temperature, but the kit has moved to the garage this year and I'm worried about following the same process as before. I've a American Amber (WLP001) to bottle which is sat at only 41F, after doing a yeast count I seem to have only 50,000 cells/ml which doesn't sound enough to kick off the referment in the bottles? The gravity has dropped to 1008 so there is little sugar left either.
To ensure a decent carbonation would you prime and re-seed? Or just prime and let the yeast that is there do the job - but could take much longer? Or do neither and just bottle it, with the danger that it wont ever carbonate, but will be super clear?
I just cant decide, any cold weather brewers care to offer their learnings please?

 

[Brulosopher]

If it were me, I'd bottle as usual then move the bottles some place warmer for the next 2-4 weeks. You've certainly enough yeast in suspension to carbonates those bad boys. In fact, you essentially did a decent cold crash, which will help with the clarity of the finished beer.

Cheers!

 

[jat147]

Yeah good point - them bottles will be even clearer than usual, which is a good thing at all times. I'm just worried that the lower volume of yeast could take 2-4 months to carbonate instead of a few weeks.
I've never tried a cold crash before and wonder what the consequence will be? I mean Lager is stored even colder for even longer ... but then again you never see bottle conditioned Lagers do you??

 

[Yooper]

but then again you never see bottle conditioned Lagers do you??

Sure you do! At least at homebrewer's houses!

No worries. I've lagered at 31 degrees for 8 weeks, and still had bottle carbonation. Your cold crash sounds effective, and exactly like it should have gone.

 

[WoodlandBrew]

I bottled a sparkling wine recently with 60,000 viable cells per ml. It had some carbonation after two weeks. You should be fine.

 

[solbes]

I have yet to have a batch with carbonation issues. And I always do a yeast clearing step: rack to secondary, cold crash in primary, or cold crash in primary with gelatin.

 

[jat147]

Thanks to all for the input, I'll drop the re-seed idea on this one.

I've never had an under-carb problem thus far, but have had a few bottle bombs! .... maybe that's telling me something about my yeast transfer into bottles?? ;-) If this works, it'll be all cold crashes from now on ....

 

[solbes]

Bottle bombs have nothing to do with amount of yeast transferred. It has everything to do with sugars packaged into the bottle. Either residual sugar from the primary ferment that is still present (didn't have stable gravity prior to bottling), too much priming sugar, or inadequate mixing of priming sugar in bottling bucket.