Cold break before secondary?

[Talloak]

I read the sticky by humbug about when to go from primary to secondary. In it, a member named Fogareu Br references putting his primary in his freezer (~3C) for 24-48 hours before going to the secondary.

This is not the first reference I have seen to this. Is this to encourage what is known as the cold break? Is this the appropriate time to do this? I assume the intent is to help everything settle to the bottom.

I have a room in my house that is about 52 degrees during the winter. Should I put my primary in this room for some amount of time, after I have determined fermentation is complete (using a hydrometer)?

 

[Jaha35]

From what I understand, Coldbreak, is a process that occurs when you chill your wort after the boil and before you pitch the Yeast. Someone else can explain exactly what is going on during that.

Chilling your primary, again as I understand it, is to help the beer clear. More yeast and sediment will fall out of colder beer and settle at the bottom thus helping you clear it up in the secondary.

 

[phidelt844]

Yeah, you're thinking of a cold crash. You can definitely cold crash before going to a secondary. It may be overkill, however, since you should be moving as little trub as possible from the primary to the secondary in the first place. Cold crashing the secondary before bottling would yield a very clear beer, but I suppose you could cold crash on both transfers if you really wanted to.

 

[defenestrate]

i would leave the beer in the primary for 3 weeks, transfer to the secondary, and cold crash for a week in the cooler room before bottling. i went 2 weeks in the primary and 2 weeks in the secondary at 57 degrees, this is the clarity i was awarded when bottling-