Cold crash question

[Iceman6409]

Will cold crashing for more than a few days make any bad results? WHat if I cold crash for two weeks as an example?

 

[davou]

no harm at all. At a certain point though, diminishing returns kick in.

 

[JoeHoffman]

Yep no harm done by long cold crash unless you will be trying to naturally carbonate

 

[Iceman6409]

For no it will be just for cold crashing. Bottle carbing will begin in about 2 weeks

 

[day_trippr]

"It Depends".

If you prevent oxygen from flowing into the fermentor as the beer chills down, you're good for as long as you wish.
This typically means crashing under the slightest positive CO2 pressure.

Otoh, if you cannot assure the above, the minimum time needed to clear the beer is the wiser choice...

Cheers!

 

[bobeer]

I don't see any real issues. The only issue I'd be thinking about if it were me is if I was bottle conditioning or not. I've cold crashed for a day or so then bottled before and it was fine but after a couple weeks I'd think most of the yeast would have dropped out. Maybe, if you plan on bottling, tap the racking cane on the bottom of the fermentor once or twice to make sure you pull enough yeast over to carb the beer.

Like I said I think you'll be fine because there's enough yeast in suspension still to carb the beer when you cold crash for a day or so but bringing a little more over can't hurt just to be safe.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Cold crashing for 2 or more weeks is just lagering so you should be fine. You don't even need additional bottling yeast. I've lagered for 2 months and bottled without added yeast. Takes a little longer to carb but it works.

 

[DevilNuts]

I had a witbier cold crash for nine months once (had to leave home for business). Turned out splendid.

 

[Torrefaction]

As other posters have said, your bottles will take longer to carb up. For a lot of styles that's no problem, but it's obviously not ideal for a hop-forward beer, especially if your flavours/aromas are derived mostly from late hopping/whirlpooling/dry hopping. In my experience all that hoppy goodness drops off rather sharply about a month after bottling, and cold crashing can push your carb date beyond that. For this reason I no longer cold crash my IPAs (which I carbonate naturally--no keg setup yet).