Cold crash then keg,

[Jeff20578]

I have 5 gallons of a wet ipa that’s creeping up to 3 weeks in the primary. What are thoughts on cold crashing for 24 hours to clear it up vs just going strait to keg. There is about 1” of sediment on the bottom of carboy.
2nd question - what psi should I set the keg to once filled?
Thx!

 

[eric19312]

Do you have a way to avoid air suckback when you cold crash? If so go ahead. Maybe you will ge a couple more pints into your keg with less yeast transferred and you will carb up faster starting with cold beer so not much time lost.

if not I’d just go direct to keg and let it finish cold conditioning on gas. You might get an extra hazy pint when you first pour but probably won’t mind that in a wet hop ipa.

the main thing is to protect those beautiful hop aromatics from oxygen from now on. Closed transfer is best, if you can’t do that at least purge the keg before and after filling and avoid any splashing either in the fermentor or the keg.

 

[Jeff20578]

It’s my first ever brew - I might just go strait to keg. I can clear the keg a couple times prior at 5psi? Then once kegged, is around 15psi good to keep it at?

Do you have a way to avoid air suckback when you cold crash? If so go ahead. Maybe you will ge a couple more pints into your keg with less yeast transferred and you will carb up faster starting with cold beer so not much time lost.

if not I’d just go direct to keg and let it finish cold conditioning on gas. You might get an extra hazy pint when you first pour but probably won’t mind that in a wet hop ipa.

the main thing is to protect those beautiful hop aromatics from oxygen from now on. Closed transfer is best, if you can’t do that at least purge the keg before and after filling and avoid any splashing either in the fermentor or the keg.

 

[eric19312]

It’s my first ever brew - I might just go strait to keg. I can clear the keg a couple times prior at 5psi? Then once kegged, is around 15psi good to keep it at?

Depends on temperature. Do you know how to read a carbonation table? I carb to 12 psi at 39F for my IPAs.

 

[bracconiere]

who was the guy with the sig that says, "ask 10 brewers how to do something, you'll get 12 answers"?

if it's your first brew, and you're already kegging. Smart move...i like my beer at 8psi, because otherwise it bloats me.....line balance for as carbed as you want it...

i used to just leave the kegs on the co2 till they sat for a while, but now i crank the psi to 50, and shake and roll until i see they absorbed they weight of co2 i'm looking for....

15psi would be like soda pop, and you'd need long lines.....5psi would be like a guiness stout, and you'd need nitro beer gas......your pick....(i've never used beer gas, so just guessing...i know it's undercarbd and needs more pressure to make it come out flat in the glass, lol)

 

[Sammy86]

It’s my first ever brew - I might just go strait to keg. I can clear the keg a couple times prior at 5psi? Then once kegged, is around 15psi good to keep it at?

It all depends on the temp of your keezer/kegerator and how long you want to wait to drink it.

Personally, I burst carb all my beers the following way:

30 PSI-24 Hours
20 PSI-48 hours
Serving pressure-72 hours...ready to drink.

 

[bracconiere]

It all depends on the temp of your keezer/kegerator and how long you want to wait to drink it.

Personally, I burst carb all my beers the following way:

30 PSI-24 Hours
20 PSI-48 hours
Serving pressure-72 hours...ready to drink.

out of curiosity, do you like them shaken at all? or just let them sit? i've been burst carbing to weight, then letting them sit in the fridge off gas, till their cold.....but it sounds like it takes me about as much time for them to get cold?

(and mandela effect, i swear i saw that yesterday! )

 

[Sammy86]

out of curiosity, do you like them shaken at all? or just let them sit? i've been burst carbing to weight, then letting them sit in the fridge off gas, till their cold.....but it sounds like it takes me about as much time for them to get cold?

(and mandela effect, i swear i saw that yesterday! )

No shaking here...i cold crash and gelatin before transferring to the keg so im not looking to jostle anything.

ive been using the same method for 4-5 years, always carbonated ready to go.

 

[Jeff20578]

I like this logic! I’m currently sitting at 11psi. I’ll bump it up to 30 and follow your method.

It all depends on the temp of your keezer/kegerator and how long you want to wait to drink it.

Personally, I burst carb all my beers the following way:

30 PSI-24 Hours
20 PSI-48 hours
Serving pressure-72 hours...ready to drink.

 

[JAReeves]

I burst 30PSI at 36F overnight, then drop to about 11 (because ours go to 11), and I get frothy beers in a day or two. I probably over carbonate, as I can't pull a full pint without overflow. But that means I am drinking about 8 oz at a time, and that means more trips to the keezer, the beer doesn't last so long it warms up, and it works for me. YMMV.

 

[bobeer]

FWIW I got kegs before I could cold crash and the hops always would clog the popit on the keg so beer wouldn't pour. I'd have to de-gas the keg, take the popit apart, clean it, then put it back together and pressurize it again. once I could cold crash this didn't happen anymore.