Cold-Crashing a Pale Ale

[Duncan83865]

I've read about people saying that cold-crashing a dry-hopped beer can cause a loss in hop aroma due to the hop particles attaching to the stuff that settles out during the cold crash. Is the same true for a beer that's not dry hopped; say a pale ale? I've got a pale ale fermenting right now and have been considering cold-crashing it, and I'm curious on others' opinions on whether or not you will notice a drop in hop flavor/aroma?

 

[Devilsnight]

I don't think so but, Ive never done a side by side comparison. I decided awhile back that since im pretty much the only one that drinks my beer and I could care less if it clear or not, that I would stop cold crashing. I haven't noticed anything as far as hop aroma or flavor in my beer. I'm no expert though!

 

[Duncan83865]

Good point--I could just eliminate the cold crash. The clarity doesn't bother me, and to be honest, I'm not sure it bothers anyone that I give my beer to. The one I'm fermenting right now seemed a little extra cloudy, so I was debating helping it out with the cold crash.

Thanks for the insight!

 

[The_Bishop]

If cold-crashing reduced/removed hop aroma, you'd have the same effect in the bottle/keg when it's stored cold.

 

[JustLooking]

..... and from what I've read, it's just the opposite. Storing bottled beer warm will speed up the process of lost hop aroma and flavor. Are there any blind studies on this?

 

[kanzimonson]

Hop oils will stick to yeast, so yes aroma will decrease as the yeast settles. This is why a lot of people dry hop in a secondary.

But what are you gonna do - drink a beer chunky with yeast just to get some extra hoppiness? Ultimately the lesson comes down to "if you know you're going to lose some hoppiness for whatever reason, add more hops to start with."

 

[Devin]

I dry hop after the cold crash. I cold crash in the primary, transfer to a CO2 filled keg, let it warm up, and then throw a bag of hops attached to a sanitized piece of dental floss. After 4-5 days, I pull the bag and start force carbing.

 

[helibrewer]

I've read about people saying that cold-crashing a dry-hopped beer can cause a loss in hop aroma due to the hop particles attaching to the stuff that settles out during the cold crash. Is the same true for a beer that's not dry hopped; say a pale ale? I've got a pale ale fermenting right now and have been considering cold-crashing it, and I'm curious on others' opinions on whether or not you will notice a drop in hop flavor/aroma?

There is not a commercial product out there that is not stabilized in some form for packaging. There should be no concern with cold stabilizing your hopped beers. Prove it to yourself by bottling a six pack, then cold stabilize the remainder before bottling. In a blind test I would doubt you could distinguish them to any statistical significance. 90% of your yeast settles out as fermentation completes so if hop aroma was scrubbed by yeast it would happen then, cold stabilization only drops the last small portion of yeast and even then there is still plenty in suspension.