Cold Crashing and bottling....

[KELLEHERC]

Hey All,

I bottle and never cold crashed before but beer brews fine. Last batch of bottles had a ton of gunk at bottom so I need to work on getting clearer beer and wanted to give this a shot.

I have read many threads but wanted to specifically ask about it as it relates to bottling.

When ready to bottle you recommend 'cold crashing' the
fermenator right before?
Maybe leave it outside if possible and get it below 40 degrees?
Is there any temp too cold? (obviously don't let it freeze)
Any problems getting it to carbonate in a bottle after cold crashing?

Thanks

 

[MalFet]

1) You can cold crash right before bottling.

2) Sure, 40 degrees is fine.

3) Nope. I wouldn't let it freeze, but otherwise I've not had problems going down to the mid-30s.

4) No problem with carbonation. There is some (heated) controversy about how much priming sugar you should use if you bottle while the beer is still cold, but you can avoid the controversy all together by letting the beer warm back up to room temperature before bottling.

 

[cheezydemon3]

If you are really concerned, a secondary will reduce gunk in the bottom.

also, tilt the fermenter slightly so that the yeast gather to one side. When racking, tilt it the other way.

i don't recommend cold crashing to reduce sediment.

Most of that sediment is roused from the bottom during racking and bottling, not from things already in suspension.

 

[samc]

Cold crashing is a great technique. I mostly keg, but when I have some extra I fill a growler and use some carb drops and it always carbs, although I prefer the keg version. I try to get the beer below 35F.

 

[muse435]

One quick question regarding cold crashing. When you cool down the beer the liquid will slightly contract and the air in the fermenter will condense immensely. What do you do with the air lock to prevent sanitizer from the airlock to be sucked in?

 

[Nuggethead]

The three piece air locks have a fill line. As long as you are slightly below that line, sanitizer won't suck back in but comes very close. If your at the fill line or even a small amount over filled, it will suck in to your fermenter. To be safe, I never have sanitizer in my air lock when cold crashing, I opt for vodka. If vodka gets sucked in, it won't effect your beer, especially in the small amount that's in your airlock.

 

[MalFet]

The three piece air locks have a fill line. As long as you are slightly below that line, sanitizer won't suck back in but comes very close. If your at the fill line or even a small amount over filled, it will suck in to your fermenter. To be safe, I never have sanitizer in my air lock when cold crashing, I opt for vodka. If vodka gets sucked in, it won't effect your beer, especially in the small amount that's in your airlock.

For what it's worth, starsan won't have an effect either.

There's a thread around here started by Bobby_M (I think) where a bunch of HBTers tried to figure out a way to effectively prevent suck-back. By the end of it, I think they all just decided it wasn't worth the hassle.