Cold crashing and dry hopping

[off7spring]

Hi everyone,

I made a super hoppy beer last week and I it's nearing the end of its fermentation. I was going to dry hop it for 5-7 days (recipe says 14, but I feel that's a little long). I was reading up on cold crashing, which I've done before...but never with dry hopping. I used a whirlfloc tablet in the boil, but I'd like a clearer beer.

My questions are:

1) Should I cold crash then dry hop? If so, will I lose a lot of hop flavor from the yeast dropping out of suspension?


2) Are 2 days at 38 degrees F and 5-7 days of dry hopping with 5 oz of hops ideal time periods for what I'm going for?


3) Should I even bother cold crashing, or is a fining agent the way to go? I'd like to produce the best beer I can.





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[BryceL]

Most people dry hop and then cold crash. Not only does this help to drop out the hop particles before racking, but the aroma is also extracted faster at higher temps. I'll usually dry hop my IPA's at 68 for about 5 days and then crash it in the fridge for another 2 days. I also use whirlfloc to help with clarifying

 

[off7spring]

I appreciate the advice. You've had pretty good results with that approach? I'll be bottling if that makes a difference. I'm just hesitant to cold crash last since I took that approach with my last ipa and it lost a lot of aroma/flavor initially. It came back after some bottle conditioning. I also didn't dry hop it though so that could be the missing link I guess


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[Falcon3]

I take a bit longer approach-

Cold Crash
Keg
Warm to room temp
Dry Hop 4-5 days
Chill for carbonation

If you're not kegging, there's probably several different ways you could do things- I would probably go:

Cold Crash-
Add Dry hops and turn off refrigeration
Let it raise to room temp
Then Cold Crash again
Then Gelatin for clarity

 

[Natdavis777]

Most people dry hop and then cold crash. Not only does this help to drop out the hop particles before racking, but the aroma is also extracted faster at higher temps. I'll usually dry hop my IPA's at 68 for about 5 days and then crash it in the fridge for another 2 days. I also use whirlfloc to help with clarifying

Completely agree.

I used to transfer from primary to corny keg and dry hop for 1-2 weeks. Then I would cold crash, gelatin, and finally transfer to a serving keg. This got me where I wanted to be, but it took some work.

I now dry hop in the primary after fermentation is done, then transfer to a serving keg. In that keg, I cold crash, gelatin, continue cold crashing, then force carb. I will then pull off a few pints of the sludge and its clear beer after that.

 

[dobes]

If possible I try and do everything in the primary. I usually toss the hops in let it sit for 5-7 days then cold crash til I get around to bottling or kegging it. I used to use gelatin but it seems just letting it sit a bit longer works as good.

 

[off7spring]

Thanks everyone for the tips. So I'm guessing there's no benefit to cold crashing then dry hopping? I was reading stone does that but from what you've all said, dry hop then cold crash is the way to go. I'm just worried I'll lose the hop flavor/aroma if i cold crash before bottling.


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[stevedasleeve]

I always dry hop 2-3 oz for 5 days in the primary vessel, crash cool to 36f over 2 days and keg. I've tried it zillions of ways over the last few years but this schedule seems to be the sweet spot for my beers.

I also put 1-2 oz whole cone hops in the keg (cold)

Most of my 1.060 or less IPAs peak at 10 days at serving temperature.

Steve da sleeve

 

[Falcon3]

Thanks everyone for the tips. So I'm guessing there's no benefit to cold crashing then dry hopping? I was reading stone does that but from what you've all said, dry hop then cold crash is the way to go. I'm just worried I'll lose the hop flavor/aroma if i cold crash before bottling.

There's definitely a benefit- yeast holds onto hop oils, and as the yeast drops out it brings those juicy beautiful hop smells and tastes with them. If you're not going to cold crash before you dry hop, make sure your yeast has dropped on its on pretty well. If you dry hop with say.....Chico strain- something non-flocculative- before it's had a chance to drop out on its own, you're going to lose a significant amount of the hops you're adding.

A lot of big commercial breweries dry hop as fermentation is winding down to let the yeast action remove any oxygen that might have been added and to stir the hops up with the CO2 action. However, they are trying (generally) to crank out beer as fast as they can, and doing this helps turn the product around faster, even if it takes more hops to equal the same aroma as if they dry hopped after the beer clears.

 

[off7spring]

Yea I'm still weighing if I want to cold crash or not. I'm dry hopping in a hop bag so I'm not sure about how much hop residue will get through the bag, but I'm thinking it shouldn't be horrible. I'll be bottling so it should get a little more aroma regardless. I cold crashed my last ipa without dry hopping and I was really bummed with how much less hoppy it was. But after it was all bottle conditioned it was pretty decent


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[Falcon3]

If you've got a couple extra days, even dropping the temp 10 degrees will help drop more yeast out.


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[chisena]

I just got done pulling a carboy of IPA out of the fermentation chamber after about 25 days to let it sit in the 45 degree garage overnight. Bottling tomorrow. It dry hopped for the past 11 days. Wait, what are we talking about?

 

[BryceL]

Yea I'm still weighing if I want to cold crash or not. I'm dry hopping in a hop bag so I'm not sure about how much hop residue will get through the bag, but I'm thinking it shouldn't be horrible. I'll be bottling so it should get a little more aroma regardless. I cold crashed my last ipa without dry hopping and I was really bummed with how much less hoppy it was. But after it was all bottle conditioned it was pretty decent


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I cold crash almost all of my IPA's and have no problems with great aroma. I don't think that is your issue. I'd definitely say that your biggest issue would be that you didn't dry hop that IPA....a good dry hop should help tremendously. I'd go 2oz at a minimum, I've found 3-4 to be good for me.

If your yeast dropped good and clear and you're using a hop sack, you might not even need to cold crash it. I throw my dry hops in primary naked, so my main reason for a cold crash is to get all the hop particles to settle.

You might just have to try different techniques and keep good notes to see what works best for and gives you the end results you're looking for.