Cold Crashing / conditioning / lagering vs. temperature and time

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vikes88

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Could anyone answer with how temperature and duration and carbonation affect an ale while cold conditioning?

For example I read that after only 120 hours of primary fermentation, Duvel cold conditions their Golden Strong for 3 weeks at 27 degrees F.

Why so cold?
Why so long?
After 4 days could they have reached the desired attenuation (i.e. fermentation continues at 27 F)?
How would 40 F and 50F and 60F affect the chemistry and taste?
Three weeks vs nine or one?
If I put ale in a keg and force carbonate it and then let it sit in the fridge for similar lengths of time how would that change the cold conditioning process?
Would tapping the keg change anything?

Facts and experience and opinions are all welcome. Obviously my true goal is to make something that tastes great.
 
Fermentation in 120' hours is easily done. Home brewers can do it in less than a week using fast fermentation techniques (under pressure at higher temps) with no ill effects. Craft breweries have been doing it for a long time.
 
120 hours? Really? I cannot get mine to finish in less than 43,000 seconds.
 
I'm not sure which one of all those questions is the main question. Is it why does Duvel do what they do and how would it be different if they did something different?

I guess I don't see anything very peculiar about the method you describe. 120 hours is roughly 5 days according to my rudimentary math skills, and I'm sure fermentation is mostly finished in that time, especially as Belgians are often fermented hot. Then the yeast clean up the residual off -flavors during the 3 weeks' conditioning phase. That all seems reasonable. I'm sure some zymurgical engineer is gonna hop on here in a minute and point out something I'm overlooking.

I'd say, if it's something you want to screw around with in your quest for better beer, then give it a shot. Otherwise you could take my low-maintenance approach: three weeks in the primary, package, drink. The differences are probably negligible.
 
It is a hobby and fun to experiment. From the graphs I have made myself and seen, (check out pico's kegsmart) fermentation of an ale is wrapped up pretty consistently in 120-150 hrs with regular fermentation with an airlock. Again you can speed this up if you want with ff. Not sure what additional benefits there are for an additional 2 weeks other than an awesome increase in anticipation, which of course increases the flavor profile considerably. ��
 
I'm not sure which one of all those questions is the main question. Is it why does Duvel do what they do and how would it be different if they did something different?

I guess the main question is what happens at different temperatures when cold conditioning an ale? My garage is currently 40F. What will be the difference between cold conditioning at 27F? I have a closet that is a nice steady 55F. I might try to rig up a freezer set up but what will that do for me?
 
I guess the main question is what happens at different temperatures when cold conditioning an ale? My garage is currently 40F. What will be the difference between cold conditioning at 27F? I have a closet that is a nice steady 55F. I might try to rig up a freezer set up but what will that do for me?

The only real difference that I can think of is the rate at which conditioning occurs. Cold conditioning is used to clarify beer mostly, so dropping the temp down to 27 will cause most particulate matter to drop out of suspension rapidly. Conditioning at 40 will cause the same thing to happen, but more slowly. Lagers can be conditioned anywhere from 27-40 degrees for days weeks or months, but the end result is usually the same: Flavors blend, beer clears.
 
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