Cold crashing questions

[milsman2]

Won't the cold make the yeast go dormant? Can you still bottle condition after the cold crash? Can you cold crash in the bottle? When do you cold crash? Thanks again r/homebrewing I'm learning as I go.

 

[Calichusetts]

Cold crashing will make the yeast go dormant...but they will come back as you condition at room temperature. Which answers your second question. I cold crash for two days before I transfer to the secondary than two more days after dry hopping is done.

Cold crashing is essentially lagering. I've had one bottle bomb in my entire go at home brewing and that was after nearly two months of lagering...and I did not add any extra yeast. You will be fine...go for it, its a great way to get better clarity.

 

[milsman2]

So go ahead and take the carbonating bottles and put them all in the fridge then bring them out again to condition and finish carbing?

 

[Calichusetts]

So go ahead and take the carbonating bottles and put them all in the fridge then bring them out again to condition and finish carbing?

No...cold crash in your fermentor, if possible. After a few days, bottle as usual. After three weeks of room temperature conditioning (carbing) put them in your fridge. The more time they are in the fridge, the more they will clean up. In my experience, after a month, its as clear as the beer will get.

 

[CEversole]

I tried this a while back with a blonde. I had no idea really as to what I was doing, and I should have researched it a little better. Long story short....I ended up with about have my bottles exploding. I think what I did wrong is the fermentation wasn't complete once I bottled. I should have paid closer attention to the gravity, etc. I will say though, what I did have left was some of the best beer I've made. It was crystal clear, and not to mention very tasty. It also could have been other actors that contributed to the bombs (i.e. contamination, inproper mixing of priming sugar, etc...) It was a good learning experience, and worth a try however. Good Luck!

 

[brewingbound]

So after you cold crash, do you let it warm up before you bottle or do you bottle it cold and then let it warm up?

 

[lgilmore]

OK this is assuming you're cold crashing just prior to bottling, Your FG is there. Cold crashing is not an excuse to bottle early, doesn't work that way. Anyway take your primary or secondary and chill down for a couple days. Then when you bottle, take the cold wort and fill the bucket along with your priming lquid. Bottle as you normally would. Store as you would normally store. Give the bottle an extra week to condition at room temps and you should be golden.

 

[HomebrewMTB]

Cold crashing is done AFTER fermentation is COMPLETE to help speed up the process of yeast falling out of suspension for a cleaner beer. There is plenty of yeast in the beer to carbonate. The same thing will happen after you refrigerate the bottles but the advantage to doing this before bottling is you get less gunk in the bottom of the bottles.

Note that priming sugar calculation is dependent on temperature. The colder the beer is, the more CO2 remains in the beer and therefore you need less priming sugar to carb the beer. You should always use a priming sugar calculator and measure out the proper amount. I use BeerSmith for this. Do not just use a 5 oz pack of dextrose even if that's what came with the kit, especially if bottling cold.

 

[AnOldUR]

The colder the beer is, the more CO2 remains in the beer and therefore you need less priming sugar to carb the beer.

Don't use the actual temperature of the beer at the time of bottling when doing your priming sugar calculations. Use the highest temperature that the beer sat at with an airlock after fermentation was complete. CO2 will reach equilibrium at the warmer temperature and exit through your airlock. Some of what is in the headspace may reabsorbed at cold crash temperatures, but nothing of significance especially if you've secondary'd.