Cold Crashing then bottle conditioning IPA

[zsprowls]

Hi all,

I just revamped my Black IPA (it was great last time, but a bit sweet since it has 9lbs of malt extract in it so I upped the hops pretty drastically).

When I brewed it yesterday, the hop bag kinda fell in the pot while I wasn't paying the greatest attention and a portion of the hops fell into the pot. I went ahead and dumped it into my primary since my siphon wasn't clean.

I am going to dry hop, so since there is already a decent amount sitting in the primary I feel like I will just pitch the hops right in without the bag. I am a bit worried about clarity though.

I have been considering cold crashing for a week after it is done fermenting and then bottle conditioning, but I am concerned that by the time I cold crash and then let it sit in bottles for a couple weeks the malts will mature and I will have more of a black ale than a black IPA. Does anyone have any thoughts? Should I just not worry about the cold crash? Should I bite the bullet and keg/force carb it?

 

[zsprowls]

Another note -

I wasn't really planning on racking to secondary (just moved and mine broke... i am waiting for the moving company to pay me out of principal) so I don't know what issues would be caused by leaving the beer on the yeast cake for 3 weeks (I usually leave it on for 2 weeks if I don't secondary and then bottle it).

 

[opiate82]

You will be fine, I just dump my hops straight into the kettle and dump the kettle, hops-and-all, right into the primary. I then dry-hop in the primary as well, don't transfer anything. Never had any off flavors from it (that I could taste).

Also you will be fine leaving the beer on the yeast. Most people agree that the information you read in the books about it causing off-flavors is outdated. Especially if you are only talking 3 weeks.

 

[TimelessCynic]

Yup. Everything will be fine. I used to strain before now i just dump everything in the primary. When i dry hop i also just dump them in the primary loose. Then i cold crash for a couple weeks and keg. I have also done it this way and bottled and it turned out nice.

 

[sweetcell]

like others have said, no problems about leaving the beer on the yeast for 3 weeks. the "requirement" to get the beer off the yeast after a few days is old-school. we have healthier, better yeast that won't autolyze that quickly.

I am going to dry hop, so since there is already a decent amount sitting in the primary I feel like I will just pitch the hops right in without the bag. I am a bit worried about clarity though.

FYI dry-hopping has a negative impact on clarity. highly dry-hopped beers are often not transparent.

personally, i don't expect IPAs to be clear. some are, and that's great, but i'm OK with a slightly hazy hop-bomb.

I have been considering cold crashing for a week after it is done fermenting and then bottle conditioning, but I am concerned that by the time I cold crash and then let it sit in bottles for a couple weeks the malts will mature and I will have more of a black ale than a black IPA.

what does "malts will mature" mean? are you concerned that the hops will fade and you'll be left with a malty, un-bitter beer? if so, it takes longer than bottle conditioning time for that to happen.

72 hours is plenty for a cold crash, in my experience, so if you are concerned about your timeline you could try cold-crashing for less than a week.

 

[zsprowls]

Thanks everyone! I am just going to cold crash it for a few days and see what happens.

As far as the Malts maturing - the last time I brewed this bad boy it was supper hoppy for about 1 week and then it started to fade noticeably as it aged. It was still delicious, just not as hoppy as I had wanted. I had to actually start calling it more of a black ale than an IPA haha. I have stepped the hops up this time around, but I am concerned about having the same issue with time.

 

[TimelessCynic]

What kinda hops will you dry hop
It which and in what quantities?