Cold Crashing?

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mximus11

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I am pretty sure I understand that cold crashing helps clarify beer but I am not quite sure of the process. Can someone fill me in?
 
As far as I know cold crashing causes the proteins that are suspended in the beer to clump together and fall out of suspension.
 
So do I just put the carbot in the fridge after fermentation for like 2 days to let protiens etlle then rack to bottle?
 
I usually lower my fermentation freezer to around 33-35 for a couple of days before racking to my keg. Beer comes out very clear.
 
Getting ready to brew my first batch its gonna be a milk stout. I plan on doing primary and a secondary. I also am gonna be bottling. I know and understand the concept of cold crashing, but it doesnt seem like a lot of people do it. So my question is should I or should I not Cold Crash??

Cheers
 
I probably wouldn't for a stout. It's too dark to really matter, plus probably no dry hop to worry about trying to get out of suspension.

Just my $0.02
 
ok so just go from my secondary to my bottling bucket then bottle. Thanks for the advice
 
It's called "lagering". Yep, toss that carboy into the fridge as close to 0C as you can. Let it sit undisturbed for a week or so. You can't let it sit too long.

You can learn more about it by listening to this podcast with Jamil Z and John Palmer. Lagering
 
It's called "lagering". Yep, toss that carboy into the fridge as close to 0C as you can. Let it sit undisturbed for a week or so. You can't let it sit too long.

And the priming sugar will work the same even when chilled? I too am brewing my first batch. Brown ale from a kit. Fermentation has stopped, i have had it in a secondary for about a week now and it is still cloudy.
 
lagering is for, well, lagers. cold crashing usually only takes two days or so just to clarify the beer. lagering is usually longer, and is meant to be a cold conditioning (getting rid of off flavors and what nots). kind of the same thing, but your doing it for different reasons, and usually for different lengths of time.
 
And the priming sugar will work the same even when chilled? I too am brewing my first batch. Brown ale from a kit. Fermentation has stopped, i have had it in a secondary for about a week now and it is still cloudy.

how was it in primary? beers usually clear up pretty well by themselves.

cold crashing will still leave you with enough yeast to carbonate your beer. but once you bottle it you should let it sit at roomtemperature to carbonate.
 
I should have mentioned that I keg, so I force carbonate, so I don't need to worry about keep keeping yeast around for carbonation...
 
ok so just go from my secondary to my bottling bucket then bottle. Thanks for the advice

I wouldn't rack to another vessel at all... Leave it on the yeast until it's ready for bottling and go from there. Use taste as the real gauge to determine when it's ready for bottles (once you've established that it's at a FG).

Yeast doesn't work on a human time frame. They'll be done doing all they can for a brew when they're done. Racking to another vessel has been proven to be unnecessary for the majority of brews. Basically, if you used an ale yeast (like in a stout) racking before bottling is not required.

IF you're looking to move it from one flavor element to another, and need to get it off of the previous before putting it on the next, then it is valid. But just to get the brew to clear up, no...

Many of us are going 3-6+ weeks on the yeast and getting great brews as a result.
 
lagering is for, well, lagers. cold crashing usually only takes two days or so just to clarify the beer. lagering is usually longer, and is meant to be a cold conditioning (getting rid of off flavors and what nots). kind of the same thing, but your doing it for different reasons, and usually for different lengths of time.

You can lager any beer.

"From the German word for storage. Refers to maturation for several weeks or months at cold temperatures (close to 0°C /32°F) to settle residual yeast, impart carbonation and make for clean round flavors."
 
yeah. its just not needed for ales. i was just saying that cold crashing was not really meant to be an aging period, just to clear the beer for a couple days
 
crashing just below freezing is actually ideal. 30-32 degrees. your beer wont freeze and it is profoundly more effective than 34 degrees. there is a great episode of brew strong that discusses clarity
 
I wouldn't rack to another vessel at all... Leave it on the yeast until it's ready for bottling and go from there. Use taste as the real gauge to determine when it's ready for bottles (once you've established that it's at a FG).

Yeast doesn't work on a human time frame. They'll be done doing all they can for a brew when they're done. Racking to another vessel has been proven to be unnecessary for the majority of brews. Basically, if you used an ale yeast (like in a stout) racking before bottling is not required.

IF you're looking to move it from one flavor element to another, and need to get it off of the previous before putting it on the next, then it is valid. But just to get the brew to clear up, no...

Many of us are going 3-6+ weeks on the yeast and getting great brews as a result.


So your saying just go from my primary let the yeast do their job and when they are done no need for secondary or cold crashing go straight to bottling and condition then drink??
 
So your saying just go from my primary let the yeast do their job and when they are done no need for secondary or cold crashing go straight to bottling and condition then drink??

That's what I've been doing with all my ales... I don't have a way to cold crash anything, even if I wanted to. I've been going 4-6 weeks on the yeast and been getting VERY clear brew as a result. I do move the fermenter/primary to where I rack from at least a few hours (in the morning, if not evening before) I transfer to the bottling bucket. That way, IF anything gets disturbed, it has plenty of time to settle again before I rack...

I have a bottled from a 6 week primary in the fridge right now... Put it in about two days ago. I plan on leaving it alone until at least tomorrow before trying it. I prefer to have my bottles in the fridge for at least 3-4 days before I try one (checking for carbonation and such)... Luckily, I have two days worth of brew still in the fridge (actually a little longer with my higher ABV [8.25-8.5%] old ale bottles). I just need to get a temporary stopper before I open one of those. Since I used the 750ml Belgian bottles, I need a way to seal them back up between pours. Especially since it's only me drinking here. :D Plus, the largest brew glass I have holds a pint (maybe a hair more, but the 500ml bottles fill them nicely)...
 
That's what I've been doing with all my ales... I don't have a way to cold crash anything, even if I wanted to. I've been going 4-6 weeks on the yeast and been getting VERY clear brew as a result. I do move the fermenter/primary to where I rack from at least a few hours (in the morning, if not evening before) I transfer to the bottling bucket. That way, IF anything gets disturbed, it has plenty of time to settle again before I rack...

So what should i do all i have is a bottling bucket and a 5 gal carboy. i was planning on using the bottling bucket as a primary then going to the cb and then back to the bucket to bottle. should i use the carboy as a primary? if so it seems hard to get the yeast into the cb.
 
That's what I've been doing with all my ales... I don't have a way to cold crash anything, even if I wanted to. I've been going 4-6 weeks on the yeast and been getting VERY clear brew as a result. I do move the fermenter/primary to where I rack from at least a few hours (in the morning, if not evening before) I transfer to the bottling bucket. That way, IF anything gets disturbed, it has plenty of time to settle again before I rack...

So what should i do all i have is a bottling bucket and a 5 gal carboy. i was planning on using the bottling bucket as a primary then going to the cb and then back to the bucket to bottle. should i use the carboy as a primary? if so it seems hard to get the yeast into the cb.

Not difficult at all to get yeast into a carboy (glass or PET)... I've done it plenty of times... Just use a decent sized funnel and you're set... If you use liquid yeast, you might not even need to use a funnel, if you pour carefully. For dry yeast, rehydrate in a measuring cup, and then just pour it in that way.

For using the carboy as a fermenter, there are plenty of options there too... Use a blow-off tube setup for the first few days/week then shift to an airlock. Use fermcap in the chilled wort, and just install an airlock. Just make sure you keep it closer to 5 gallon in there, not 5-1/4 (or more)...

I'm also using 1/6 Sanke and a 5 gallon corny keg for primaries... No issues using either so far. I'm actually getting ready to bottle my first brew fermented in a corny... I hope to get that done tomorrow. Probably will, since it's going to be snowing and I won't be going anyplace.
 
do i have to rehydrate the dry yeast? can i just pour the dry yeast in? I dont understand the part about a fermcap for the chilled wort part
 
do i have to rehydrate the dry yeast? can i just pour the dry yeast in? I dont understand the part about a fermcap for the chilled wort part
 
Some say you don't have to rehydrate, some say you do. Safale US-S04 and S05 says right on their packet to just sprinkle it on top of your wort.

Fermcap added to your wort once it is chilled will keep the krausen under control.
 
do i have to rehydrate the dry yeast? can i just pour the dry yeast in? I dont understand the part about a fermcap for the chilled wort part

It's never a bad idea to rehydrate dried yeast before pitching it in. Less shock to the yeast that way.

Fermcap helps control the foam/krausen formed in the wort as it either boils or ferments. Helps you to use smaller vessels to ferment, as well as smaller pots for the boil. Where most would use a 6-6.5 gallon primary for 5 gallons of wort, with fermcap you can use a 5 gallon carboy for a 5 gallon batch (there's enough room left in it)... I used fermcap so that I could ferment 5 gallons of brew in a 5 gallon corny keg... Never needed anything other than an airlock fitted to the keg. :rockin:

Fermcap is also cheap, at <$2/bottle. It should stay good for at least a year (or about a year) and I think you'll run out of solution before it's not effective (unless you don't brew all that often)...

With a little bit of research, you can find a way to do just about anything in home brewing... This is just one example...
 
I have a Rochefort 8 that has been cold crashing for at least 3 weeks. I have not had the time to bottle it but I will be doing it tomorrow
 
I've always just dumped my dry yeast right in and stirred. Never had anything go wrong.

Didn't say you HAD to, just it's never a bad idea to rehydrate... :D

Then again, the only times I've used dry yeast is either in mead, or when trying to get more out of a high ABV brew. Or to make sure there was some yeast in suspension after a longer aging period. Next time, I'll not bother when it's just for bottling, since I don't think it made any difference at all.
 
As you get deeper into the nuances of good fermentation, you will see the importance of proper yeast health and yeast counts by rehydrating and using starters. Dumping dry yeast directly on wort kills about 50% of the cells. At first, you will enjoy your beer just fine. Don't sweat it if your not ready to learn why. Just relax and enjoy the hobby and focus on one "improvement" at a time.
You won't regret learning to eventually always rehydrate your yeast.

As for cold crashing. It speeds up the process of clearing the beer for appearance sake. Time will yield better results too because there are other factors changing/honing the flavors in your beer during this time.
 
ok good. im waiting on my kit to come in the mail and im super pumped! i cant even sleep at night without thinking about brewing
 
I don't have room in the fridge for a 5 gallon bucket. I have it in an igloo cooler filled with water for temp control. Would it work to drain the water and pack ice in around the bucket? As it melts I could add some frozen ice packs to try to keep an ice water solution for a couple of days. Anyone done this?
 
So I finally started my first batch of a milk stout. So Iordered a regular stout from AHS and i added 1lb of lactose, to make it a milk stout. I took your advise and rehydrated the yeast. The process was flawless got my hot and cold breaks and I got fermentation starting as soon as like 7 hrs! I also added a 1% alcohol boost that came with the kit, and the gravities match up with what the recipe called for. The only Question I have is the stout i used only had one 1oz bag of hops. Some other milk stout recipes I looked at had two types of hops, used for bittering and flavoring or aroma. So how come mine only had bittering hops? Is that just the recipe?
 
I think alot of stouts do not have flavor/aroma hop additions. I would follow the recipe for this batch. If you find you think you'd like it with a bit more hop presense, add it to the next batch, or dryhop!
 
ok good. I just had another milk stout recipe and I was comparing the two. I thought maybe mine wouldnt be as good because the other one had a lot more hops. But if thats normal for a stout then im fine with it. Its fermenting great and all is looking good! cant wait.
 
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