Cold Crashing

[jmrut99]

I'm new to brewing. I posted a question the other day about fermentation. Thanks for all your responses. Somebody made the recommendation to cold crash my batch. Does cold crashing improve the flavor or does it just improve clarity by forcing all the particles to settle to the bottom?

 

[501irishred]

I'm new to brewing. I posted a question the other day about fermentation. Thanks for all your responses. Somebody made the recommendation to cold crash my batch. Does cold crashing improve the flavor or does it just improve clarity by forcing all the particles to settle to the bottom?

Primarily it's used for clarifying, but can also improve taste/mouth feel in more extreme cases.

 

[jmrut99]

What temp should you cold crash? Can I do it in a swamp cooler?

 

[Mozart]

What temp should you cold crash? Can I do it in a swamp cooler?

Cold crashing is most commonly done at temperatures just above freezing, so I don't think swamp cooler temperatures will accomplish a whole lot. Most people who cold crash have a dedicated fermentation chiller.

You can accomplish the same thing by putting bottles in the refrigerator and leaving them alone for a couple of weeks. The chill haze will eventually settle to the bottom. That said, I could personally never leave them alone that long as they'd be calling my name long before.

 

[JimRausch]

jmrutt99:
During the warm months I do cold crash in a swamp cooler. I start off with fresh cold water from the tap(cellar tap gets down to mid-50's), then add as many frozen soda bottles as I can fit. I've measured the temp as low as 45, which I believe is low enough. 12-24 hours later, I add gelatin to settle the haze quicker. Of course if I had a chest freezer I could convert to a ferminator I would, but for now, this works for me.

 

[501irishred]

What temp should you cold crash? Can I do it in a swamp cooler?

Cold crashing is most commonly done at temperatures just above freezing, so I don't think swamp cooler temperatures will accomplish a whole lot. Most people who cold crash have a dedicated fermentation chiller.

You can accomplish the same thing by putting bottles in the refrigerator and leaving them alone for a couple of weeks. The chill haze will eventually settle to the bottom. That said, I could personally never leave them alone that long as they'd be calling my name long before.

+1 - Not that you "couldn't" get it down cold enough to do some good with a swamp cooler, but it would undoubtedly be a pain in the arse. Until I got a dedicated temp chamber, I would bargain with SWMBO (or plan my bottling for when she was supposed to be gone for the weekend) and simply cold crash in the fridge overnight. A typical refrigerator will be somewhere between 34-40 deg, which is more than adequate in most cases.

 

[501irishred]

jmrutt99:
During the warm months I do cold crash in a swamp cooler. I start off with fresh cold water from the tap(cellar tap gets down to mid-50's), then add as many frozen soda bottles as I can fit. I've measured the temp as low as 45, which I believe is low enough. 12-24 hours later, I add gelatin to settle the haze quicker. Of course if I had a chest freezer I could convert to a ferminator I would, but for now, this works for me.

Do you need to change them out to maintain that temp?