Crash Cooling Poll - Hop Flavor

[hoppysailor]

I'm wondering how many HBT'ers crash cool before kegging or bottling. We have been doing this since day one and it seems to clear the beer nicely before kegging. When we dry hop, we just throw the whole hops into the fermenter after about 10 days of fermentation. After crash cooling, nearly all of the hops are at the bottom of the fermenter making it easy to siphon into the keg. That's the good part. The possible bad thing is that the hops are surrounded by alot of hop resins that might be dropping to the bottom of the fermentor during crash cooling. Because they are down in the hops and trub they don't end up in the finished product. Am I concerned about nothing or is there a better way?

 

[humann_brewing]

Yes, I crash cool, I usually crash cool even the primary before transferring to dry hop if that is being done.

 

[cheezydemon3]

Seems like the poll might have referenced whether crash cooling reduces IBU's.

That is the question, Right?

 

[azscoob]

I crash cool, then dryhop in the keg with a teaball ziptied to the pickup tube so it hangs almost to the bottom, once I am happy with the hops flavor I purge the keg, remove the beer post, lift the tube up, and slide the ziptied teaball off the bottom and reassemble the keg.

this keeps me in control of the IBU a little more

 

[Edcculus]

You don't get any IBUs from dry hopping...

 

[hoppysailor]

Seems like the poll might have referenced whether crash cooling reduces IBU's.

That is the question, Right?

I wanted to find out how many crash cool and then have a discussion on the possible negative consequences of doing it. I suspect that it may reduce hop flavor to some degree. But, as I think about it now, the resins that I think are precipitating during crashing would eventual precipitate out in the keg anyway. Probably doesn't make a difference.

 

[Hermit]

I've wondered about crash cooling and bottling where you are relying on the yeast to carbonate?

 

[cheezydemon3]

You don't get any IBUs from dry hopping...

....good point!

Does lagering reduce IBU's?

 

[GamePreserve]

I just posted a question on this in the fermentation section.
There are lots if little "bits" that are in the beer after fermentation; yeast, cold break protiens, hop, and any spice or husk trub etc. all this stuff coats the yeast, in addition to geting suspended. these particles and their suspension play with nucleation sites and stuff. So when a beer sits in a keg for a few months to a year, the head formation and head retention quality can improve into that "creamy slug of foam" that stays there until the glass empties. it is to my understanding that with time, yeast and non-yeast particles settle out, changing nucleation site properties that form that head, and may also be the reason that the chemical bonds (flavors) change over time.
I just wanted to see if anyone ever has a house brew ( you've brewed it 6+ times) and had that one or two times that you didn't cold crash (or cold crashed) and tasted A difference. the difference between the two in (percieved) bitterness, or 1st month flavor for example may be subtle, but aren't these little things what "the best beer" is all about?
opinions?

 

[moti_mo]

....good point!

Does lagering reduce IBU's?

Lagering shouldn't reduce IBU's. The alpha acids are extracted in the boil and aren't affected by processes such as dry hopping, lagering, or much of anything post-boil, really.

Although they do degrade with age, so bittering can go down some as the beer ages (but this is a fairly slow process) - so if you lager for a very long time, then maybe your IBU's will go down a hair, but this would be a minimal effect.

 

[azscoob]

You don't get any IBUs from dry hopping...

Brain has been asleep all day, you are absolutely correct, I saw cold crashing dropping out the hops, and my little brain clunked into gear and spit that out, I was thinking of dryhopping time not IBU's I get the ID10T for the day award!