Do you Cold Crash? (everyone vote! especially if you don't)

[jethro55]

Nope - it's a struggle to handle it and carry it that far. Too dang old.

 

[DirtyOldDuck]

Since there was no option for "sometimes" I voted "no." I usually don't have room in the beer fridge, but I have been known to cold-crash on the back deck if the temperature is right. If I had the right equipment, I would cold-crash more often.

 

[TBaGZ]

Going to start.

 

[BigFloyd]

I still stick by my 10% number. The poll is flawed. This forum draws OCD enthusiasts, and polls draw them too.

There's a whole world of brewers out there, and they aren't cold crashing. Go check out the Mr. Beer forum if you don't believe me. This guy has 10,000 posts there and is considering cold crashing to clear his beer. If you are reading this post, you are infected.

Ah yes. My friend "The Hat" (aka Fedora Dave) is coming over to the way of wisdom. Good for him.

My guess as to why even more brewers don't - - - they aren't set up for it......yet. When someone gets rigged with a temp controller and a freezer/fridge to control their ferment temps, one day it dawns on them, "hey, I can cold crash easy with this.":rockin:

 

[BassBeer]

I've been doing it with my last 10 batches or so. It's incredibly easy as long as you have the equipment, clears the beer of all the dryhop particles, most yeast, and gives me a head start on carbing since it's already cold when it hits the keg. Love it!

Next experiment for me is to cold crash before I dry hop to see if I perceive any better flavor/aroma extraction. I've read that any yeast still in suspension will coat hop oils and take them away when they settle to the bottom. Anyone tested this? Think I'll try it with the 10gallon batch I just brewed.

 

[Yooper]

I don't think I've ever cold crashed, but I thought about doing it since I could stick a carboy/bucket in my kegerator without too much trouble. But I haven't yet.

 

[PDX_T]

I cold crash every time. I leave if there for a week, ale or lager.

I've been doing it with my last 10 batches or so. It's incredibly easy as long as you have the equipment, clears the beer of all the dryhop particles, most yeast, and gives me a head start on carbing since it's already cold when it hits the keg. Love it!

Next experiment for me is to cold crash before I dry hop to see if I perceive any better flavor/aroma extraction. I've read that any yeast still in suspension will coat hop oils and take them away when they settle to the bottom. Anyone tested this? Think I'll try it with the 10gallon batch I just brewed.

Let us know how the dry hop experiment goes. I would think that cold beer would not make a good solvent for the hops oils. It could be more subtle and spicy/woody, which could be a good thing.

 

[MoanaDrifter]

Yes if kegging/force carbing
No if bottling/bottle conditioning

 

[Zamial]

No I never have cold crashed anything. I do however filter most beers w a 5 micron filter.

 

[ron,ar]

I just started cold crashing and I think it is good for some recipes..

 

[BansheeRider]

I just use whilfloc.

 

[Thirstease]

Always. Best thing next to filtering to get clear beer.

 

[BrasseurGeorges]

Yes. Most homebrewers bottle way too much yeast. The amount of yeast in each bottle of SNPA is something to aspire to.

 

[homebrewdad]

Sorry. I'm one of those so-and-sos who doesn't bottle anything quicker than four weeks... AND I secondary for at least a week. As a result, clarity is really not an issue for me; there's just no call for me to cold crash.

 

[h4mmy86]

I usually use a swamp chiller during fermentation and then add a couple bags of ice the night before kegging.

...am I really the only one cold crashing in an ice bath here!?

 

[eric19312]

most of the time NO

My fermentation control fridge holds 2 buckets...can't cold crash the bucket I want to bottle if the other guy is just getting started.

My beer could be clearer but overall it is not too bad. Here is a pic looking through the glass backwards to gage clarity...

 

[amandabab]

I don't cold crash, just a secondary.

 

[ThickHead]

I am a cold-crasher.

Whether it's an ale or a lager I am brewing I cold crash them all for around three days prior to transferring to the keg. I use a fermentation chamber so it is easy for me to just drop the temp for a few days.

 

[Keith66]

it's a means of getting yeast and anything else is suspension (proteins, dry hops etc) to drop out of suspension quickly

it's particularly helpful for low flocculating yeast strains or getting pellet hops to sink before racking

Thank you sir! I'm a real rookie with only a Belgian blonde, a hefeveizen, and a hard cider under my belt, but thanks to a week in the secondary for the beers, everything went into the bottle clearer than expected. After a couple weeks in the bottle for the beers, and pasteurizing the cider, everything went crystal clear, and even clearer in the fridge. I'm pleasantly surprised! Given your reasons to cold crash, I haven't found the need yet. Thanks for the info!

 

[JohanMk1]

Since there was no option for "sometimes" I voted "no."

^
This.

 

[shoshin]

Nope

 

[seigex]

I'm a crasher when my kegerator is empty.

 

[Mongrel]

Yep, just turn the temp down on my fermentation freezer when the beer is ready. Much cleaner results.

 

[xtian116]

I rack into a keg with a shortened dip tube then cold crash, carb and serve.

^that!

 

[xtian116]

Next experiment for me is to cold crash before I dry hop to see if I perceive any better flavor/aroma extraction. I've read that any yeast still in suspension will coat hop oils and take them away when they settle to the bottom. Anyone tested this? Think I'll try it with the 10gallon batch I just brewed.

I have a giant tea infuser ball that is stainless that I toss in the keg. I usually chill and carb in the keg for a week, toss in the ball, and start serving a few days later. I did notice the difference when I started doing that, but now it's just routine.

 

[rico567]

I've never seen any reason to do this. I chill my wort using a 25' copper immersion chiller, which takes about 15 min. for a 5 gal. batch with our 55F well water. That seems to be enough "crashing" for me, because my beer is plenty clear by the time it's ready to drink. I bottle in 9" longnecks and bottle condition for @3-4 weeks before drinking with most styles.

 

[stjackson]

Yes. Most homebrewers bottle way too much yeast. The amount of yeast in each bottle of SNPA is something to aspire to.

This is exactly my thought. I always cold-crash with gelatin. I crash for at least 24 hours, usually closer to 48, and I still end up with a good bit more yeast in the bottle than a SNPA. You're not going to come even close to dropping all of your yeast after a couple days at cold temps. If you have anything more than a light dusting of yeast at the bottom of the bottle, you have more than you need. Even with a hefe you can cold-crash for a day or so and still have plenty of yeast left in suspension to keep it nice and cloudy.

Next time you get a commercial beer that's bottle conditioned, take a look and see how little yeast there is at the bottom. If you have the equipment and space, I see no reason not to cold-crash.

 

[KarlHungus76]

I've been doing it with my last 10 batches or so. It's incredibly easy as long as you have the equipment, clears the beer of all the dryhop particles, most yeast, and gives me a head start on carbing since it's already cold when it hits the keg. Love it!

Next experiment for me is to cold crash before I dry hop to see if I perceive any better flavor/aroma extraction. I've read that any yeast still in suspension will coat hop oils and take them away when they settle to the bottom. Anyone tested this? Think I'll try it with the 10gallon batch I just brewed.

You'll have to dry hop considerably longer than you would at room temp.

 

[Homercidal]

I do it sometimes. Usually I just keg and let it settle in the kegerator. If my kegerator is full, I sometimes turn down the ferm chamber, but only if there is nothing else in there that needs ferm temps.

 

[catdaddy66]

No, I only do the ice bath after the boil.