Dry hopping and cold crashing in tandem

[FirstAidBrewing]

Hey all,

I don't think this would be an issue but I've never tried it. I added my dry hops to my fermenter two days ago and figued I might be able to save some time by cold crashing starting today. I know that my hops aren't done adding smell, so would cold crashing have any effect on the dry hopping?

 

[lookwow]

I always dry hop in primary so if I want to dry hop for 5 days ill do 2-3 at normal temp and then drop it for cold crash. never had any problems.

 

[Natdavis777]

One thing to note is that cooler temps reduce the rate of oil extraction from the hops. So if you feel that your end product fell short of your expectations, maybe wait a few more days before starting your cold crash.

I too, usually dry hop in the primary, then followed by a cold crash.

 

[johngaltsmotor]

As stated above, dry hopping is temperature dependent, so colder will reduce the amount of aroma you get out of your dry hops. You're best to let it sit at room temp for the dry hop, then cold crash separately. It will only add a few days, but you'll be happier with the result. Even though aroma fades with time, the net benefit will be more hop punch in the end.

 

[heckofagator]

Do you remove the hops before cold crashing? Or just leave them in?

 

[Brew_Dude41]

Cold crashing will help to make sure the hop debris falls out of suspension.

 

[MEPNew2Brew]

Currently, I have a DIPA dry hopping. I have purposefully taken the temp from 65 to 70-71 over the course of a week to see if I can get better dry hop aroma. In the past, I have always just dry hopped in the mid sixties. But, I have always thought I could get more aroma from the amount of hops I have been using.

So - short answer - I would not cold crash while trying to dry hop. I would just leave the hops in a crash once my 5-7 days of dry hopping is done.

 

[brettg20]

I would cold crash before you dry hop to get more aroma to floc the yeast

 

[MEPNew2Brew]

I would cold crash before you dry hop to get more aroma to floc the yeast

BrettG - Do you cold crash, bring back to 68 - 70 and then DH or just DH at cold crash temps? Been trying to figure this out for myself for a while now.

 

[orford]

I dry hop and cold crash at the same time. There is some evidence that you actually get better oil extraction this way as the oils are less likely to interact with yeast (either metabolized or simply association of oils with yeast membranes, not entirely clear which).


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[brettg20]

Cold crash first...then warm it back up to DH at 65-70 ish to get the most aroma. You want to cold crash to floc the yeast and warm it back up to get the most out of the DH. This can all be done in the primary.

 

[Natdavis777]

Cold crash first...then warm it back up to DH at 65-70 ish to get the most aroma. You want to cold crash to floc the yeast and warm it back up to get the most out of the DH. This can all be done in the primary.

This is what I have started doing which has yielded the best results

 

[C-Rider]

Do you remove the hops before cold crashing? Or just leave them in?

just leave them there. The cold crash will help settle them to the bottom.

 

[kombat]

In my experience, if I let the beer warm back up to room temperature after a cold-crash, without racking it to a new vessel, the beer clouds back up on me. As the beer warms up, CO2 comes out of solution, launching bubbles out of the yeast cake at the bottom, creating "yeast geysers." I always cold crash, add gelatin, then rack it to a 5 gallon carboy before warming it back up and adding dry hops.

 

[Kealia]

Recently I tried the method of cold crashing, then racking to a secondary and letting it warm back up for the dry hop before cold crashing again.

The aroma was great but I did find the process to be a pain in the butt as I normally don't secondary. It's a trade off, for sure.

But, I'll agree with others - I would separate the dry hop from the cold crash for the best results.