Is one week too long to cold crash?

[msa8967]

Made a hoppy IPA with some dry hops added at day 14. At day 20 I placed the fermenting bucket in my spare fridge. Is has now bee there for 8 days which is far longer than any IPA I cold crashed before. Is this excessive time to cold crash a pale ale?

 

[BigFloyd]

Made a hoppy IPA with some dry hops added at day 14. At day 20 I placed the fermenting bucket in my spare fridge. Is has now bee there for 8 days which is far longer than any IPA I cold crashed before. Is this excessive time to cold crash a pale ale?

Not at all. I typically cold crash all of my batches in the primary for 5-7 days at 35-36*F.

 

[msa8967]

I didn't know this would affect an IPA that was dry hopped for 1 week prior to cold crashing. I added the hops to the primary and was trying to get them to drop out.

 

[ResumeMan]

I don't think you really can cold crash a beer too long; what would happen to it?

My concern would be that you're now dry hopping for 2 weeks. I've not left dry hops in longer than that, but I understand that the flavors can turn grassy if left on the hops too long. That would be my main concern and motivation to get the beer moved.

 

[msa8967]

My initial thought was that the added dry hops would fall into the trub with the cold crash. I added the pellet hops as dry hops without using a hop bag.

 

[Cyclman]

The only issue with a hoppy beer is that over time, hops fade. But a few days isn't going to matter. If you left it cold crashed for three months, it would lessen hopiness.

 

[HemoD]

As an add on question: what temp would you use to calculate the residual CO2 in solution (for figuring out the priming sugar)? The original fermenting temp or the cold crash temp?

 

[BigFloyd]

As an add on question: what temp would you use to calculate the residual CO2 in solution (for figuring out the priming sugar)? The original fermenting temp or the cold crash temp?

Use the highest temp that the beer saw during the fermenting process whether you cold crash or not.

When priming cold beer, it's a good idea to give it a very gentle stir with a sanitized spoon to evenly distribute the sugar.

 

[HemoD]

That makes sense, thanks. I did the opposite once and the batch carbed poorly... I thought that was why but I was never sure.

 

[BigFloyd]

That makes sense, thanks. I did the opposite once and the batch carbed poorly... I thought that was why but I was never sure.

Don't feel bad. Lots of folks have learned that little lesson the hard way.