Too Anxious!

[NJtuna]

I brewed a Kolsch and Irish Red 3 weeks ago (2 wks. in prim., 1 wk. in 2nd). I cold crashed for 3 days then kegged today. I force carbed them to drink this weekend. Too anxious to wait a couple more weeks to room temp. condition. How many weeks in the fridge would it take to equal two weeks room conditioned?

 

[Gremlyn]

It's not really equivalent. Aging at room temp allows the yeast to remain active and clean up after the fermentation party. When you put it in the kegerator, you put the yeast to sleep. If they're done cleaning up, then it's fine to chill it down, but I can't give an accurate time equivalent for cold aging vs room temp. I can imagine it could double the time, or more.

 

[NJtuna]

Thx, that makes sense. So if this beer tastes too "green" this weekend, is it ok to pull them out of the fridge to condition for 1-2 weeks? Will this skunk them?

 

[Hang Glider]

Skunking is a function of light (UV) combining with the hops, the malt and the yeast. If light is not present, no skunking will occur. You can probably bring it back up to room temp for a month (2 weeks is kinda short in my book - most of my beers are 6 weeks minimum before drinking). However, that said, repeated warming and cooling probably isn't best.

 

[OrCoastBrew]

It's worth the wait dude. Just get another batch going so that you will have something to drink while waiting for the next batch to condition. IMO

 

[fezzman]

But after he cold crashed, will there be enough yeast present to be worth warming back up? Especially if he's drawn a pint or two after kegging?

I'd say to just leave it and brew another.

I've rushed beer into the keg before too It does seem to get better the closer to empty the keg gets. That last few pints were perfect...lol.

 

[Gremlyn]

But after he cold crashed, will there be enough yeast present to be worth warming back up? Especially if he's drawn a pint or two after kegging?

I'd say to just leave it and brew another.

I've rushed beer into the keg before too It does seem to get better the closer to empty the keg gets. That last few pints were perfect...lol.

Yeah, there will be yeast left. Cold doesn't make yeast go away, just go to sleep. If he has pulled a pint or two and got a lot of sediment out, he has reduced the amount of yeast, but there will still be some in there and they will do the trick. It doesn't take a lot of yeast to clean up effectively.

 

[fezzman]

Yeah, there will be yeast left. Cold doesn't make yeast go away, just go to sleep. If he has pulled a pint or two and got a lot of sediment out, he has reduced the amount of yeast, but there will still be some in there and they will do the trick. It doesn't take a lot of yeast to clean up effectively.

I took the cold crash as meaning that he crashed his secondary before racking to the keg, leaving most yeast behind. Then if a pint or two was pulled from the keg (second crash), you think that there would still be enough yeast remaining?

I'm just curious because I've been in that boat before. I'll often wait until the last minute to brew and keg for specific parties. I've thought about warming up the remaining beer to sit afterwards so it can polish itself up a bit more.

 

[NJtuna]

yes I did cold crash the secondary, then kegged and they're in the fridge now. I'm thinking of pulling them because they taste very green after checking to see how they force carbed. update...just tried them after sitting overnight, I pulled them to condition for a few weeks. I hope there's enough yeast to better them.

 

[Tepe]

I brewed a Kolsch and Irish Red 3 weeks ago (2 wks. in prim., 1 wk. in 2nd). I cold crashed for 3 days then kegged today. I force carbed them to drink this weekend. Too anxious to wait a couple more weeks to room temp. condition. How many weeks in the fridge would it take to equal two weeks room conditioned?

I tried to PM you and your box is FULL