What is Cold Crashing?

[Meatball358]

Im just getting started into this brewing thing...and every time I think I have figured out a solid procedure for my first brew I come across another odd concept which Im not familiar with.. Today its cold crashing...What exactly is it? is it a necessary step in the brewing procedure? or something you want to avoid? Very confused..Please assist

Thanks in advance

 

[WorryWort]

Cold crashing is somewhat of a loose term, that is really just dropping the temperature of your beer while in the carboy to near freezing (or as cold as possible). This will settle out the yeast and make your beer clearer. If done long enough it also is basically the exact process used in lagering, and can help you to achieve a much cleaner taste profile.

It is not necessary, but there should also not be any negative consequences, so there is no reason not to do it other than the fact that it's an extra step that takes longer.

 

[Meatball358]

ok so roughly speaking the process would look something like this..?

primary--> secondary--> cold crash--> rack to "bottling bucket"--> Priming sugar/bottling

 

[Meatball358]

Also, will this have any detrimental effects to the beers carbonation in the end?? (since you are essentially removing yeast from it)

 

[WorryWort]

ok so roughly speaking the process would look something like this..?

primary--> secondary--> cold crash--> rack to "bottling bucket"--> Priming sugar/bottling

Yes that is right. In fact I don't even bother with secondary, as do many on here (though the point is debated faithfully on both sides).

Also, will this have any detrimental effects to the beers carbonation in the end?? (since you are essentially removing yeast from it)

This should not affect the beers ability to carbonate. However, if you cold crash for a long time (like 2 or 3 months) it could. There are many people on here that lager for 4-6 weeks and then bottle without adding yeast. Though if you are concerned, you can just kick up a little of the sediment and put that into the bottling bucket as you are racking*. WHen that yeast warms up it will certainly do the trick.

* though it may seem contrary to cold crash to remove yeast and improve clarity only to add the sediment back later, it is not. Once sediment as settled out, it will easily settle out later.

Overall the clarity of your beer will be much better in much less time if you cold crash.

 

[Meatball358]

Thank you very much for the response... as another HBT member recently said, you guys here make this hobby painless... Thanks for passin on the knowledge... ill be sure to pass it on again down the line... Cheers

 

[realestatecat]

^^^^
agreed!

 

[MBasile]

So whats the typical cold crashing time length? A week? If you racked to a secondary and cold crashed, would you get the effect of secondary on steroids?

 

[weirdboy]

I cold crash for 3-4 days usually but I also use finings to clarify my beer.

 

[aardvark830]

a local brew pub brewer said they cold crash to basically stop the fermenting process when the gravity gets right where they want it...

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

a local brew pub brewer said they cold crash to basically stop the fermenting process when the gravity gets right where they want it...

BAD IDEA.

They can keep it >40F and keep the yeast from waking back up.
For a homebrewer to do this would be dangerous! As soon as the beer got warm enough the yeast would go back to work and make some glass grenades.
As a homebrewer you let fermentation finish, I mean really finish to where the yeast have cleaned up after themselves. Depending on the beer it could be a week to a month.
Then you chill it to help clear it.
Sometimes I cold crash for a day, and sometimes for a couple of weeks, mostly depending on how lazy I am or if I have a keg available.

 

[bmickey]

Could you cold crash just by submersing the secondary carboy into a cooler full of ice water for a day?

 

[jpsloan]

I've got a recent experience to chip into this conversation...

I just recently acquired a chest freezer and a temp controller. I prepared my first new brew for cold conditioning, since it was a Cream Ale, and I really wanted to try to get a sparkling clear beer without the usual chill haze.

However, one thing that I managed never to read up on and educate myself... is to gradually reduce the temperature. I dropped the entire batch into a pre-chilled freezer at near 36 degrees. The result... the entire batch snapped up a permanent chill haze that still hasn't fallen out.

I kicked this around the brew club, and the informed minds there told me that I ought to gradually step down the temperature from fermenting temp to lagering temp... around two degrees per day.

Right now, I have a batch of Nut Brown in the freezer that's recently finished its fermenting, and I'm stepping it down gradually rather than cranking the sucker to full bore all at once.

 

[Rhoobarb]

BAD IDEA.

They can keep it >40F and keep the yeast from waking back up.
For a homebrewer to do this would be dangerous! As soon as the beer got warm enough the yeast would go back to work and make some glass grenades. ...

Good point. If you're kegging or serving from a brite tank, like many brewpubs do, then this would work. But for bottling, not so much.

...However, one thing that I managed never to read up on and educate myself... is to gradually reduce the temperature. ...

If you can do this, it'll really help clarify! I use gelatin, too.