When to cold crash
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Yes to all the above.
A typical pattern for me is to get to the end of fermentation, then I up the temp for a couple days (to 71, usually) to let the yeast clean up after itself. Then back down to ferm temp (typically around 64) for maybe a week. Then crash.
I've also let it go three weeks before crashing. I think there's some value to letting the beer rest on the yeast after fermentation, for at least a week anyway.
That said....I did a Kolsch recently that was kegged and served on the 11th day after pitching the yeast. Wonderful beer. I brewed it on a Saturday. Ferm temp 60. On Wednesday I began to ramp it up to 69 degrees. Held it there until Friday, down to 65. Saturday, down to 60. Sunday at 4pm, started to crash it.
So in that instance, 8 days before the crash. Tuesday, kegged. That's 10 days.
YMMV.
A typical pattern for me is to get to the end of fermentation, then I up the temp for a couple days (to 71, usually) to let the yeast clean up after itself. Then back down to ferm temp (typically around 64) for maybe a week. Then crash.
I've also let it go three weeks before crashing. I think there's some value to letting the beer rest on the yeast after fermentation, for at least a week anyway.
That said....I did a Kolsch recently that was kegged and served on the 11th day after pitching the yeast. Wonderful beer. I brewed it on a Saturday. Ferm temp 60. On Wednesday I began to ramp it up to 69 degrees. Held it there until Friday, down to 65. Saturday, down to 60. Sunday at 4pm, started to crash it.
So in that instance, 8 days before the crash. Tuesday, kegged. That's 10 days.
YMMV.
Theres a lot of variables in brewing. I've always heard of yeast needing to have time to clean up. Clean up what exactly? Well the "what" can be controlled by playing with the variables.
1- Did you use good healthy active yeast
2- Did you use enough good healthy active yeast
3- Did you have really good temperature control for the entire duration of fermentation
4- Did you oxygenate well if needed
5- Are you making a fairly simple beer that isnt chock full of adjuncts that really need some aging
If you can check yes to ALL of those, then you can pretty much go directly into cold crashing and packaging as soon as fermentation is over.
1- Did you use good healthy active yeast
2- Did you use enough good healthy active yeast
3- Did you have really good temperature control for the entire duration of fermentation
4- Did you oxygenate well if needed
5- Are you making a fairly simple beer that isnt chock full of adjuncts that really need some aging
If you can check yes to ALL of those, then you can pretty much go directly into cold crashing and packaging as soon as fermentation is over.
For me it depends.
I allow a couple of days after fermentation has finished, sometimes I raise the temperature for a day or two, sometimes not. I then look at the beer. If it looks like most of the large particles had dropped I then cold crash for a couple of days at about 35 degrees F.
For a dark, heavy beer I will allow it to sit longer maybe 4 weeks. I often don't bother to cold crash these.
I also have a habit of saying, I will do that tomorrow, that ends up being a week or so later.
So, for me there is no timetable.
I allow a couple of days after fermentation has finished, sometimes I raise the temperature for a day or two, sometimes not. I then look at the beer. If it looks like most of the large particles had dropped I then cold crash for a couple of days at about 35 degrees F.
For a dark, heavy beer I will allow it to sit longer maybe 4 weeks. I often don't bother to cold crash these.
I also have a habit of saying, I will do that tomorrow, that ends up being a week or so later.
So, for me there is no timetable.
homebrewcrew
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I generally never touch it any sooner than about a month. I let it sit on the yeast then cold crash for 2 days or so then keg it, carb and drink at around the 1month- 5 week mark.
I let the yeast decide.
When the yeast starts to drop I replace the blowoff tube with an airlock, bump the temp up to the low 70s, wait a couple of days and take a gravity sample. After that, it just depends on how long it takes to reach FG plus a couple of days. So, I might cold crash on Day 7 or Day 17, or whenever. I don’t think there’s a magic number.
When the yeast starts to drop I replace the blowoff tube with an airlock, bump the temp up to the low 70s, wait a couple of days and take a gravity sample. After that, it just depends on how long it takes to reach FG plus a couple of days. So, I might cold crash on Day 7 or Day 17, or whenever. I don’t think there’s a magic number.
And there's no harm if the beer sits on the yeast for a few more days or another week or so. Might even be beneficial. Mostly I'm trying to time things so that I can either time racking to a keg or getting the fermenter cleaned up for another batch.
When I started, not taking into account any cold crashing, there were 2 camps. The less vocal was you don't need to go any longer that 2 weeks in primary. The other, more vocal camp, said you must leave your beer in primary for at least 4 weeks. I split the difference and went with 3 weeks, which, with my previously mentioned procrastination, often went 4 weeks or longer. I then ran my pipeline dry so I did two successive batches that I packaged on day 14. They were every bit as good,(maybe even better), as the ones that went 4 weeks.
I now aim to package on day 14, but that often gets longer.
I now aim to package on day 14, but that often gets longer.
CodeSection
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So, my brew has stopped fermenting and has been in the fermenter for 15 days. I was going to start cold crashing tonight for two days. Then I was going to bottle this weekend and brew another recipe. However, I'm pausing after reading your post.
I had not read about the more vocal group saying you must leave the beer in the primary for four weeks. What was their reasoning? Did they leave the yeast in there for that time or did they at least dumped the yeast?
Nothing at all wrong with your plan. If it's done fermenting it's done. You can age it in the bottle or keg just the same as the fermenter.
The more vocal group, wrongly, thought that it took that long to make the beer turn out good.
It is true that darker, higher ABV beers benefit from aging. But that can be done after bottling.
The same thing is true of doing a secondary. In the past it was thought that you needed to do a secondary to get a good and clear beer. Present opinion is that doing a secondary is more likely to harm than help your beer. The risk of oxidation or infection far outweigh any benefit.
Go ahead with you plan of cold crashing it now.
I bottle, so for me it usually depends on availability of empties.
But say I have a case of empties ready and waiting. In that case, I wait for at least 1 week after I'm sure fermentation is finished, so 2-3 weeks total. Then cold crash, hit her with gelatin, and bottle the next free afternoon I have.
But say I have a case of empties ready and waiting. In that case, I wait for at least 1 week after I'm sure fermentation is finished, so 2-3 weeks total. Then cold crash, hit her with gelatin, and bottle the next free afternoon I have.
CodeSection
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As you might of correctly assumed, this is my first time cold crashing. I started crashing about 26 hours ago and I have noticed some thermal stratification taking place. My temperature probe shows 36F while my Tilt shows 43F. Both the probe and Tilt have always agreed within 1F so that is not the issue.
I realize the Tilt is reading the beer temperature at the top. I set up Spike's cooling coil for -40F following their recommendation regarding temperature inversion located here:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0152/1071/files/TC-100_Product_Guide_Spike_Brewing.pdf?348
The inversion hasn't taken place. So, at this point what reading should I be focused on...the temperature probe's or Tilt's? Should I lower the temperature anymore?
I realize the Tilt is reading the beer temperature at the top. I set up Spike's cooling coil for -40F following their recommendation regarding temperature inversion located here:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0152/1071/files/TC-100_Product_Guide_Spike_Brewing.pdf?348
The inversion hasn't taken place. So, at this point what reading should I be focused on...the temperature probe's or Tilt's? Should I lower the temperature anymore?
CodeSection
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Ok, I've kept the temperature probe reading holding at 36F. The Tilt's temperature reading now flocculates between 42F and 43F. Here I thought it may be the inversion factor....
Just forget about that for home brew. Not sure I believe it's true from the start, but assuming it is, the height of your fermenter is a few feet at most, giving a stratification layer of a few degrees at most? Just get it as cold as you can. That's good enough.
