Will cold crash affect aroma and flavor?

[luizffgarcia]

Hey guys, i read a LOT about cold crashing but i am still not sure what to expect from it

i tried cold crashing for 1 week and the beer turns crystal clear, i also tried cold crashing for only a couple days so the dryhops will settle and in this case the beer just cleared a bit.

My question is, will the cold crash change the flavor or aroma at all? I ask this because i only brew IPAs, and i could not care less about clear beer. All i need is the dryhops to settle so i can siphon with no problems.

This will help me decide if its ok to just cold crash for 1 day, or if i will be losing on some other benefits of the cold crash(aroma and flavor) by doing it for such a short time.

Thanks

 

[SVB]

I've never done a side by side comparison and I guess that is the only way to know for sure, but I haven't ever noticed a "stripped" flavor or lack of aroma from cold crashing. Your going to get the beer cold eventually so may as well take advantage of it.

 

[Vedexent]

Honest answer is: I have no idea

However - if I were to think it through, it occurs to me that flavor and aroma are due to the volatile oils in the hops, are they not?

It seems very unlikely that you can permanently separate out oil from a water based liquid. The oil doesn't permanently "fall out" of my salad dressing in my fridge, although other plant based components do pool at the bottom - kind of like cold-crashed wort, no?

As for the hops - could you not carefully skim them off the top with a sterilized slotted spoon, if you're done dry hopping? (caveat: I've never dry hopped).

I think to be rock solid sure, you'd have to experiment - but it doesn't seem a very high level risk to me.

 

[luizffgarcia]

I am actually trying to cold crash for as little time as possible because i dont care about beer clarity

My concern is not that cold crashing will diminish the hop flavor or aroma, but that cold crashing for a short period will not give me all the benefits a cold crash can provide in the flavor and aroma department, if any

 

[Gadfly]

From my understanding, cold crashing in a sealed vessel like a keg should preserve most aroma and taste. Cold crashing with a bucket or carboy where negative pressure can occure will suck oxygen back into chamber. Oxygen is the enemy, and will have impact on hop aroma and taste.

 

[shoengine]

I am actually trying to cold crash for as little time as possible because i dont care about beer clarity

My concern is not that cold crashing will diminish the hop flavor or aroma, but that cold crashing for a short period will not give me all the benefits a cold crash can provide in the flavor and aroma department, if any

Why do it then?

 

[DemonsRun]

Minimal aroma is lost if any from cold crashing, and any hop oils that would drop out because of cold crashing will drop out when you chill to serving temps. Also a slight bit is lost from finning agents (Gelatin/Bio-Fine) but some prefer the beer with the loss of the harsher hop oils http://brulosophy.com/2015/01/05/the-gelatin-effect-exbeeriment-results/

What I do not know if for NEIPA style that relies on the Biotransformation of the hop oils by dry hopping during active fermentation, as the cloudiness is desired, would a slow chill keep more Biotransformed compounds in suspension?
Maybe.
But over time they will drop out anyway.

Time seems to be the biggest impact on IPAs, So just to be safe, drink your beer quickly and make more.

 

[luizffgarcia]

Why do it then?

Because it makes a lot easier to siphon because of all the dry hops, and one or two days is enough for that purpose alone.

EDIT: I dryhop 1oz per gallon and use pallets