Do you Cold Crash? (everyone vote! especially if you don't)

Chalk another up for CC. ...started about 3 batches ago, amazing results. !!

+1 no

I have cold crashed a few times, and I guess now that I keg my beer each one is technically cold crashed... but if I want brilliantly clear beer I'll use BioFine in addition to my usual Irish Moss.

Mostly I don't care enough to bother.

When I can do it outside on the porch, I do for a day or so before bottling.

I keep meaning to try it but Irish moss in the boil and a 21 day primary followed by 3 weeks bottle conditioning and 1 week cold conditioning makes my beer crystal clear!

Cold crashing is only necessary if you are impatient or need a beer to be ready much faster than it can naturally clear.

I'm intrigued by the SNPA test. Can anybody that cold crashes before bottling post a picture of that level of residue in a bottle they filled?

Is that a realistic target?

Jayhem said:

Cold crashing is only necessary if you are impatient or need a beer to be ready much faster than it can naturally clear.

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it has nothing to do with speeding up the maturation process - although i certainly wouldn't want to wait 7 weeks to start drinking an IPA

i get to drink more beer by getting less yeast and trub in the keg instead of wasting pours

also makes racking after dry hopping much easier

I cold crash and it seems like its been great for my clarity

I agree with those who have found success simply by letting beer sit, rather than cold crashing. 3 weeks in primary, then careful into the keg (or bottle) and let it sit...... perfectly crystal clear beer. The only times I have tried cold crashing, I saw absolutely no noticeable difference in beer clarity. When I have shortened my primary to 2 weeks and cold crashed - my beer was cloudier than 3 weeks and no cold crash.

I haven't to date but plan to try it, garage temps permitting, especially for my lower-floccing alt yeasts.

I do most of the time, unless my timing is off and I have a batch ready for bottling and one still in fermentation, since my ferm fridge holds two buckets.

For all who have said they don't because they bottle condition, cold crashing has no effect on bottle conditioning. My batches that get cold crashed don't carb any slower than the batches that don't.

Every beer, every time. I have a 15 cu. ft. temp controlled freezer, so it's just a simple part of my process. My primary reason isn't necessarily clarity, but that CO2 absorbs in cold liquid faster than warm. But my beers do clear nicely

I never put my fermenter in to cold crash. I just wait until the beer drops brite and then keg. If I'm going to transport the keg, I'll wait a week or two and then jump the beer over into an empty keg to leave behind the bit of yeast on the bottom of the keg. If I need a beer to sparkle and the yeast isn't dropping, I'll gelatin in the keg.

Nope, I don't want to pull 02 into my beer post fermentation.

I do Cold crash when I force carb my kegs. My kegs get chilled to 32F and carbed for 5-7 days. This clears the vast majority of the floaties, and leaves my beer fresh.

Need a spot for i'd love to but don't have the equipment!

Wow its pretty much dead even.

I dont, though I want to.
My ferm chamber is made out of a DEAD minifridge lol so I cant get the temp down.

If anything I shut the warmer off and let it get to garage temp for a day or two at 55 degrees. (no so cold crash)

Doomsday said:

Wow its pretty much dead even.

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Pretty close - 190 said yes but 196 did not say yes (which is pretty much a no)

I just tried cold crashing my last batch a couple weeks ago. I don't have a fridge/freezer but took advantage of the cold weather temps by leaving my secondary in my garage for 3 days. I get to see if it made a difference in a few days when my bottle conditioning stage is complete.''

I never had a concern about my beer prior, but wanted to try a cold crash since I had colder temps outside that made it possible.

If I don't get the results I expect; I won't cry over it. I was not concerned about it before and enjoyed my beer anyway. If it works to my expectations, then I will incorporate that into my routine once I get my hands on a freezer/fridge.

Well I am guessing 45 isn't really cold enough to cold crash. So looks like I won't be doing it very effectively until I get my firm chamber up and running. My little wine fridge doesn't like to go much colder then that.

I do not cold crash

I cold crash every time now, but i'm also kegging to force carb and then bottling with a beer gun.

I rack off dormant yeast and cellar. Pretty cool around this time of year

I probably would if I had an extra fridge, but my beers clear up pretty nice without one.

Cold crash for a week, then put a piece of nylon stocking over the siphon outlet hose when i keg. condition in the keg at 38dg for a month or so, and i get crystal clear beer

mmarty1 said:

I cold crash every time now, but i'm also kegging to force carb and then bottling with a beer gun.

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Do you feel you are saving any time, and able to drink the beer sooner vs priming in the bottle? Or are you doing it just to keep the sediment out of the bottles?

TBaGZ said:

Do you feel you are saving any time, and able to drink the beer sooner vs priming in the bottle? Or are you doing it just to keep the sediment out of the bottles?

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My goal was to keep as much yeast out of the bottles as possible. I keg now and I am more concerned with making brilliant pilsners.

Nobody has a pic of a bottle conditioned beer with yeast residue similar to commercial SNPA?

If this is the goal of cold crashing I'd like to see it works for someone else....

I Keg, Therefore I Crash !.
Every batch I do. It does clear my beers well. I usually crash for 1 -2 days @ about 35* I do have the room to do it.

Don't cold crash, no room. I am actually going to try the "gelatin thing" next week on my batch of Centennial Blonde...

I usually primary for about 3 weeks (depending on style), then crash at 35 for 5-7 days, then keg. Dry hop in the keg, if appropriate, at around 65, then pull dry hops and drop to 40 for force carbing.

My cascade pale ale :

I've never done this with an ale. Closest thing would have been lagering when I made a pilsner some years back.

Funny this thread came up. I tried a cold crash with my Am Amber for the first time. I put my secondary carboy in the unheated garage three days prior to bottling day. The temps were getting down to 30 degrees each night. That was good timing since I don't have freezer/keezer.

What I find, now that the two weeks are up, is that the beer is crystal clear. I think I will crash my future brews when I get a keezer up and running. Just have to convince the better half that I need a little space in the basement for it.

This poll seems flawed since you.are particularly calling out one group of voters to vote

Carrots. Wait, sorry, that's what we do on TalkBass polls.

Anyway, I haven't cold crashed up until this point. I do have two fermenters going, so I'll stick one in the fridge tonight. The other I'll keep out in the open. I'm bottling on Friday - my first three-week, single-stage ferment, and I'll know if I've succeeded by then.

Yes and No, depending on whether or not the beer A. Needs to clear (remove suspended yeast), or B. requires or benefits from lagering, such as my Altbier.

brucewayne10000 said:

This poll seems flawed since you.are particularly calling out one group of voters to vote

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The results of the "Are You An Engineer" thread showed that 40% of the members here are engineers. What do you think about that? Do you believe it? If not, how was that poll flawed?

I think there's a form of confirmation bias, where people who "do" something feel much stronger about it than those who don't do it. Thus, they are more likely to open a poll and vote. I guess by encouraging non-cold-crashers to vote, I'm trying to even the scales.

If you read my original post, I explained this right off the bat. All the polls are flawed here. I'm open for suggestions on how to do these better.

passedpawn said:

I'm open for suggestions on how to do these better.

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Make a poll with the title "what do you with your beer when fermentation is done."

Drink it!

CGVT said:

Drink it!

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I vote for that one! ^

No, I'm rarely in a hurry, so I just wait for the beer to clear. Once in a great while, I'll filter a keg.