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

I just use whilfloc.

Always. Best thing next to filtering to get clear beer.

Yes. Most homebrewers bottle way too much yeast. The amount of yeast in each bottle of SNPA is something to aspire to.

Sorry. I'm one of those so-and-sos who doesn't bottle anything quicker than four weeks... AND I secondary for at least a week. As a result, clarity is really not an issue for me; there's just no call for me to cold crash.

I usually use a swamp chiller during fermentation and then add a couple bags of ice the night before kegging.

...am I really the only one cold crashing in an ice bath here!?

most of the time NO

My fermentation control fridge holds 2 buckets...can't cold crash the bucket I want to bottle if the other guy is just getting started.

My beer could be clearer but overall it is not too bad. Here is a pic looking through the glass backwards to gage clarity...

I don't cold crash, just a secondary.

I am a cold-crasher.

Whether it's an ale or a lager I am brewing I cold crash them all for around three days prior to transferring to the keg. I use a fermentation chamber so it is easy for me to just drop the temp for a few days.

terrapinj said:

it's a means of getting yeast and anything else is suspension (proteins, dry hops etc) to drop out of suspension quickly

it's particularly helpful for low flocculating yeast strains or getting pellet hops to sink before racking

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Thank you sir! I'm a real rookie with only a Belgian blonde, a hefeveizen, and a hard cider under my belt, but thanks to a week in the secondary for the beers, everything went into the bottle clearer than expected. After a couple weeks in the bottle for the beers, and pasteurizing the cider, everything went crystal clear, and even clearer in the fridge. I'm pleasantly surprised! Given your reasons to cold crash, I haven't found the need yet. Thanks for the info!

DirtyOldDuck said:

Since there was no option for "sometimes" I voted "no."

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^
This.

Nope

I'm a crasher when my kegerator is empty.

Yep, just turn the temp down on my fermentation freezer when the beer is ready. Much cleaner results.

shelly_belly said:

I rack into a keg with a shortened dip tube then cold crash, carb and serve.

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^that!

BassBeer said:

Next experiment for me is to cold crash before I dry hop to see if I perceive any better flavor/aroma extraction. I've read that any yeast still in suspension will coat hop oils and take them away when they settle to the bottom. Anyone tested this? Think I'll try it with the 10gallon batch I just brewed.

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I have a giant tea infuser ball that is stainless that I toss in the keg. I usually chill and carb in the keg for a week, toss in the ball, and start serving a few days later. I did notice the difference when I started doing that, but now it's just routine.

I've never seen any reason to do this. I chill my wort using a 25' copper immersion chiller, which takes about 15 min. for a 5 gal. batch with our 55F well water. That seems to be enough "crashing" for me, because my beer is plenty clear by the time it's ready to drink. I bottle in 9" longnecks and bottle condition for @3-4 weeks before drinking with most styles.

georgebe4 said:

Yes. Most homebrewers bottle way too much yeast. The amount of yeast in each bottle of SNPA is something to aspire to.

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This is exactly my thought. I always cold-crash with gelatin. I crash for at least 24 hours, usually closer to 48, and I still end up with a good bit more yeast in the bottle than a SNPA. You're not going to come even close to dropping all of your yeast after a couple days at cold temps. If you have anything more than a light dusting of yeast at the bottom of the bottle, you have more than you need. Even with a hefe you can cold-crash for a day or so and still have plenty of yeast left in suspension to keep it nice and cloudy.

Next time you get a commercial beer that's bottle conditioned, take a look and see how little yeast there is at the bottom. If you have the equipment and space, I see no reason not to cold-crash.

BassBeer said:

I've been doing it with my last 10 batches or so. It's incredibly easy as long as you have the equipment, clears the beer of all the dryhop particles, most yeast, and gives me a head start on carbing since it's already cold when it hits the keg. Love it!

Next experiment for me is to cold crash before I dry hop to see if I perceive any better flavor/aroma extraction. I've read that any yeast still in suspension will coat hop oils and take them away when they settle to the bottom. Anyone tested this? Think I'll try it with the 10gallon batch I just brewed.

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You'll have to dry hop considerably longer than you would at room temp.

I do it sometimes. Usually I just keg and let it settle in the kegerator. If my kegerator is full, I sometimes turn down the ferm chamber, but only if there is nothing else in there that needs ferm temps.

No, I only do the ice bath after the boil.

I would if I had a large enough fridge, especially for stubborn yeasts like a kolsch yeast. I don't use kolsch yeast anymore, despite the fact that I love the flavors it produces, because I can never seem to get the yeast to floc out.

rico567 said:

I've never seen any reason to do this. I chill my wort using a 25' copper immersion chiller, which takes about 15 min. for a 5 gal. batch with our 55F well water. That seems to be enough "crashing" for me, because my beer is plenty clear by the time it's ready to drink. I bottle in 9" longnecks and bottle condition for @3-4 weeks before drinking with most styles.

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cold crashing is done post fermentation just before bottling or kegging

My setup uses a water bath and an electric coolbox circulating cold water to the water bath - it's good for knocking a few deg C off the ambient and controlling the heat produced by the yeast, but I can't cold crash.

I can still produce really clear beer though, Nottingham I have found to clear reliably and 1469 clears incredibly quickly.

It'd be nice to have the option though.

I cc on every beer I do with the expection of a hefeweizen..that's what makes that beer!
I set my conical temp for cc around 34-38 degrees for a week..
I never have a problem with carbing my beer with cc. I bottle and keg.
There's still a lot of yeast still in suspension..
I like to give out bottles to my friends and want the beer to be super clear.
Igotsand

It makes the beerses pretty, my precious!

No, but then I truly prefer cloudy beers, going back to the carafes of trub (sometimes with an egg) that I drank in Neu Ulm to fatten me up. It worked suddenly 35 years later.

DromJohn said:

No, but then I truly prefer cloudy beers, going back to the carafes of trub (sometimes with an egg) that I drank in Neu Ulm to fatten me up. It worked suddenly 35 years later.

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Now that I use gelatin, it kind of goes hand-in-hand to cold crash since it is more effective at colder temps.

I voted yes, but I honestly only cold crash when I have dry hopped to get all the particles to settle before transferring to bottles or keg.

DromJohn said:

No, but then I truly prefer cloudy beers, going back to the carafes of trub (sometimes with an egg) that I drank in Neu Ulm to fatten me up. It worked suddenly 35 years later.

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See, in Heilbronn we stayed away from that sorta thing ... still put on pounds. :cross:

Based on your question I do not cold crash before i keg but I consider cold conditioning a keg a form of cold crashing...

I cold crash every batch, I ferm in 1/4 slim Sankey kegs and siphon off via Co2 into a Corny keg. At that time I drop the temp on my frem chamber to 30 degrees or so for 5-7 days.

I guess I technically cold crash in the winter, but not in the summer. It is a side effect of the temps in my garage.

When fermentation has completed in my basement, I bring the bucket up and set it in the garage for a couple of days until I transfer it to a keg. Winter temps rarely get below 35 in the garage, and summer temps are normally in the mid to upper 70's. Either way, after a couple weeks in the kegerator to get carbonated, I pull a pint to get rid of anything that has settled and the rest of the beer pours clear until the last pint or two before the keg kicks.

I do currently since it's cold out. I've found I end up with much less trub in the keg (none, pretty much) and the yeast cake is much easier to rack off of while kegging. I'm a convert for now on when it's feasible. Kyle

Never cold crashed. Cloudiest beer was a pumpkin ale where I forgot Irish moss. Even beers that have a lot of dry hops clear up after I throw a bottle in the fridge for a week or so. Definitely love Irish moss though.

Tied on yes/no. I'm surprised.

Used to cold crash every batch. But don't do much anymore, I figure the bottle in the fridge is the equivalent to clod crashing and my beers seem to be just as clear (providing I don't disturb the trub while pouring).

I'm a cold crashes. I ferment in a temp. Controlled mini fridge then turn the dial down to 30 degrees when I'm ready to cold crash.

I never really have, yet. I still bottle all my beer, but once I get a freezer set up for lagering and start kegging, I will probably start.
Most of my beers come out very clear, but there is more yeast in the bottles than what is really needed. I don't worry about it, it's all good (great) beer!

+1 for cold crashing here gives me some extra time to play beer and something else to do.