Cold crashed too long...HELP!

[JDAG]

Hello, I brewed a BIAB SMaSH of MO & Amarillo back in July. After fermentation finished, I moved the fermenter to the garage refrigerator on August 11. I got busy and forgot about the beer. From other forums, it seems like 1 month is the max time you want to cold crash for in order to bottle condition, simply because too much yeast is dropped out of suspension. Has anyone successfully carbed a beer after this long of a cold crash (without kegging)? If I pull the fermenter out of the fridge and warm it back up, will the yeast wake up and re-suspend? Any thoughts are welcomed!

 

[clone63]

In cases where low yeast counts are suspected, typically fresh yeast is added during bottling/kegging.

 

[D-Train]

I lagered a doppelbock last winter for 2 months and bottled with no extra yeast. It carbed fine, but took about 3x as long.

 

[TKH]

Just sprinkle in some dry yeast when you bottle.

 

[Ungoliant]

I've had a beer I (unknowingly) cold crashed too hard to carbonate later on. It was an imperial stout, and ended up being pretty flat. Due to the ABV, I suspect the yeast may have been worn out a bit on top of that.

Personally, I'd be interested to see how warming it up and gently rousing the yeast works for you, but the dry yeast option is probably more of a sure bet.

 

[thekraken]

Just sprinkle in some dry yeast when you bottle.

Can it be that simple? I feel like that's asking for bottle bombs, no?

 

[JohnnyBrewGood]

Can it be that simple? I feel like that's asking for bottle bombs, no?

I am NO expert AT ALL but I think the amount of sugar has more to do with bombs than yeast.

 

[slym2none]

I am NO expert AT ALL but I think the amount of sugar has more to do with bombs than yeast.

Correct - you can dump an entire 11.5g packet of yeast into one 12-oz beer with 1/2 tsp of sugar, and it will carbonate just fine. You'll just be drinking lots of yeast.

 

[thekraken]

I am NO expert AT ALL but I think the amount of sugar has more to do with bombs than yeast.

Good point. But I still think you'd want to rehydrate the yeast and get it evenly mixed to avoid undercarbed bottles.

 

[Yooper]

Good point. But I still think you'd want to rehydrate the yeast and get it evenly mixed to avoid undercarbed bottles.

What I do is to cool the priming sugar, and add about 1/3 package of dry yeast to it, and stir that up. Then I rack the beer into that. It works great, and mixes fine.