2bluewagons
Well-Known Member
I brewed a belgian golden strong on Jan 14, pitched 2L starter of White Labs 570. Fermentation started with a bang within 6 hours, started temp at 64*F and gradually increasing temp ending at 82*F on Jan 22, after which I left it at 75*F for another 7 days. OG was 1.076, FG 1.008
So after a total of 15 days primary fermentation, I placed the carboy in the fridge at 33*F for nearly two weeks until 2/11. The top 4/5 of the beer was clear, with a ~2" cloudy layer on top of the yeast cake. At that point I removed from the fridge and placed in a room that probably varied between 50-65*F night/day temps. FG was 1.007-1.008. I left town for a week and a half thinking that the remaining yeast would settle and I could bottle when I returned.
Today I take a look and it looks like all the low-floccing yeast that took nearly two weeks to drop has completely re-suspended itself. I am seeing some CO2 coming out of solution and yeast chunks getting a ride to the top via CO2 bubbles that I think may be to blame for the re-suspension.
This was my first time cold-crashing, as it was my first time with this yeast which apparently is a pretty poor flocculater. Guess I made some mistakes.
So, my question is, do I re-crash and bottle immediately after removing from the fridge? Or should I just leave it and wait for yeast to re-floc on its own? I don't really need the beer to be super clear, and I'm not interested in adding finings. But I want to minimize the amount of yeast making it to the bottles.
Thanks for any advice,
So after a total of 15 days primary fermentation, I placed the carboy in the fridge at 33*F for nearly two weeks until 2/11. The top 4/5 of the beer was clear, with a ~2" cloudy layer on top of the yeast cake. At that point I removed from the fridge and placed in a room that probably varied between 50-65*F night/day temps. FG was 1.007-1.008. I left town for a week and a half thinking that the remaining yeast would settle and I could bottle when I returned.
Today I take a look and it looks like all the low-floccing yeast that took nearly two weeks to drop has completely re-suspended itself. I am seeing some CO2 coming out of solution and yeast chunks getting a ride to the top via CO2 bubbles that I think may be to blame for the re-suspension.
This was my first time cold-crashing, as it was my first time with this yeast which apparently is a pretty poor flocculater. Guess I made some mistakes.
So, my question is, do I re-crash and bottle immediately after removing from the fridge? Or should I just leave it and wait for yeast to re-floc on its own? I don't really need the beer to be super clear, and I'm not interested in adding finings. But I want to minimize the amount of yeast making it to the bottles.
Thanks for any advice,