Conical Timetable/Temp Good? Bad?

[rp5brew]

HBT-

I have a 27 Gallon conical that I am using for the 2nd time- the O&M that I got from Blichmann is very helpful, but leaves out a few things I was wondering about.

I brewed a 22 gallon batch of APA and it took 7-8 days to completely ferment out @ 65 degF. after that I took it up to 68 for 24 hours for a diacetyl rest. this is where i started to get confused- do I dump yeast at this point or crash the temp to get greater flocculation and dump? I figured on crashing it so I sent it to 34 degF and dumped twice over two days, then added 2oz simcoe for a dry hop. let that sit 6 days and I keg/force carb after that. Most dry hopping I see is done in secondary at 65-72... others do it in the keg or brite tank- compare/contrast?

what would be the best timeline given a conical? do you cold crash, dump and dry hop or dump, dry hop then cold crash? thanks in advance.

 

[SankePankey]

Me? I cold crash before I dump and then harvest the whole cake at one time thru the bottom dump. I have negligible trub from the kettle because I thoroughly filter before a plate chiller. Lately, I've been harvesting yeast which needs no washing.

I find I don't get enough settling if I don't cold crash, even if completely done. I'm thinking that it's because I have a racking/bev out thats from a dip tube right above the cake and it intrinsically picks up some of the cake. When I rack there is about a couple tablespoons of beer on top of cake, so that sounds right, but you never know with a conical cause you can't see inside!!

I always dry hop in the primary when there is a couple point lefts to go so the beer will eat all the oxygen introduced from opening the lid. Just hang the hop bag with monofilament or floss. If I don't hang it it plugs the bottom drain when I'm trying to harvest.

Personally, I think taking the whole cake at the end is the way to go in stead of trying to dump at several points in the fermentation. Pro brewers do this to remove yeast to maintain viability in a larger fermenter. Hydrostatic weight starts cooking and killing yeast at around the 30Bbl level and up, so harvesting often mitigates this issue. Less than 30 Bbl and its not really important, I think cause in the end you want the spectrum of genetics in the yeast which will all have flocculated by that point, especially if you have cold crashed.

 

[rp5brew]

I am just throwing pellet hops directly in. Blichmann said that was the way to do it. I don't want to risk effing up 20 gallons with contamination from a bag.