Cold crash before bottle?

[mpfeil8484]

Hello everyone new brewer, what are your opinions about cold crashing before bottling will it help with clarity?

Thanks

 

[passedpawn]

Yes.

 

[Tupperwolf]

I'm a believer, I cold crashed my latest batch of IPA (mostly to crash the hops) and the bottles carbed up perfectly, with less yeast residue in the bottles. I brought the bucket down to 35* for about a day and a half.

 

[mpfeil8484]

Awesome thanks for the words

 

[BigFloyd]

In a word - - Heck yeah. No, wait, that's two words.:fro:

I typically cold crash down to 36-38*F for 3-5 days before kegging/bottling. I am most pleased with the result.

 

[passedpawn]

If you decide to cold crash, consider also using gelatin. Those two things together work great.

Put half of a packet of unflavored Knox gelatin in a cup, let is sit for 5 or 10 minutes (it will bloom and spread out in the cup). Put some seran wrap loosely over cup and heat in microwave until it starts to boil. Pour into fermenter. Then cold crash.

 

[JDFlow]

If you decide to cold crash, consider also using gelatin. Those two things together work great.

Put half of a packet of unflavored Knox gelatin in a cup, let is sit for 5 or 10 minutes (it will bloom and spread out in the cup). Put some seran wrap loosely over cup and heat in microwave until it starts to boil. Pour into fermenter. Then cold crash.

Let it cool first?

 

[passedpawn]

Let it cool first?

I've never done that. I've used gelatin in 100 batches.

 

[mpfeil8484]

If you decide to cold crash, consider also using gelatin. Those two things together work great.

Put half of a packet of unflavored Knox gelatin in a cup, let is sit for 5 or 10 minutes (it will bloom and spread out in the cup). Put some seran wrap loosely over cup and heat in microwave until it starts to boil. Pour into fermenter. Then cold crash.

So what does the gelitin do exactly?

 

[passedpawn]

So what does the gelitin do exactly?

Clears the beer. The gelatin particles have a charge, and they are attracted to and cling to particles of opposite charge. When this happens, the resulting "clumps" of particles apparently are more dense and they fall to the bottom much more quickly. Further, they stay at the bottom better during racking.

Try it and see. I've used it without cold crashing and it doens't work nearly as well.

 

[kombat]

Put some seran wrap loosely over cup and heat in microwave until it starts to boil.

Hold on a second, you don't want to boil it. Boiling it will cause it to coagulate prematurely. You only want to heat it enough to fully dissolve. At most, you should heat it to 150° F. NO HOTTER.

Pour into fermenter. Then cold crash.

Cold crash first, THEN hit it with the gelatin. Gelatin is far more effective on beer that has already been chilled.

 

[passedpawn]

Hold on a second, you don't want to boil it. Boiling it will cause it to coagulate prematurely. You only want to heat it enough to fully dissolve. At most, you should heat it to 150° F. NO HOTTER.



Cold crash first, THEN hit it with the gelatin. Gelatin is far more effective on beer that has already been chilled.

Are you sure about that? Like I said, I've been doing this for a couple of years the same way. It never forms solids when I boil it. Have you tried boiling it yourself?

Regarding when to add, before or after cold crashing, not sure. I'll do it both ways on the next batch and look for differences.

 

[kombat]

Are you sure about that? Like I said, I've been doing this for a couple of years the same way. It never forms solids when I boil it. Have you tried boiling it yourself?

I've never gotten to a full boil, but I overheated it once (180° +) and the result was that the solution turned faintly brown/yellow, and instead of being clear, I could see swirly distortion lines in the solution. I dumped it and tried again, heating only until it was fully dissolved and the solution remained clear.

Regarding when to add, before or after cold crashing, not sure. I'll do it both ways on the next batch and look for differences.

One of the main jobs of gelatin is to "latch on" to and precipitate out chill haze. In order for it to do that, you have to first cause the chill haze to come out of solution. If you dump in the gelatin (into already pretty clear beer), then put it in the fridge, by the time that huge carboy of beer gets cold enough for chill haze to manifest, the gelatin has already sunk to the bottom.

Granted, if you just keep waiting, eventually the chill haze will drop to the bottom on its own (which may be why you're still successful in clearing your beers), but pouring gelatin in warm beer is just a waste of gelatin.

 

[mpfeil8484]

word

 

[kempshark]

Forgive the newbie questions, so you guys cold crash the primary (or secondary) before transferring for priming and bottling? Are there certain style beers you cold crash or certain ones that you don't?

 

[progmac]

i think cold crashing, with or without gelatin, will lead to a huge improvement in your beers and significant decrease in 'homebrew taste'

 

[passedpawn]

Forgive the newbie questions, so you guys cold crash the primary (or secondary) before transferring for priming and bottling? Are there certain style beers you cold crash or certain ones that you don't?

All but beers that you want to remain hazy. For me, the ONLY beer I want to remain hazy is a German Hefeweisen. And I don't make those any more, so...

 

[kombat]

Forgive the newbie questions, so you guys cold crash the primary (or secondary) before transferring for priming and bottling?

Of course. Where else would you cold crash? The bottling bucket?

Are there certain style beers you cold crash or certain ones that you don't?

I cold crash/gelatin everything except hefeweizens (which I rarely brew) and dark beers (stouts and porters) where it wouldn't make a noticeable difference anyway.

 

[Wings13]

I just got a temperature controller and am going to try cold crashing my next brew. Do you guys bring the beer back to room temp before priming and bottling or can I do it right from fridge?

 

[Yooper]

I just got a temperature controller and am going to try cold crashing my next brew. Do you guys bring the beer back to room temp before priming and bottling or can I do it right from fridge?

You can bottling it cold- that's fine. Just use the normal amount of priming sugar (usually 4-5 ounces of corn sugar, by weight) and that will be perfect.

 

[Wings13]

Excellent, thanks Yooper!