On a beer that is just going to go straight from the primary to the bottle (no secondary)… Is cold crashing the beer for a while at the very end, before bottling, recommended? Ive done the technique before of cold crashing the bottles after they carbonate to help it clear up but Ive never tried cold-crashing while still in the fermenter. I especially hear of this a lot in traditional belgian recipes.
Any recommendations?
Yep, cold crashing will help precipitate out the yeast and other solids before packaging. I usually do this with my beers if I have the time and available freezer space. Also, if you want to fine with gelatin this is the time to do it.
Mind if I ask, for how long and at what temp?
And then you just bottle condition with dextrose (or other sugar) as usual? Or would re-pitching a small amount of yeast be a good idea? I assume a good amount of yeast will still be alive if the cold-crash isn’t too long
a couple of days at 34-35 degrees and there should still be plenty of yeast if it is not a monster brew I wouldn’t worry about more yeast
+1 I’ll also add that you want to let it finish up fermentation and don’t be in a hurry to cold crash. Give the yeast time to clean up after themselves before you drop the temperature.
After cold crashing and fining with gelatin, I never thought it hurt to throw some dry yeast in the bottling bucket. Its allows for the beer to be carbonated more quickly, at least.
High-floc strains (English, ringwood, etc.) can almost completely drop out in a couple of days at those temps (esp. with finings). The small amount left will either not be enough to carbonate, give inconsistent carbonation from bottle to bottle, or take a LONG time to carbonate.
Im doing a red ale with OG of 1.071 and using WLP007 which is a pretty high-floc. Fermenting at 68F right now. I was planning on doing at least 3 weeks in primary. May ramp up the temp gradually to 72F by the end.
Im not even sure just how cold my fridge can get! hahaha! Im using a SANYO brand mini-fridge basically big enough to fit one 6.5gal carboy and it’s connected to a Johnson Controls A419 digital thermostat. Ive never done a lager with it so idk what its lower limits are without stressing the fridge motor too much.