Cold Crash, best practice?

[foxy]

Cold crash is to drop the temperature down to -1 or -2 degrees C for 24 to 48 hours to drop any suspended yeast down to the bottom of the fermenter. Conditioning is to condition the beer for 2 weeks or more at fermentation temperature. If you can transfer to a secondary, (which is possible with closed system fermenting) without any exposure to oxygen then it is worth doing. The excuse that transferring to a secondary carries the risk of infection is weak, may as well say the same thing about transferring to a keg or bottle and we would all be drinking straight out of the fermenter. There is more chance of oxidizing the beer than an infection.

 

[Bigcol49]

. . . the amount of CO2 present in the beer at the time of packaging should not have changed since it was at 20*C (where's the CO2 going to come from?).

Hi!
This is from Brewer's Friend website:
"During cold crashing, some of the CO2 in the head space will go back into the beer. If you cold crashed for a very long time this may represent a significant increase in dissolved CO2. There is a lot of online debate about this and the internet is thin on concrete answers backed by research. We are open to improving the calculator so please let us know of any sources that clarify this point."

 

[terrym]

This is from Brewer's Friend website:
"During cold crashing, some of the CO2 in the head space will go back into the beer. If you cold crashed for a very long time this may represent a significant increase in dissolved CO2. "

Maybe.
But crash cooling is only usually over a 'few days' as I indicated, not a 'very long time'.
I'll leave 'Brewers Friend' to their inconclusive conclusions, which in terms of practical advice are about as good as a chocolate teapot, and stick to what I said. Others can make their own mind up. :thumb:

 

[Bigcol49]

Nice put-down! I'll try not to take it personally.

 

[terrym]

Nice put-down! I'll try not to take it personally.

Not intended as a put-down, so no reason to take it personally. :thumb: