crash cooling?

[steveh2112]

i've read the term crash cooling in some posts here. am i correct in thinking that's cooling the brew way down before bottling? what's the point? is it to help it clear?

thx

 

[Robbo100]

It is a sudden reduction in temperature from the fermentation temperature to as cold as you can get it.

The yeast becomes inactive quickly, dropping out of solution and giving a very clear beer.

 

[steveh2112]

It is a sudden reduction in temperature from the fermentation temperature to as cold as you can get it.

The yeast becomes inactive quickly, dropping out of solution and giving a very clear beer.

ok, so it is for clearing. typically how many days before bottling?

 

[Studders]

Does doing it also stop carbonation?

 

[steveh2112]

Does doing it also stop carbonation?

once its in bottles and primed, you warm it up again to fermentation temp, so i don't see that it would. unless you are thinking that all the yeast falls out so there is nothing in the bottle to ferment?

its a interesting point though. what's the point of clearing the yeast before bottling if you are going to ferment some more in the bottle anyhow.

 

[TheRedDarren]

It can help with a few things, as mentioned it clears the beer but it can also help with things like chill haze.
At the end of primary fermentation there is so much yeast in there you really want to clear some out as sometimes the bottled beer can have a very yeasty character and/or have lots of sediment in the bottom of the bottle.
I cold crash every brew and it's definitely improved a few things.

You can cold crash up to a month without having to reintroduce yeast at bottling time.

 

[geetee]

Does doing it also stop carbonation?

No it should not stop carbonation as there will be residual yeast in the beer that will ferment. Once fermented and carbonated further chilling of the bottles will then allow this remaining yeast to drop out.

Crash cooling is also good for clearing the beer of proteins that cause haze. If you can cool your beer down to 2- 5°C when crash cooling and it clears then it will not suffer from chill haze when stored at a higher tempoerature in a fridge prior to serving.

I usually find that crash chilling my beer in fermenter will be clear in 2-3 days even after bottling will clear in the same time.

 

[cheshirehomebrew]

I don't have a method of cold crashing unless I brew in the winter and stick the bucket outside after topping up with 2ish gallons of ice cold water, I use finings in the secondary to get the same thing