# Cold Crashing Bottling



## Lord Raja Goomba I (27/6/11)

I have noted that many keggers on AHB cold crash at 4 degrees in the fridge before kegging. Now, assuming that they force carbonate (which almost all do), there is no need for residual yeast in the keg (in fact it's probably considered a cosmetic blemish).

The question is, can one cold crash a beer in the same manner before bottling. I rack before bottling, but I'm finding that there is just too much sediment for my liking. I'd like to have some beers with far less (read almost none) - APA, faux-lagers and the like.

Has anyone who bottles (or has bottled in the past) had any experience with cold crashing? Does it work? Do you need to adjust sugar calculations to accommodate far less viable yeast (or leave it longer - something I don't want to do).

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

Goomba


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## hsb (27/6/11)

Cold Crashing is fine whether bottling or kegging. You will still have enough yeast remaining to carbonate the bottles. Go for it!
I've always cold crashed, initially as a "bottler", now as a kegger, no need to adjust anything. Just let the bottles warm up to the usual temperature to carbonate once you've sealed them.

Cold crashing definitely works, it'll help settle out and compact sediment from fermentation. 
How well it works/whether you need to filter/what is clear beer etc.. those are the million different answer questions that cause the trouble.


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## megs80 (27/6/11)

This will work just fine. When I was bottling, id fine my brew then crash to a degree for a few days. This helped alot with sediment and there is still enough yeast in the mix to carb.

Cheers


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## InCider (27/6/11)

Works fine. Although I must confide that once I cold crashed, bottled, then thought 'might put them in the fridge while they're still cold...'

And wondered why they never carbed...


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## loikar (27/6/11)

Lord Raja Goomba I said:


> Has anyone who bottles (or has bottled in the past) had any experience with cold crashing? Does it work? Do you need to adjust sugar calculations to accommodate far less viable yeast (or leave it longer - something I don't want to do).
> 
> Any help would be appreciated.
> 
> ...




Yeah it's not a problem, I used to add my finnings and CC from 4 to 6 days and then bottle cold.
No need to worry about lack of yeast, there'll be plenty of the buggers floating around in there still, unless you're CCing for weeks at a time, and even then you'll probably still be able to carb up ok in the bottle, it'll just take longer.
You're not going to escape sediment though not while you're naturally carbing in the bottle.


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## felten (27/6/11)

Depending on the beer you might have to leave them an extra week or more to carb, or you might not. YMMV


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## Lord Raja Goomba I (27/6/11)

Thanks all. Just didn't want 2 batches of flat beer, 'tis all.



BeerFingers said:


> <snip>
> You're not going to escape sediment though not while you're naturally carbing in the bottle.



Yeah, I know - but I'd like a lot less. I don't mind some sediment, but I'm finding lately that despite racking, I've got very healthy and active yeast and larger amounts of sediment despite gelatin and better racking techniques. Which means that my yeast handling techniques are good (that and the huge Krausen from dried yeasts indicates this as well).

It's never been a question I've asked, as I've never had the luxury of a second fridge to even consider this (therefore ignored this). I've traditionally gelatin (sometimes) and racked my brews pre-bottling, but cold crashing has been something that has only come up in my world, since the acquisition of a fridge (and STC-1000).

Thanks all again. Hope this helps someone else out.

Goomba


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## pimpsqueak (27/6/11)

Lord Raja Goomba I said:


> Yeah, I know - but I'd like a lot less.



+1 to that.
I'm interested purely because I am thinking about entering in a comp and want to minimise sediment for purely aesthetic reasons. 'Twould be embarrassing indeed to submit an under carbed or non-carbed beer to a comp.


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## donburke (27/6/11)

hope you dont mind me asking a related question here,

does anyone filter their beer and then bottle with priming sugar ?

i know some of the yeast will get through, and have been advised that it will take longer to carb ..

but how much longer ? like does 2 weeks become 4 weeks or is it longer again ?

also is there significantly less sediment in the bottle when the priming sugar has been digested ?

thanks


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## Lord Raja Goomba I (27/6/11)

+1 pimpsqueak - that's what prompted the question.

BribieG reminded me that it isn't long until QABC brews need to be started on another thread.

I know how to pour and get little sediment, but if you take a look at my post in the "what's in the glass" thread, you can see that it's not as clear as I'd like (though clearer than that photo).

I don't want to rely on the stewards' pouring abilities to get a good looking beer.

Goomba


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## Dave70 (27/6/11)

Here's what I do if I'm bottling.
Fermenter in the fridge for a couple of days at 1 deg.
Transfer to a keg, or kegs depending on the batch size.
Leave it at that temp for a week or two.
Plug the keg in at serving pressure.
Sugar up the bottles.
Fill em straight out of the tap.

The strong ale I bottled yesterday had been chilling for 3 weeks and came out crystal clear. 

Unless you gas up in the keg and use a CPBF you'll always wind up with a little sediment in the bottle.
Part of the charm.


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## bkmad (27/6/11)

BeerFingers said:


> Yeah it's not a problem, I used to add my finnings and CC from 4 to 6 days *and then bottle cold*.
> No need to worry about lack of yeast, there'll be plenty of the buggers floating around in there still, unless you're CCing for weeks at a time, and even then you'll probably still be able to carb up ok in the bottle, it'll just take longer.
> You're not going to escape sediment though not while you're naturally carbing in the bottle.



On a related topic, when bottling cold, do you adjust your priming sugar for the bottling temp? I tried CCing for the first time recently and bottled cold and according to beersmith I wouldn't need to add any sugar at all at 0 degrees and only minimal amounts for 4 degrees (for 1.5vol for a bitter). I went with 60gm of sugar in 23L figuring if beersmith was right it still shouldn't be too overcarbed, but if beersmith was wrong I wouldn't end up with completely flat beer.

It has carbed up just enough to give it a head but no noticeable fizz suggesting to me, that the beersmith calcs were wrong. Any thoughts?


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## Dave70 (27/6/11)

bkmad said:


> On a related topic, when bottling cold, do you adjust your priming sugar for the bottling temp? I tried CCing for the first time recently and bottled cold and according to beersmith I wouldn't need to add any sugar at all at 0 degrees and only minimal amounts for 4 degrees (for 1.5vol for a bitter). I went with 60gm of sugar in 23L figuring if beersmith was right it still shouldn't be too overcarbed, but if beersmith was wrong I wouldn't end up with completely flat beer.
> 
> It has carbed up just enough to give it a head but no noticeable fizz suggesting to me, that the beersmith calcs were wrong. Any thoughts?



What difference does it make if the beer is cold or at room temp in regard to priming sugar?


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## felten (27/6/11)

In the calculator, you enter the highest temperature since the beer has stopped producing CO2, that should govern how much remains in solution.

I haven't played with BS2's priming calc yet, I use this one instead http://www.aussiehomebrewing.com/AlcoholCh...Calculator.html


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## bkmad (27/6/11)

felten said:


> In the calculator, you enter the highest temperature since the beer has stopped producing CO2, that should govern how much remains in solution.
> 
> I haven't played with BS2's priming calc yet, I use this one instead http://www.aussiehomebrewing.com/AlcoholCh...Calculator.html



The highest ferment temp since fermenting was the missing bit of information that I was lacking. Makes sense now.

Dave70 I had read something about the amount of dissolved oxygen in the beer being related to the temperature it was at, it seems I should have read harder. :icon_cheers:


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## Lord Raja Goomba I (27/6/11)

felten said:


> In the calculator, you enter the highest temperature since the beer has stopped producing CO2, that should govern how much remains in solution.
> 
> I haven't played with BS2's priming calc yet, I use this one instead http://www.aussiehomebrewing.com/AlcoholCh...Calculator.html



So basically, if you leave the beer at ambient temp until it hits terminal gravity, and then cold crash, you would use the amount of sugar you would normally use for the ambient temperature in question, then? Just trying to clarify this, so I don't end up with bottle bombs sometime this week.

Goomba


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## stef (27/6/11)

bkmad said:


> On a related topic, when bottling cold, do you adjust your priming sugar for the bottling temp? I tried CCing for the first time recently and bottled cold and according to beersmith I wouldn't need to add any sugar at all at 0 degrees and only minimal amounts for 4 degrees (for 1.5vol for a bitter). I went with 60gm of sugar in 23L figuring if beersmith was right it still shouldn't be too overcarbed, but if beersmith was wrong I wouldn't end up with completely flat beer.
> 
> It has carbed up just enough to give it a head but no noticeable fizz suggesting to me, that the beersmith calcs were wrong. Any thoughts?



i dont think 60 grams will give you a hugely fizzy beer... i like my beer quite carbonated, and i'm pretty sure i add double what you did... and usually in a smaller batch than 23 litres too...

Oh well- better to have under carbed beer than bombs, eh?

As has already been explained, the temp function is not the current temp of the beer at bottling time.

Cheers


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## Hinji (27/6/11)

In lieu of what's been said here, I'm going to crash chill my Smurto's Golden Ale that I just racked. Hopefully I can get some more sediment out. My whirlpool was quite unsuccessful.

Cheers!


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## mahonya1 (27/6/11)

Lord Raja Goomba I said:


> +1 pimpsqueak - that's what prompted the question.
> 
> BribieG reminded me that it isn't long until QABC brews need to be started on another thread.
> 
> ...




Just on that note, does anyone know how do bottles get poured when judging? Will the entire bottle get poured out, or do the stewards pour most of the beer leaving the last bit in the bottle?


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## hsb (27/6/11)

Lord Raja Goomba I said:


> So basically, if you leave the beer at ambient temp until it hits terminal gravity, and then cold crash, you would use the amount of sugar you would normally use for the ambient temperature in question, then? Just trying to clarify this, so I don't end up with bottle bombs sometime this week.
> 
> Goomba



To clarify, yes, you are correct. Cold Crashing has no bearing on your bottle priming amounts.


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## DUANNE (27/6/11)

donburke said:


> hope you dont mind me asking a related question here,
> 
> does anyone filter their beer and then bottle with priming sugar ?
> 
> ...


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## Norto (27/6/11)

Sorry to but in here people but for blokes like me that are a bit slow on the up take :huh: .....What is Cold Crashing?
Norto


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## HeavyNova (27/6/11)

Norto said:


> Sorry to but in here people but for blokes like me that are a bit slow on the up take :huh: .....What is Cold Crashing?
> Norto


Chilling the beer after fermentation is finished. Usually down to temps between 1C and 4C. The cold conditions will help the yeast still in suspension settle to the bottom of the fermenter and help compact the yeast cake for a clearer beer.

It's not a neccessary step but will help to give you a clearer/brighter beer without using fancy filters etc.


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