Cold Condition Ale

[sgw86]

Hi,

I am currently brewing a Golden Ale (11 days in primary...will leave until day 14) and am interested in Cold Conditioning all of my brews now...especially because I plan on doing a Lager next.

Being new to home brewing from what I have read the general idea of Cold Conditioning is to help clear up the brew after fermentation is complete.

If I was to Cold Condition my Golden Ale (currently sitting at 18C) is it possible to do this in the primary? as I do not have a secondary to transfer to.

If it is possible to complete this in the primary what is the general process to follow?

Do I slowly drop my fridge (controlled with a FridgeMate) from 18C down to say 4C? over a few days (say 4C drop each day?) or do I just drop it straight from 18C to 4C?

My last question is do you follow the same process for Lagers as you do for Ales when Cold Conditoning?

A lot of questions but am hoping someone can help me out here.

Thanks again.

Cheers,

Sam.

 

[kelbygreen]

yes CC in the fermenter I cannot see a reason to rack it off unless the yeast and trub at the bottom of the fermenter is over the tap height or you plan to leave it several months.

the process is to set it to as close to freezing as possible and leave it for a set amount of time. How long??? well that will depend on you a week is a good start, some people only do it for a few days but I guess its yeast dependent to.

yes do the same for lagers but to do them properly CC for as long as you can I found 5 weeks on the yeast does not hurt. If you want to leave longer then it would be a good idea to transfer it to secondary.

 

[hughman666]

yes CC in the fermenter I cannot see a reason to rack it off unless the yeast and trub at the bottom of the fermenter is over the tap height or you plan to leave it several months.

the process is to set it to as close to freezing as possible and leave it for a set amount of time. How long??? well that will depend on you a week is a good start, some people only do it for a few days but I guess its yeast dependent to.

yes do the same for lagers but to do them properly CC for as long as you can I found 5 weeks on the yeast does not hurt. If you want to leave longer then it would be a good idea to transfer it to secondary.

more than a week of CC and I would probably invest $30 in a second fermenter to get it off the yeast cake.

 

[Yob]

more than a week of CC and I would probably invest $30 in a second fermenter to get it off the yeast cake.

bollox, the op has said an ale, i often cc for a week (sometimes +) in primary wilh no ill effect, the only reason i will rack early is to harvest the yeast if i want to repitch during the cc period, which is also rare.

 

[sgw86]

bollox, the op has said an ale, i often cc for a week (sometimes +) in primary wilh no ill effect, the only reason i will rack early is to harvest the yeast if i want to repitch during the cc period, which is also rare.

Hi,

Thanks for the replies everyone. When I move into the Cold Condition stage do I slowly drop the fridge temperature over the period of 24 hours? or do I just dial the fridgemate down to 4C straight away?

Also just to confirm with the Ale I will Cold Condition it for a week in the primary fermenter before bottling and natural cabonate it at room temp?

My next brew I plan on doing a lager, so my understanding is cold condition in the primary (secondary if one is available) for more than a week? perhaps 2 weeks? before bottling and storing at room temp for 2+ weeks?

 

[sama]

Just set your fridgemate or whatever your temp controller to 4c. and forget.dont worry about gradual decreases,the beer will take a while to get down to 4c anyhow.i found 3-5 days gives me a much clearer beer.(for ales)

 

[hotchilli]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies everyone. When I move into the Cold Condition stage do I slowly drop the fridge temperature over the period of 24 hours? or do I just dial the fridgemate down to 4C straight away?

Also just to confirm with the Ale I will Cold Condition it for a week in the primary fermenter before bottling and natural cabonate it at room temp?

Just set your temp controller to your CC temp - no need to step it down slowly. You also want it as cold as possible without freezing - I set mine to 0.5C +/- 0.5C - you can probably go lower without risk of freezing due to the alcohol's lower freezing point. I CC for 5 days or longer - my last ale was CC'd for two weeks and went into the bottle crystal clear (I also racked to 2ndry and fined with gelatin before CC'ing).

Definitely need to let your bottles sit at room temp to the them carb up.

My next brew I plan on doing a lager, so my understanding is cold condition in the primary (secondary if one is available) for more than a week? perhaps 2 weeks? before bottling and storing at room temp for 2+ weeks?

yep, but a traditional lager is cold conditioned for much, much longer - 3 months or more - personally I don't bother - a couple of weeks is fine.

 

[iralosavic]

Just set your temp controller to your CC temp - no need to step it down slowly. You also want it as cold as possible without freezing - I set mine to 0.5C +/- 0.5C - you can probably go lower without risk of freezing due to the alcohol's lower freezing point. I CC for 5 days or longer - my last ale was CC'd for two weeks and went into the bottle crystal clear (I also racked to 2ndry and fined with gelatin before CC'ing).

Definitely need to let your bottles sit at room temp to the them carb up.



yep, but a traditional lager is cold conditioned for much, much longer - 3 months or more - personally I don't bother - a couple of weeks is fine.

I CC ales that I want to be cleaner for a week at 0c +/-.5.

The thing that's good about lagering is that it doesn't matter what style of beer you need to CC, they all do it at the same temp, so you can have one fridge (or temp controlled freezer) dedicated to lagering without holding back any other beers (assuming you have a few secondary fermenters). Putting an airlock in a cube is a good, cheap way to fit multiple brews in the a fridge for lagering.Some people say you should move to glass if you're going to condition for months, due to the suspicion that oxygen (and potential contaminates) could eventually permeate plastic, however, I'm not sure whether this is a fact or not. I like my glass carboy because it's transparent and allows a good preview of how things are progressing.

 

[muthead]

Hi Guys,

About to CC a Centerillo and a Golden Ale. Bought a cube and a 25ltr drum from Bunnings for the job. Question I have is do I need to screw the lids back on or glad wrap over the top?

Presuming fermentation has finished then having the lid on shouldnt be an issue? Or am I wrong?

Cheers,
Mut

 

[Yob]

Hi Guys,

About to CC a Centerillo and a Golden Ale. Bought a cube and a 25ltr drum from Bunnings for the job. Question I have is do I need to screw the lids back on or glad wrap over the top?

Presuming fermentation has finished then having the lid on shouldnt be an issue? Or am I wrong?

Cheers,
Mut

A matter of choise really.. Minimum headspace as activity has stopped, assume you mean to rack it to another vessel?

I chill in the primary and the same lid as for ferment is left undisturbed throughout...

Hope that makes sence to you..

 

[muthead]

A matter of choise really.. Minimum headspace as activity has stopped, assume you mean to rack it to another vessel?

I chill in the primary and the same lid as for ferment is left undisturbed throughout...

Hope that makes sence to you..

Yes makes sense, but I am racking both brews to secondary vessels. Whats the worst that could happen if I screw the lids back on?

Cheers,
Mut