Extra Long Cold Conditioning

[timryan]

Hey Guys,
racked of a Amarillo ale on the 23rd of july and due to time constraints (to do anything) i havent been able to bottle it... Will this be an issue? It has been kept at 1 degree the entire time.

Cheers Tim

 

[barls]

it will be fine ive gone 3+ months when i was away with work

 

[Wolfy]

If it was me I'd add (a very small amount of) extra yeast if you are bottle conditioning, but others may not.

 

[Mearesy]

I'd say if anything you may notice hop aroma starting to fade... but thats about it. Apart from that I would expect it be good for the beer!

 

[Bribie G]

In the Queensland beer strike about 30 years ago the dispute didn't halt brewing, it was in the packaging departments of XXXX and CUB, so they just kept brewing until the conditioning tanks were full. The strike went on for about 3 months, and I can still taste the first batch of XXXX that got distributed

:icon_drool2: :icon_drool2: :icon_drool2: :icon_drool2:

 

[marksfish]

it will probably be the clearest beer youve ever brewed

 

[timryan]

cheers guys.. Yer its the first brew ive cold conditioned which is exciting so ill prob be bottling in the next week or so fingers crossed..

 

[timryan]

cheers guys.. Yer its the first brew ive cold conditioned which is exciting so ill prob be bottling in the next week or so fingers crossed..

 

[Dave70]

it will probably be the clearest beer youve ever brewed

I'd like to second those remarks.

And even after the yeast had been battered by 3 weeks in the fermenter and 8% + ABV, and the same again at 1 deg, it still fired up (took two weeks) and carbed my Belgian.

Don't sweat it.

 

[MaltyHops]

Guess it's not something you could do after the fact but if you were
planning to do a long period cold conditioning, would the state of the
primary fermentation need to be considered if you had waited until the
ferment was completely finished before racking, not enough CO2 might
be generated in the secondary to protect against oxidation?

I was thinking if you got into this situation and then needed to condition
for a long period, could add some sugar to the secondary as a precaution

Or would the not overly long period (assuming it's not more than a few
months) and the cold fridge render oxidation not a big issue?.

T.

 

[timryan]

Will i have trouble priming using sugar?

 

[MaltyHops]

Will i have trouble priming using sugar?

I think lots of people (including me) think sugar is just as as good to use
as dextrose or malt for priming (though amount to use varies, to be sure).

As for whether sugar is a problem in your current situation, I wouldn't think
so - if there's active yeast in the beer, sugar will prime.

T.

 

[BobtheBrewer]

Guess it's not something you could do after the fact but if you were
planning to do a long period cold conditioning, would the state of the
primary fermentation need to be considered if you had waited until the
ferment was completely finished before racking, not enough CO2 might
be generated in the secondary to protect against oxidation?

I was thinking if you got into this situation and then needed to condition
for a long period, could add some sugar to the secondary as a precaution

Or would the not overly long period (assuming it's not more than a few
months) and the cold fridge render oxidation not a big issue?.

T.

I don't rack to secondary to avoid the chance of oxidation/infection. I cold condition in the primary fermenter.

 

[timryan]

sorry i should have said priming using dextrose..

 

[going down a hill]

No problem for dex, it's a simple sugar that yeast will consume and create c02 which will then carb up your beer in your bottles.

 

[Wolfy]

... as long as there is enough yeast left in suspension after a long period of cold conditioning.

 

[timryan]

Wolfy, thats what im worried about.. What will happen if there isnt enough yeast will i be cracking uncarbed beer after a month?

 

[felten]

I've CC'd for 7 weeks on a recent beer without any non-carb issues, though my fridge was sitting around 5c. It just took a few weeks longer to carb up.

 

[BjornJ]

I've lagered for 4 weeks at -1 and ended up with a big piece of ice in the cube.
Guess my fridge went lower than the -1 the fridge mate said since it actually froze with 4.5% alc in it.

Carbed up fine, just took 3-4 weeks in the bottle, then left to settle and it was clear and carbed.

Not all that good, but that's more the brewer, not the lagering

thanks
Bjorn

 

[timryan]

Im keen to add a little more hop flavour.. this is my recipe...

Boil:
- Bring 2L of water to boil.
- Dissolved 250g Light Dry Malt Extract.
15gm Amarillo for 15 min
15gm Amarillo at 5 min
15gm Amarillo at flame out
- Hop additions as per above.
- Allowed to cool than added to Fermenter.

Dry Hop:
15gm Amarillo dry hopped at day 6


Is it too dangerous to dry hop another 10 grams this late into CC? Is the likely hood of infection too high?