Naked Dry Hopping + No Cold Crash, will this work?

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Luxo_Aussie

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So I have something of an issue, hopefully someone else has come across a similar situation.

I don't cold crash (unless you count dropping it 10 degrees) as I bottle all my beer and need some yeast left over to bottle ferment. This has been my logic for some time but this makes dry hopping a bit harder - currently I use a hop sock but would be keen to go naked as the aroma hasn't been super pungent even when heavily dry hopped. What happens if you don't cold crash after going naked with your hops? I could always just give this a crack to find out but wanted to see if this has already ended up a disaster for someone else before trying.

Only other option could be to get a stainless steel mesh tube which would have a bit more space for the hops to get their aroma into the beer.

Cheers & Thanks!
 
There is no reason not to cold crash as there will be more than enough yeast still in the brew to carbonate even after cold crashing to 1C for a few days. This will allow the hops to sink out of the way. Go naked - its the only way to brew.
 
I dry hop naked, cold crash and bottle. Liquid yeast is stored cold to keep it healthy but inactive. Yeast in your fermenter is also fine chilling, and wakes up once bottled.
The first time I cold crashed (first time fermenting in an old fridge) I assumed the fridge wouldn’t get cold enough to freeze so didn’t bother setting the temp controller I used for fermenting - instead I turned the fridge as cold as I could - and froze my beer. Despite that, the yeast survived and after thawing and bottling the beer carbed up nicely.
Answering your actual question, before setting up my fermenting fridge I did dry hop naked without cold crashing. It works, but more hops (and trub) stays in suspension, and you end up with a greater volume of (less dense) trub, which is harder to keep out of the bottle. I ended up with more sediment in the bottle (compared to cold crashing), and a few gushers from hop remnants exciting the beer when opened. Beer still tasted fine though.
 
So I have something of an issue, hopefully someone else has come across a similar situation.

I don't cold crash (unless you count dropping it 10 degrees) as I bottle all my beer and need some yeast left over to bottle ferment. This has been my logic for some time but this makes dry hopping a bit harder - currently I use a hop sock but would be keen to go naked as the aroma hasn't been super pungent even when heavily dry hopped. What happens if you don't cold crash after going naked with your hops? I could always just give this a crack to find out but wanted to see if this has already ended up a disaster for someone else before trying.

Only other option could be to get a stainless steel mesh tube which would have a bit more space for the hops to get their aroma into the beer.

Cheers & Thanks!
Cold crash to your heart's content. I cold crashed all the time when I did bottle. Never had a bottle that didn't carbonate.
 
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