Question on cold-crashing

FedoraDave · Post by **FedoraDave** » Mon Nov 15, 2021 9:46 am

I mean, I know what cold-crashing is, but I have a specific question about it for a batch I brewed yesterday.

See, I intend to enter it in a competition in February 2022. And I'm tired of getting gigged in the Appearance category for cloudy beer, so I'm going to cold crash before I bottle. But here's the thing:

It's a Pale Ale, and I dry hop this beer about three days before kegging, or in this case, bottling. Which makes me wonder if I should remove the hop sack before cold crashing, or leave it in, cold crash, and bottle as usual. Or would it even make any difference at all? I'm leaning toward dry hopping for three days, remove the hop sack, cold crash for a couple days, and then bottle. I'm not too concerned with opening the carboy and fishing it out. Worse things have happened to my beer, and they've turned out fine. I'm just asking because of the clarity issue.

berryman · Post by **berryman** » Mon Nov 15, 2021 1:44 pm

I just did a IPA something like the way you are describing. I dry hopped it and on day 2 cold crashed and on day 4 I pulled the hop sack and added Gelatin, then let it go in the cold for a few more days before kegging. It came out super clear. The main reason I did it like that, I only wanted to open it that one last time.

FedoraDave · Post by **FedoraDave** » Mon Nov 15, 2021 6:55 pm

This makes sense, Berry. Thanks. I think I'll dry hop on Wednesday, crash on Saturday, pull the hop sack on Sunday, and then bottle on Monday.

berryman · Post by **berryman** » Mon Nov 15, 2021 7:31 pm

Not sure if you ever did the jello, I hardly ever do because I don't care how cloudy my beer is as long as it tastes good, but it will clear up beer if looking for a see though, the few extra steps can be worth it, with no change in taste. I have done it quite a few times if I am looking for a clear presentation.

Kealia · Post by **Kealia** » Mon Nov 15, 2021 9:18 pm

If you don't want to use gelatin and are really focused on getting a clearer beer, I would leave it cold for another week after you pull the hops before bottling.

If it's not being entered until February, there's no rush to get these into the bottles is there? Unless you're just trying to free up the fermenter to keep the pipeline going. And if that is the case, then I would use gelatin.

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FedoraDave · Post by **FedoraDave** » Sat Nov 20, 2021 10:31 pm

Kealia, I have actually decided to dry hop on my usual schedule, rack to a secondary and cold crash in the secondary. This will take the dry hop sack out of the picture, and free up my carboy, which is a consideration. And yes, the bottling can wait another week; there's something like two whole months between bottling and the actual competition - more than enough time to carbonate and condition quite nicely.

Like Berryman, I don't cold crash on the regular (or at all, frankly, unless I'm lagering for a few months). My kegged beer is clear enough after the first couple of draws. I've never used gelatin, and don't see the need to start. Cloudy beer doesn't bother me, but this is a competition, and if I can get 3/3 for Appearance because the beer is clear, I'd like to.

Inkleg · Post by **Inkleg** » Sun Nov 21, 2021 8:41 am

FedoraDave wrote:I mean, I know what cold-crashing is, but I have a specific question about it for a batch I brewed yesterday.

See, I intend to enter it in a competition in February 2022. And I'm tired of getting gigged in the Appearance category for cloudy beer, so I'm going to cold crash before I bottle. But here's the thing:

It's a Pale Ale, and I dry hop this beer about three days before kegging, or in this case, bottling. Which makes me wonder if I should remove the hop sack before cold crashing, or leave it in, cold crash, and bottle as usual. Or would it even make any difference at all? I'm leaning toward dry hopping for three days, remove the hop sack, cold crash for a couple days, and then bottle. I'm not too concerned with opening the carboy and fishing it out. Worse things have happened to my beer, and they've turned out fine. I'm just asking because of the clarity issue.

You will alway get sediment with bottle conditioned beer. We get clean pours at home because the beers remain upright, the sediment settles and we make the clean pour. Transportation to the competition disturbs the sediment and it never has a chance to resettle before the judges pour it. Hence cloudy beer.

FedoraDave wrote:Kealia, I have actually decided to dry hop on my usual schedule, rack to a secondary and cold crash in the secondary. This will take the dry hop sack out of the picture, and free up my carboy, which is a consideration. And yes, the bottling can wait another week; there's something like two whole months between bottling and the actual competition - more than enough time to carbonate and condition quite nicely.

Like Berryman, I don't cold crash on the regular (or at all, frankly, unless I'm lagering for a few months). My kegged beer is clear enough after the first couple of draws. I've never used gelatin, and don't see the need to start. Cloudy beer doesn't bother me, but this is a competition, and if I can get 3/3 for Appearance because the beer is clear, I'd like to.

Ta Da! Keg your Pale and bottle from the keg for the competition. Always received 3/3 on appearance when I started doing this.

FedoraDave · Post by **FedoraDave** » Sun Nov 21, 2021 10:19 am

Well, I understand the principle behind it, Inkleg, but I've also had both ales and lagers that I submitted that were given high praise for their clarity, and they were bottled.

But I may do that. I'd be ready to keg the batch in another week or two, so I'm likely to drink it all before submitting. I imagine I could tap the competition bottles whenever and just set them aside in the fridge until it was time to submit.

Or make another batch in mid-December and bottle closer to deadline.

Something to think about, anyway.

Post by **BlackDuck** » Sun Nov 21, 2021 10:28 am

FedoraDave wrote:but I've also had both ales and lagers that I submitted that were given high praise for their clarity, and they were bottled.

So if your normal process has worked in the past so well, what’s the concern now? Just seems like your overthinking this a bit.

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Kealia · Post by **Kealia** » Sun Nov 21, 2021 1:27 pm

FedoraDave wrote: I've never used gelatin, and don't see the need to start. Cloudy beer doesn't bother me, but this is a competition, and if I can get 3/3 for Appearance because the beer is clear, I'd like to.

Aren't these two sentences contradictory? You started this thread asking for help in getting clearer beer, then you say there's no need to start using one of the best ways to achieve clear beer...?

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