5 replies to this topic

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I'm curious what the thought process is on clearing the beer up when bottling. On the one hand it's nice to let the beer clear up, age, etc. and reduce the sediment in the bottom of each bottle. On the other hand we want to make sure there is plenty of yeast left in there to carbonate. Is there a difference between secondary aging and bottle aging? I'll be making a fairly big beer that I want to age for a while in bottles. What do you guys do?

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Is it possible to get a good amount of clearing by cold crashing the primary vessel? I may or may not have a secondary vessel open by the time the primary fermentation is done.

[consumptionjunction]

Cold condition it at around 34F for 2-3 days and you will get a good amount of clearing. The difficulty I've had is in disturbing the yeast cake when moving the carboy to where I plan on bottling, and by sucking things up while racking into the bottling bucket. My experience is that you will still end up with about half a millimeter of yeast sediment on the bottom (a very thin film) with this method, and even when minimally disturbing the yeast cake. These results were reasonably better than when I'd bottle after primary and without cold crashing.We spoke two or so weeks ago about dry-hopping and bottling. I just thought it was interesting to note here that, after I dry hopped in the primary for the third week of fermentation, I cold crashed for about three days, and the whole leaf hops settled down on top of the yeast cake. This acted to hold down the yeast cake and separate it from the auto-siphon. I got a real clear transfer.- CJ

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Cold condition it at around 34F for 2-3 days and you will get a good amount of clearing. The difficulty I've had is in disturbing the yeast cake when moving the carboy to where I plan on bottling, and by sucking things up while racking into the bottling bucket. My experience is that you will still end up with about half a millimeter of yeast sediment on the bottom (a very thin film) with this method, and even when minimally disturbing the yeast cake. These results were reasonably better than when I'd bottle after primary and without cold crashing.We spoke two or so weeks ago about dry-hopping and bottling. I just thought it was interesting to note here that, after I dry hopped in the primary for the third week of fermentation, I cold crashed for about three days, and the whole leaf hops settled down on top of the yeast cake. This acted to hold down the yeast cake and separate it from the auto-siphon. I got a real clear transfer.- CJ

So you didn't bag the hops - you just tossed them in? Dry hopping with some EKG might be kind of nice for an old ale although a little out of style.

[consumptionjunction]

Yea, I dry hopped with three ounces (only one was whole leaf), with no hop bag.I guess you should do it at your own risk, as I've only done this once and can't back it up empirically.

[consumptionjunction]

And not to hijack your post, but would a lot of yeast in the bottle lead to more effects from autolysis, if the bottles are stored for long periods of time out of a fridge?- CJ