Many people start home brewing for a number of reasons. Some take up the hobby as a bit of fun, others are unhappy with the price and choice of real ale or craft beer in pubs, and others start so they can make beer to suit their own styles and tastes. In all cases the resulting beer doesn’t always match the appearance of the commercially produced, leaving lots of Home Brewers scratching their heads raising the question ‘Why can’t I get my beer to look so clear?’ This is where Cold Crashing comes in.
Cold Crashing is the process of lowering the temperature of your home brewed beer before bottling. Introducing cold temperatures encourages yeast, proteins and other solids (such as hop debris) that are suspended in the beer to clump together becoming heavy enough to eventually sink and form the trub at the bottom of the fermenter. This would otherwise be left behind, causing a cloudy finish to your beer. The result of the cold crash helps give your beer a cleaner, crisper and more colorful finish. The hazy look doesn’t usually affect the beers flavor but its presence is considered by most as a flaw, especially within the competition scene.
If you cold crash 2-3 days before bottling or kegging, once your final gravity is reached, this should provide enough time for the technique to work fairly well. This also allows you plenty of time for any dry hopping (which should be done prior to cold crashing, generally between 7-10 days prior to bottling) and for the yeast to clean up some fermentation by-products. The ideal temperature you should reach is 35-40°F (2-4°C approximately). A temperature controlled fridge large enough to hold your fermenter is the most efficient way to achieve this. If you have the time you can cold crash much longer. Cold crashing a beer in a glass carboy secondary for three weeks will usually result in crystal clear beer. The advantage of the glass carboy is that you can see how clear the beer is. The longer you can cold crash, the clearer the beer will generally get. Also, keep in mind that some beers (especially wheat beers) are supposed to be cloudy!
Many home brewers that start out don’t have the luxury of either an empty & large enough fridge or one that is solely dedicated to their home brewing needs, so there are alternative methods that can be implemented. Remember that you don't have to have a fridge dedicated just to cold crashing. You can have a kegerator or keezer that can be used for cold crashing AND serving draft beer!
The first alternative is to wrap a large wet towel around the fermenter and sit it in a water bath (big tub) filled with ice/ice packs making sure that the edges of the towel are in the water. Replenishing with fresh ice or packs every 12 hours or so. The main problem with this, except having a large wet towel in the open for a number of days, is the fact that you’ll mainly be cooling the bottom of the fermenter and the temperature won’t really circulate to the top. Another similar solution is to have a cooler (cool box or bag) that is big enough to fit the fermenter, take 6-8 ice packs or a lot of ice and place around the fermenter. If you did this in the evening/night time switch the ice packs for fresh ones in the morning. This probably wont drop the temperature as low as a fridge but you’ll find it will drop your beer by 10-15 degrees to about 50°F (10°C). Again keep switching ice packs for 3 days and then bottle. I did this with my latest brew, an American Pale Ale, however I wrapped a beach towel around the fermenter rather than placed it in a cooler. With ice packs sandwiched between the towel and fermenter I managed to get the temperature to around 53°F (12°C) in 2 days, with the addition of bottle conditioning I’m very happy with the results. If you are to cold crash and bottle condition your brew you may find that you need to allow extra time to condition, as there would be less yeast present to carbonate the bottles.
There are a number of additives that can help contribute to a clearer finish in your beer, fining agents such as Irish moss or whirlfloc, which can be added to the boil with 5 minutes left. Another product that works well is Super-Kleer. This product is used in your secondary fermentor and works well with or without cold crashing (however with cold crashing you get the benefits of both!) You may notice some improvement in 24 hrs, but allow for the same amount of time that you would if you cold crash (2-3 days or longer if possible).
When its time to bottle your brew that you’ve patiently looked after and been waiting for, make sure you place the siphon above the trub to avoid sucking up everything you have tried to remove. If you are kegging your beer will likely continue to see your beer clarify as it is being served. If you let your beer set a few days in your kegerator or keezer you might have some more settling that can show up in your first glass. It is OK to drink, but the good news is your future pours will be even clearer!
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