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Cold crash a Blonde Ale

SleepySamSlim

Grandmaster Brewer
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I've got a Blonde Ale in the 2nd week of secondary fermentation - Its been unseasonably warm the past week with temps in the upper 80s. We are using the AC but the Blonde ale has been at 70 - 73deg for several days -- I've got bubbles forming on the surface - and its not as clear as I would like. Normally I secondary around 65deg, but this temperature spike is a surprise.

This ale did ferment to completion in the primary - in fact target was 1.014 and I hit 1.012.

I hope to bottle next weekend (June 6-7) --- so I decided to try something I've not done - cold crash it for a few days in a clean plastic trash can with ice water. Hopefully this will help things settle down and clarify a bit - and we're due for a bit of cooling later in the week.

How many of you have cold crashed an ale ? Any words of wisdom
 
I have done this many times, and it works great. You should have reasonably clear beer in 4-5 days.

Darin
 
I agree. I sometimes do this for clearing also bottled beers. IMO If you keg your beer, you can use fining agents in the secondary. But when you bottle, you really don't want to use anything to clear the beer other than cold crashing. You do need some yeast to carbonate.

Cheers
Preston
 
Well - it was more of a "cold smush" than a crash. I did get the wort down to 62deg for a few days and the wort does look better and bit more clear. I'll now let it warm to 68-70deg and bottle this weekend. Should still be enough yeast in suspension for carbonation.

I did get a good lesson on insulation -- or in this case no insulation as I just had a new clean plastic trash-can with a few gallons of water in it. I'd drop an ice block in there and its pretty much gone in 8-10 hrs.

Have to get my chilling chamber built this weekend
 
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