Question about cold crashing vs not

I would suggest just leaving it in the keg you crash in. There may be slightly more sediment than if you transferred again, but the possible O2 pickup or aromatic compounds being removed make it not worth it. Especially with a style that doesn’t care about haze.
I usually add all my dry hops at fermentation temp, then crash. If you add hops cold, I’d imagine the extraction would take longer and you may put more hop material in the beer, but you could do that I guess.
Also, recent studies strongly suggest when crashing, the colder, the better. So 24 hours at 33° is better than 2 weeks at 40°. Something to keep in mind.

 

@TooHopTooHandle I've been splitting my dry hopping 50/50. First dose about 3-5 days after brew day (biotransformation) and then the next dose in a dry hopping keg with the racked completely fermented beer. I leave this dry hopping keg in my basement which hovers between 60-75F ambient. I have great results so far (only brewed about 5 NEIPAs though).

I don't really crash NEIPAs. But, the two weeks that it sits in my kegerator while carbonating seems to crash it a bit. My first pour has a lot of junk in it. As soon as that visually changes from sludgy to that beautiful cloudy hazy straw color, I'm filling a pint.

I'll also add that my first round of dry hops go in the fermenter commando (just toss those pellets in without a bag or whatever). However, I use one of those cylinder SS hop filter tube things for the keg dry hop so when I do a closed transfer to the serving keg I don't have to worry about clogs in the dip tube.

 

Thanks for that point. I learned something today

 

and 30f is better and faster than that..and anything over 40 (post fermentation) is just accelerating all the staling mechanisms faster and faster!

 

I always cold crash my neipa. Imho the reason your beer is hazy isn't related to all the nasty junk floating in your beer ( like hop residue) that you would normally cold crash out of the beer. I cold crash all my beers and my neipa are still very hazy.

 

I've done a minimum of 3 days and up to 7 days. Unfortunately, I can't offer any advice on how long one should dry hop at this stage. I don't remember much difference between 3-7 days. I thought I read somewhere that dry hopping only needs around 72 hours to gain the maximum benefit so that's always been my goal but work and life pushed me out to 5, 6, and 7 days for some batches.

 

This was cold crashed for 3 days at 30. It is nearly opaque

 

If I'm intending to turn around an ale very quickly (2 to 4 weeks ferment to glass) that I wish to be clear at consumption I'll cold crash and clarify with gelatin. I'll normally only do this with a low gravity English Ale or patersbier.

For a medium gravity ale that I want clear 6 weeks without cold crashing or fining works fine.

For a beer that's supposed to be cloudy anyway, I wouldn't worry about cold crashing.

 

I disagree with your last statement. Have you ever had a cloudy beer that wasn't supposed to be cloudy. That's what I'm trying to get out of my beer with the cold crash. Haziness in a neipa will be there as intended regardless if you cold crash and will taste better for it.
The only style I don't cold crash is hefeweizen because I usually keg within 10 days and am drinking the next day.

 

I still stand by my statement.

I have homebrewed for about 15 years now. I've only made 1 NEIPA in that time, so I do not call myself an expert at all on that style. But I still think if you take my statements in context it makes sense. For a normal gravity ale, grain to glass, they consistently finish clear for me in 6 weeks. Yes, I can push it quicker with things like fining and cold crashing, but my experience is that the flavor normally does not peak anyway for a medium gravity ale before 6 weeks, even if cleared sooner. Low gravity ales are a different story. Dry hopped beers normally maintain some haze for me whether I cold crash or not.

Bottom line for me is that medium gravity ale flavors usually peak around 6 weeks from brew day for me. Sometimes its 4 weeks, sometimes 8, but 6 weeks is the norm. Most ale styles finish clear for me at 6 weeks without any help. If it's not peaking until 6 weeks, and clear at 6 weeks, what's the point in cold crashing?

 

No. With proper brewing techniques, and knowledge of what my yeast strains require, I don't see why I would have a beer finish cloudy that I did not intend to do so.

 

I haven't been brewing any near as long as you so I'm sure you have much more experience than me. I normally push my ipas grain to class in 2.5-3 weeks so that's why I cold crash. I try to drink as fresh as possible and cold crashing helps me get there with clarity if the style calls for it. The neipa has so much dry hop I feel without cold crashing I'd never get all particulate to the bottom.

 

Yes, I’d just say be careful with sub-32 crashing. Depending on the reliability of your monitoring/lag in chilling and the strength of the beer, you can freeze the beer. Not usually a concern, but I’ve seen people freeze 3.5% Berliner Weiss this way.
Related, there are often temp differences in glycol jackets, so many breweries don’t drop below 33° for the same reason.

 

@TooHopTooHandle , I am in the same boat as you at the moment, I have a NEIPA on day two of fermentation. I have decided to do the biotransformation dry hop, and then once terminal gravity has been hit, cold crash the ever loving crap out of that beer. The reason I am thinking that is I figure with a good cold crash, hop debris and trub will get nice and compact on the bottom of the fermenter, maximizing the amount of precious beer coming out. (you lose so much to hop adsorption with this style)

My second dry hop will happen in the keg no temp ramp back up - i figure a sack of hops dangling in the serving keg will impart some amazing aroma cold or not, and I want to drink this beer asap ! (for aroma purposes of course)

 

Yeah, I was pondering that as I am new to kegging as well - I have to say I am firmly on the muslin bag side of the fence, I definitely dont want to see any hop debris in my glass - so even if aroma / flavor takes a slight hit, at least there will be a clean, albeit hazy pour.

curious to see how your beer turns out !