Crash cooling the beer will help to drop the hops and yeast to the bottom. cO2 will keep a lot of debris floating. By cooling the beer, you will force the cO2 into dissolving into solution, then there is nothing to keep the hops in suspension. It’s one of the most effective ways of clearing beer. If you keep opening the fermenter you risk oxidation of the beer. That can wreck a lot of hard work.
I’ve only cold crashed once before and got very confused about whether and how to adjust the amount of priming sugar for bottle conditioning. Is it correct I need to reduce the amount of sugar if the beer is at a lower temperature?
No...don't adjust the priming sugar amount down. Use the highest temperature at which your beer fermented. Subsequent chilling doesn't matter. If your beer never got above 55 degrees, as in a lager-fermented style, you'd use 55 degrees. If it's an ale fermented at 68, that's the temp to consider, even though either one of those beers may have been cooled to below 40 degrees for clearing or lagering.I’ve only cold crashed once before and got very confused about whether and how to adjust the amount of priming sugar for bottle conditioning. Is it correct I need to reduce the amount of sugar if the beer is at a lower temperature?
Agreed. The amount of CO2 left in the beer is relatively low anyway. Priming sugar amounts are good estimates for a target carbonation level, but they're not super precise. The bigger problem is usually the beer still hasn't hit it terminal gravity and when you put more sugar in, you get a overcarb'ed beer.No...don't adjust the priming sugar amount down. Use the highest temperature at which your beer fermented. Subsequent chilling doesn't matter. If your beer never got above 55 degrees, as in a lager-fermented style, you'd use 55 degrees. If it's an ale fermented at 68, that's the temp to consider, even though either one of those beers may have been cooled to below 40 degrees for clearing or lagering.
Not really. At a maximum temperature of about 65 degrees, the beer has one volume of CO2 in it already! There are tables out there that will tell you where you're starting, as well as a formula or two. As you mention, I get wildly varying results from priming calculators so I've taken to writing the max temperature a beer received on a piece of tape attached to the carboy.Agreed. The amount of CO2 left in the beer is relatively low anyway. Priming sugar amounts are good estimates for a target carbonation level, but they're not super precise. The bigger problem is usually the beer still hasn't hit it terminal gravity and when you put more sugar in, you get a overcarb'ed beer.
I get your point. I guess the question would be, how long has it been setting at that temp? What is the mouth feel like?Not really. At a maximum temperature of about 65 degrees, the beer has one volume of CO2 in it already! There are tables out there that will tell you where you're starting, as well as a formula or two. As you mention, I get wildly varying results from priming calculators so I've taken to writing the max temperature a beer received on a piece of tape attached to the carboy.
It doesn't take long. You warm a solution of CO2 (read beer), the gas will "precipitate" pretty quickly and form bubbles. As mentioned, there are tables that tell how much CO2 is left in a beer at standard pressure at a given temperature. Carbon dioxide is much more soluble in water than air but to see how fast the gas precipitates, watch as you heat water and see how quickly bubbles of air start to form. So always calculate carbonation at the highest temperature the beer reached after fermentation was complete.I get your point. I guess the question would be, how long has it been setting at that temp? What is the mouth feel like?
I would assume that if it's at zero pressure (equal to the ambient atmospheric pressure) it would continue to de-gas, which at some point it would stop, leaving a small amount of CO2 in solution. At that point the calculators would have take that into consideration no matter what. You would have to raise the temperature pretty high to completely remove all CO2. So the calculators are just good guesses. I wouldn't worry too much about accuracy of the calculators, there is a pretty big target when it comes to carbonation of beer, it's not very precise.
If a beer sat for 3-5 days after fermentation was complete at 65-70F, I would take the calculators at face value.
Yes...That.So always calculate carbonation at the highest temperature the beer reached after fermentation was complete.