I was thinking of doing a 2nd ferment on my Irish red ale and cold crashing it. I know if I cold crash it, itll make any active yeast “hibernate” due to the cold temp, but my question is, how will that effect bottling? Or is that mostly for kegging??
Usually cold crashing does not affect bottling…unless you do it for a lot of months…like a lot 
was thinking of a few days. Ill be taking my final reading Friday, been fermenting for 11 days so far, still getting a little bubbling from the airlock.
No impact on bottling whatsoever. Now cold crash it for 8 months? I might get a little nervous.
Which yeast did you use for primary? Some yeasts, English ale yeasts especially, floc so hard that they take longer to condition regardless of whether you cold crash or not.
used us-04 that came with the kit, expires 07-16 if the exp helps. did not buy this kit from NB…
S-04 was the specific one I was thinking about above. Don’t be alarmed if it takes a good 3-4 weeks to bottle condition, this strain has always taken quite a bit longer than others in my experience. I’m not sure if cold crashing will make a difference, it drops brilliantly clear all on its own.
I got impacient and took a reading. It’s real clear and past my FG by .25. So I’ll skip the cold crash on this batch, and try and plan for it on the next.
I’ve cold crashed a couple of batches that I bottled but, to be honest, I stopped doing it because it seemed unnecessary. One of the clearer beers I’ve made was an Irish Red a couple months ago that I didn’t cold crash. It was pretty hazy when I bottled, but after they carbed up and I refrigerated them, they pour nice and clear (so long as you don’t disturb the yeast at the bottom of the bottle.
If I have a space open in my freezer I cold crash especially if I don’t have the time right away to keg or bottle. Figure it can’t hurt, its also more energy efficient with a full freezer.
