After fermentation is complete on Ales, would there be a benefit of cold crashing for a while before bottling, and if so how long? Yes, ales can benefit from a cold-crash - a couple days and obviously longer in the low 30s will help drop sediment and yeast and make it easier to rack off the cake without disturbing it. My usual MO is to cold-crash my ales for at least 1 week once the primary ferment is done i prefer 2 weeks for cold-crashing when time permits, but 1 week usually does the job.
I usually rack to a keg, put on the gas and into the fridge. After a couple days the first pour is all the yeast from the bottom. Clear sailing after that. I say it depends on the beer and what you want out of it.
If you want pretty beer, then cold crash away. Be careful about doing it to early, or you may have a lot of diacetyl. Everything above is correct. I usually make English style ales with a flocculant yeast I get clear beer without cold crashing. I have also read and heard from an English brewing friend that you should not let the beer go below 50 if you want maximum flavor. Real ale is kind of like garden tomatoes.
They lose some complexity when you chill them too much. Remember, the point of lagering is to smooth out the beer. I like some of those hearty ale flavors that seem to disappear when the beer is cold crashed. But a good secondary and not rushing the fermatation will always give you the best flavors. Cold crashing could knock you out of a compition but dropping out to much flavor of a ale.
A very good point. I usually only cold crash down to what I will be serving at, which is around F. Yeah, definitely not as cold compared to American custom, but to me it tastes better that way. Just a personal preference. I doing so, it assures that if I bottle some off to give away to friends who will inevitably over chill them the beer will be both bright and totally sediment free. Thnaks for the replies!! When you are reducing temperature do you drop the temp a few degrees each day like lagers, or can you get it down all at once.
