markiemark

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Not another carb question!! Arggghhh! haha, yeah, but a quick one. Does refrigerating the bottles stop the carbonation process? Im planning to give away beers for xmas and wondering if I should tell my friends and fam to wait a while before refrigerating.
Thanks!

Skaggz

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Yes, it will make the yeast go dormant. But they will fire back up again once they are removed from the cold and allowed to warm back up to room temperature if the job is not yet complete.

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as1084

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Yes, refrigerating beer kills the carbing process. That is why you have to make sure they bottles are fully carbed before sticking them in the fridge. how long have your bottles been carbonating? I usually crack a bottle open after 3 weeks to make sure they are fully corbonated before sticking them in the fridge. If they look and feel carbonated, then all is well and you can give them away or stick them in the fridge and give them away cold. If it isn't fully carbed yet, then you can still give them away and just tell them to wait a week or so to carb up before opening.

HerotBrewer

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I would add if they are fully carbed, to suggest your family/friends keep them refrigerated until they drink them. We don't want homebrewing newbies ending up with bottle bombs.

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Veinman

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Putting bottles in the fridge before the yeast have consumed all of the priming sugar will cause the yeast to go dormant, this will result in a sweeter (as some sugars are left) under-carbed beer compared to if you had allowed the carbonation to finish at room temperature. So yes if you are giving away beers that are not fully carbed you should tell the receiver to leave that at room temperature for "x amount of time". The standard rule is 3 weeks at 70 degrees will carb a standard beer. Before giving them away open one to test the carbonation if it seems fine then you don't need to worry. If they've been bottled 3 weeks or more the carbonation should be complete.

Bottle bombs won't be an issue as long as you used the proper amount of priming sugar. Once all of the priming sugar is consumed by the yeast the will fall dormant to the bottom of the bottles and no more carbonation will be created. Bottles do not continue to increase in carbonation indefinetely just because they are left at room temperature.

hal2814

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In your situation, you should tell your friends and family to wait if you gave them beer that wasn't completely bottle conditioned yet. But just to be clear, putting a beer in the fridge will only severely hamper the yeast. It won't completely stop them. I just want to make that point clear so anyone reading this post doesn't get an idea like back-sweetening a beer with some fermentable sugar and think they're alright just because they put it in the fridge. Eventually, that sort of thing will catch up with you.

FoundersBrew

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+1

markiemark

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The beers have been carbing for about 2.5 weeks now. I plan to give them away in a week or so. I think it should be ok. I have 2 different kinds of beers, a honey cream ale which i think will be in the 3-4% alcohol range, and a winter spice beer which should be in the 6% range. Does the winter ale possibly need more carb time as it is higher ABV?

When I do this, should I refrigerate the test bottle first?

Thanks everyone!

logan3825

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I would and do. I put one in the fridge and when it is cold pop it open and drink it. It's open so you have to drink it. I wouldn't want to drink it at room temperature. If it is carbonated, I throw a few more in the fridge.

earwig

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You are fine and higher ABV beers do not need longer to carb because they were already done fermenting before you bottled.