Low Temps and Bottling

**triletter** · 11-30-2011, 12:02 PM

Cooler temps are here and my "beer barn" is not heated. In BeerSmith you can adjust the amount of priming sugar based on beer temp. Will I run into a problem bottling the beer at 47* then bringing that bottled beer into the basement for conditioning @ 65-70*?

It seems like there shouldn't be any difference since as the beer warms, the yeast should reactivate, munch on the sugar and do their thing with CO2. At the same time, I am pretty new to this so I may not really understand the affect of cold, warm and bottling.

DSmith · 11-30-2011, 12:45 PM

I want to bottle a lager and was reading posts on the same topic. I've only done ales that have finished primary near room temperature so the calculation for priming sugar has been simple.

The temperature in the calculation should be the highest temperature reached and held for a day or two during primary fermentation. Or, you can move the chilled carboy to room temperature and let it sit a day or two before bottling and use that temperature. That seems like the surest way to get predictable carbonation and I generally need to move the carboy anyway for siphoning.

It's desirable to leave the bottles at 70F for at least 3 weeks for the carbonation fermentation to happen quickly. Chill a sample bottle in a fridge for a few days to a week to help the CO2 absorption. You may want to let your bottles sit longer at 70F based on what you find out after opening the chilled one.

**ChuckO** · 11-30-2011, 01:04 PM

The amount of priming sugar should be based upon the # of volumes of CO2 at serving temperature. The conditioning time is quite temperature dependent, for me best results happen when I condition at 68-72 deg. for at least 2 weeks.

Usually I let bottles condition for 3 weeks before cooling one to taste.

**Yooper** · 11-30-2011, 01:14 PM

You won't have any issues bringing them inside to carb up. But, make sure you think before using those calculators! They ask for the temperature of the beer- but remember that it doesn't mean the current temperature. The reason it asks for temperature is because cooler temperatures hold more co2. But once fermentation is over (generally in the 60s for an ale), lowering the temperature doesn't affect the amount of co2 in suspension- it's not like more co2 is created.

If you punch in something like 45 degrees in the calculator, it'll tell you something ridiculously low, like 1.5 ounces of priming sugar.

Instead, use the "regular" amount you would normally at 68 degrees. I stopped using those calculators for most beers (except for very low or very highly carbed beers) and I go with a standard 1 ounce of corn sugar per gallon of beer, by weight.

**triletter** · 11-30-2011, 07:27 PM

Thanks Yooper,

My only concern was the low temps and resulting increase of pressure just due to warming up along with the CO2 from conditioning. The most that could happen would be a bottle bomb or a more carbonated beer.

As it happens, I am bottling your DFH60 clone which has rapidly become one of the house beers.