Bottle Conditioning Temperatures

So about 2 weeks ago I bottled my second batch, I did an Double IPA, I yielded almost 2 cases. I stored in my basement on a shelf for one week. This past weekend, I wanted to pop open a beer to see how the carbonation was coming along and what do you know, it was completely flat! Just as flat at when I bottled the beer.

I believe the average temperature that the bottles were conditioning at was around 65 F. I did some research and read that you need to keep the bottles above 70 F at least for the first week while conditioning.

Was my storage to cold for the yeast to start up again?

What I did was this past Monday was I made an make shift incubator out of boxes and sheets and used a small space heater as a heat source. I got the bottles up to about 69 F within a few hours. Last night i pulled out a bottle to check on it and noticed on the bottom of the bottle when i held it up to a light i could see a thin layer of white sediment forming. I may be wrong but does this mean that the bottles have started to condition and what i am seeing is yeast that has dropped out of the beer?

I appreciate any tips, pointers and insight!

They'll condition at 65, but much more slowly.

Also, how long did you refrigerate the beer before you opened it? It needs time to absorb the CO2 from the headspace before you try it out.

If you haven't already, read my blog Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. There's even a nifty video.....

I refrigerated the beer for about 48 hours.

When the beer bottles conditions shouldn't you expect to see a thin line of sediment on the bottom of the bottle?

If you beer wasn't carbed, you never should have put them into the cold....you need to leave them at 70 degrees UNTIL they are carbed...usually for about 3 weeks before checking the carb. THEN put one in the fridge for a couple days to cool it...Open it, check it's carb then drink...if it is ready, THEN you chill down what you want to drink....

If it's not ready you check again in a nother week or so...

Since you chilled them prematurely, you NEED to take them all out, put them back somewhere warm (70-ish) and come back to them in a couple of weeks.

Don't worry if you see sediment or not, some beers the yeastcake at the bottom is nearly invisible. There's no "consistant" way as beer will "look" to appear carbed or not.

Like I said, go read my blog, get your bottles someplace warm. Start brewing another beer to keep your mind off this one, and come back to them in a couple of weeks.....This isn't a process that you control, the yeast are the bosses. All you need to do is leave them enough time, in the right temperature, to do their job..

After priming the bottles....Patience is the only thing you need to do then....

Revvy,

I appreciate the notes i am reading your blog through now.

I only tested one bottle so the rest are already chilled. I will just wait and be patient.

thank you!

Revvy,

I posted this as a comment to the afformentioned blog post but yet to get a response. I'm really interested in the answer

Revvy, You say 3 weeks @ 70* and you also say +/- 2* can mean a lot to the yeasties, so... Is it bad to store beer in a dark closest at say 70* to 80*? I understand cooler temps cause conditioning/carbing to take longer because the yeast is less active, but can higher temps like these be detrimental to bottle conditioning?

pcancila said:

Revvy,

I appreciate the notes i am reading your blog through now.

I only tested one bottle so the rest are already chilled. I will just wait and be patient.

thank you!

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I'm confused...I thought you said you bottles are flat...if they are, flat get them out of the fridge for a couple more weeks.....and put them some place warm...When they are carbed and taste where you like it, THEN you chill them down. Not before the beer is ready. If you chill them down then you retard the yeasts ability to carbonate and condition your beer....if it is in the fridge the yeast will go dormant and flocculate out (that's the sediment you usually see, dormant yeasts.) And if the yeast are at the bottom, asleep then they aren't going to be finishing the job of carbing your beer.

Revvy,

All my bottles are still conditioning at room temp. I only put one in the fridge to test how the process was coming along. Since the one beer that i tested was flat i am assuming all the other beers are flat as well.

I noticed the sediment in a beer that I pulled from the bottles that still are conditioning, not the one single beer that I put in the fridge to test.

pcancila said:

Revvy,

All my bottles are still conditioning at room temp. I only put one in the fridge to test how the process was coming along. Since the one beer that i tested was flat i am assuming all the other beers are flat as well.

I noticed the sediment in a beer that I pulled from the bottles that still are conditioning, not the one single beer that I put in the fridge to test.

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Ok, well if the beers are at room temp, then you know what to do...walk away for a couple weeks and let the yeast do their job.

I am going to take your advice and brew another batch to take my mind off the wait.

"When in doubt, brew beer!"

I have a question that is somewhat related to bottle conditioning.

I have a batch in bottles (for 1 weeks now). It is a Hefe...and one brew has a strange appearance to it.

It just so happens to be in a clear bottle. It actually has a little foam or head on top..in the airspace.

The yeast has settled out, and the color is nice, but why the foam?

Is this a bottle bomb waiting to happen?

I am confused by this one and only beer...in my batch.

Patrick

pweizman said:

I have a question that is somewhat related to bottle conditioning.

I have a batch in bottles (for 1 weeks now). It is a Hefe...and one brew has a strange appearance to it.

It just so happens to be in a clear bottle. It actually has a little foam or head on top..in the airspace.

The yeast has settled out, and the color is nice, but why the foam?

Is this a bottle bomb waiting to happen?

I am confused by this one and only beer...in my batch.

Patrick

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sounds like a mini krausen inside your bottle. what did you use to prime and how much?

chemman14 said:

sounds like a mini krausen inside your bottle. what did you use to prime and how much?

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3/4 cup table sugar.

Strange it is only in one bottle.

I put the bottle in the fridge last night...and this morning the foam has gone down!

Patrick

pweizman said:

3/4 cup table sugar.

Strange it is only in one bottle.

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More likely it's only one bottle, that you happened to have noticed. If they happened they may have come and went quite fast, it's a tiny thing after all.

Very few people except for new brewers even pay attention to their bottles so don't see what if anything is happening. Most folks just stick their bottles in a closet for 3 weeks and come back to them. Except for something like that which you may or may not see (I've only ever seen one myself on one clear bottle) carbonation/conditioning is really rather boring.

Revvy said:

More likely it's only one bottle, that you happened to have noticed. If they happened they may have come and went quite fast, it's a tiny thing after all.

Very few people except for new brewers even pay attention to their bottles so don't see what if anything is happening. Most folks just stick their bottles in a closet for 3 weeks and come back to them. Except for something like that which you may or may not see (I've only ever seen one myself on one clear bottle) carbonation/conditioning is really rather boring.

Click to expand...

So, what you are saying is I need to pull it back out of the fridge, and relax...??



Patrick

Revvy said:

More likely it's only one bottle, that you happened to have noticed. If they happened they may have come and went quite fast, it's a tiny thing after all.

Very few people except for new brewers even pay attention to their bottles so don't see what if anything is happening. Most folks just stick their bottles in a closet for 3 weeks and come back to them. Except for something like that which you may or may not see (I've only ever seen one myself on one clear bottle) carbonation/conditioning is really rather boring.

Click to expand...

I cracked this particular bottle open tonight and tried it.

It is weird it didn't taste fully carbed, and I noticed there was a couple small brown specs on the inside of the bottle. The beer didn't taste BAD...but it didn't seem right, so I dumped it.

I cleaned these bottles with Star San.

What could have caused a couple brown deposits on the inside of a bottle?

Color me confused.

Patrick

I know the thread is old-ish, but it's relaed to my question, so why start a new one?

Speaking of conditioning; I bottled a batch(Red Ale) on Monday(May 17). I am storing it upstairs in a dark closet. I know I am much warmer than 21*C. Try 25-28* over the last few days. I can't control the weather, and the room faces the sun until about 12pm(all our rooms do, we are in an appt). I assume the beer will carbonate fast, but what about quality? How will it be affected by the higher temperature? What do I need to be aware of?