Bottling Temps

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jvotava91

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I am a college kid so in my house we do not like to pay expensive heating bills so we keep our house at about 60 degrees. I have read that the beers should stay at about 70 degrees in order to get it to carb. Should i invest in a space heater and heat my room up to about 70 or what would be the best option? I am going to brew an amber ale if that maters.
 
Depending on your yeasts temp threshold which 60 should be fine (a little on the low side) the bottles will carbonate it will just take a longer period of time. If you have the money to hear your area I would go ahead and do it but if not you will still get carbonated beer it will just take longer
 
I think I might go ahead and buy a space heater i saw one at lowes the other day for 15 bucks. I think I can afford that. How much longer do you think it would take?
 
Hard to say how much longer it would take at 60 rather then 70, I would say definitely at least another week up to maybe three extra weeks. What yeast did you use?
 
Put a thermometer on top of your fridge, and see how warm it gets there. Usually it's pretty warm with the residual heat coming out of the fridge, and since heat rises... It might be easier to just put your bottles up there. Personally I'd be nervous running a space heater 24/7 because of the fire hazard potential.
 
I haven't actually brewed it yet I will brew it sometime this week I just thought I would know my plan before I actually get too deep into it.
 
Okay one last question. How do you know when its carbed? Is there a way to tell or do you just open one up and try it?
 
Just pop one 7-10 days after you bottle. That's the easiest and you get to drink a beer.

Some people use a trick where they bottle one of the brews in a plastic soda bottle with a screw on lid. The pressure builds up and when the bottle is hard you know your carbed up. This is mostly used for people looking to pasteurize sweetened ciders before they blow up.
 
You could also go the way of putting the bottles in a big water bath with an aquarium heater. I used this method for years.
 
I like Stauffbier's idea about checking the temp on top of the fridge. If that doesn't get up around 68 to 70F I would go with a small space heater (with proper cut offs for overheating or tipping over) and set it up in a closet. The small space will heat nicely without costing too much. Just be very careful about making sure nothing hanging in the closet will make contact with the heater.

Michael
 
I keep my beer in the same room I have my fermenter and it is 62 degrees in there. I do not brew high gravity batches so that might be why I never have a problem with the beer as long as I wait three weeks before trying them.

A pipe line is a thing of wonder though. Often times I will leave the beer alone for about 6 weeks and then put it in my cellar for another week or 2 before a week in the fridge. Build up a pipe line and your beer will taste better I promise you.
 
unattended space heater = big safety issue

one with thermostat = still a safety issue, still wouldn't leave it unattended
I couldn't have said this any better!

I like Stauffbier's idea about checking the temp on top of the fridge. If that doesn't get up around 68 to 70F I would go with a small space heater (with proper cut offs for overheating or tipping over) and set it up in a closet. The small space will heat nicely without costing too much. Just be very careful about making sure nothing hanging in the closet will make contact with the heater.

Michael

Sorry, I'm not trying to argue with you, but I find this to be bad advice. Again.. It's all about safety for me, and an unattended space heater is a ticking time bomb in my opinion.

I do like the idea an earlier poster had about the water bath with an aquarium heater, as I believe they are more stable and reliable for continuous use. YMMV!
 
You can go to a pet store and get a ceramic or infrared light bulb. They use them to keep terrariums warm for lizards and screw into a normal lamp. You can hook that up to a thermostat or one of those eBay aquarium temp controllers everyone on this site loves (including me) and use that. It's like a space heater without the safety risk.
 
Isn't light bad for beer though? A heating pad around ur fermentor helps a ton! Or set the fermentor on it. Works like a charm up here in the mountains of Colorado when it's tits cold!
 
Isn't light bad for beer though? A heating pad around ur fermentor helps a ton! Or set the fermentor on it. Works like a charm up here in the mountains of Colorado when it's tits cold!

Yeah I should have been clearer. The ceramic bulbs are literally made of ceramic. They emit no light, just get warm. The infrared lights are ok because it's the UV light that messes with your beers. If you want though, you can throw a sheet or something over the bottles while they carbonate or just store them in a box.
 
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