Bottle conditioning experiment

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kendrid

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While this is an "I told you so" type of story, here it is few the new guys.

I brewed the MW extract Autumn Amber Ale kit on 1/2 and bottled it two weeks later on 1/17.

One case of beer went into my daughter's bedroom closet which is in the low 70s (probably 70) while the other was in my basement which is 60.

Tonight I had my first two homebrews ever. The first was from the closet and it was really good. I know it isn't done by any means but I was anxious to try it. It was very nicely carbonated, had a smooth taste and nice smell. I was happy.

The second beer from the basement would have been a huge disappointment if I didn't know what was going on. While it was carbonated it is very sweet and clearly a "green" beer.

So listen up new guys, the temperature at which you bottle condition matters a lot. I am putting both cases into the closet until 2/7 where they will then be three weeks old. At that time I will pull out 8 or so that have always been in the closet and chill them and try again. At that point I figure they should be great since they are good now.
 
Absolutley. From now on, I am not touching my beer until 4 weeks after bottling. It's ok after 3, but I can taste a hint of green. I'll try to hold out until 4 weeks, maybe longer once I have a few more batches completed. The anticipation is tough on your first batch.
 
I do have a follow up question: how long do I need to keep the bottles at 70 degrees? I have a pale ale that I'm letting sit on the primary for 3-4 weeks which puts me at bottling in two weeks. I can't take up all of the closet space in the house... :)

After the pale ale is bottled I will be getting batch three going. While I don't drink that much I want to have a decent supply "well done" so I won't want to break into young beer.
 
Time is probably more of a factor than a 10 degree temperature variation. Most bottle conditioning gets even better after 5-8 weeks in the bottle. The temperature difference wouldn't be that significant over the longer period of time...
 
I'd think if the ten degrees made a difference for the first two weeks it would continue to for a while.
 
I have an unfinished basement with an unfinished bathroom. I put a blanket over the door and purchased a heater with a thermostat set at 70.

My last 7 batches that I have put in there are fully carbed in 1 week. Yea - green but I no longer worry about carbonation.

After 3 weeks they are transferred to the rest of the 55 degree basement for further aging/drinking.


all-hail pipe-lining.
 
I live in an apartment and for better or worse my apartment is on the south side of the building. Even during the winter there isn't a single place in my apartment that is below 72*F if the thermostat for the apartment is set at 72*F, which is kind of inconvenient because once I've conditioned my beer to my satisfaction I don't have a nice cool basement to store it in.

Here's a n00b question, should I be concerned about letting my beer condition past perhaps 2 months in such conditions?
 
kendrid,

4 weeks from brew to drinking is awful fast. I'm still very much a noob but I have learned that it pays to wait. My first batch I did everything too fast and the beer quality suffered. I am now leaving the beer in the primary for 3 -4 weeks. I am not even checking the gravity before 3 weeks. I'm using a secondary for cleaning up so I don't bottle until 4 or 5 weeks after brew day. Then bottle and in the closet for 6 weeks. I recently did a brown ale and a dutch style ale (Heinekin/Grolsch sort of). At 6 weeks both were good but the brown ale was a little sweet. So I waited 2 more weeks on it. At 8 weeks I tried the brown ale again and it was fantastic. Those 2 weeks, from 6 to 8, made a huge difference. I am only taking a few bottles out of the closet at a time and I notice that every week the flavor improves. So the point is, give it time. I know it is hard but it really pays off. If you test your beer too early you get disappointed and start thinking you did something wrong. Keep your brew schedule going and at some point in the future you can start drinking your beer and as long as the pipeline stays full you won't have any problem waiting for the beer to fully mature.

Dennis
 
Dennis - I know I rushed this first batch. I am slowing down for my second batch since I'll have this amber (and store bought) to tide me over.

I know my beer is far from done but there is such a huge difference in taste between the 70 degree conditioned beer vs the 60 degree beer that it seems like if I left it in that 70 degree closet for 5-6 weeks it would be better than the same beer in the basement after 5-6 weeks. I guess I could do an experiment and leave that one case in the basement and see how it compares to the closet beer after 4/5/6 weeks. I am interested to know if maybe the 60 degree beer will catch up to the 70 degree beer after x weeks. I figured maybe someone had done this experiment already.
 
kendrid,

4 weeks from brew to drinking is awful fast.


What I'm beginning to suspect is 4 weeks in primary, 2 weeks in secondary, and 8 weeks bottle conditioning will give you good beer, what .... maybe 90% of the time on a typical brew?

Never tried this schedule yet ... That just seems to be the common consensus, and where I'm headed.

The written kit instructions are crap.
 
What I'm beginning to suspect is 4 weeks in primary, 2 weeks in secondary, and 8 weeks bottle conditioning will give you good beer, what .... maybe 90% of the time on a typical brew?

Never tried this schedule yet ... That just seems to be the common consensus, and where I'm headed.

The written kit instructions are crap.

I really wonder why all of the kits are written "wrong". I'd think they would get more business if they taught new brewers how to properly age their beers.
 
I doubt the kits turn many new brewers off. Those who are looking for "ok" beer, are getting it with the kit instructions. Those who are looking for tastier beers after being unimpressed with the kit instructions are coming here to hear the voice of experience and to learn how to tweak their kits/recipes to their own tastes.
 
Dennis - I know I rushed this first batch. I am slowing down for my second batch since I'll have this amber (and store bought) to tide me over.

I know my beer is far from done but there is such a huge difference in taste between the 70 degree conditioned beer vs the 60 degree beer that it seems like if I left it in that 70 degree closet for 5-6 weeks it would be better than the same beer in the basement after 5-6 weeks. I guess I could do an experiment and leave that one case in the basement and see how it compares to the closet beer after 4/5/6 weeks. I am interested to know if maybe the 60 degree beer will catch up to the 70 degree beer after x weeks. I figured maybe someone had done this experiment already.

Yeah, I think it will definitely take longer at 60 degrees because your yeast is going to get sleepy and work much slower. The 60 degree beer is greener than the 70 degree beer, and green beer is unimpressive, I can vouch for that. Living in Houston, I don't have any 2 places with different temps so I only get the closet at whatever temp, average is probably low 70's. Now what the cellar would be good for is a place to store your beer after it has finished conditioning and before you get it inthe fridge. I think it would be better to store it in a cooler location after its done.

Dennis
 
What I'm beginning to suspect is 4 weeks in primary, 2 weeks in secondary, and 8 weeks bottle conditioning will give you good beer, what .... maybe 90% of the time on a typical brew?

Never tried this schedule yet ... That just seems to be the common consensus, and where I'm headed.

The written kit instructions are crap.

That is certainly a schedule that will give you good beer. If you wanted to shorten that, I would say 3 weeks in primary, 1 week in secondary and 6 weeks conditioning will still put you in good shape. Most beers, but not all, will be in drinking condition by then, I believe (remember I'm still a noob).

I started drinking the dutch style ale at 6 weeks and it was delicious. But it has definitely improved beyond that with extra time in the closet. If I was making it for a party or something I would have no problem serving it at 6 weeks conditioned. The brown ale on the other hand was not ready at 6. I'm not sure why, maybe because it is primed with brown sugar????? But 2 more weeks and it was so good I wanted to kick my dog.

Dennis
 
I really wonder why all of the kits are written "wrong". I'd think they would get more business if they taught new brewers how to properly age their beers.

On my first batch I was simply following the instructions given by my LHBS. I still get my ingredients there but don't take their advice as gospel. I have found that it's best to post your questions here and see what advice you get. I have learned a ton from this website and it is often contradictory to what the LHBS says. I suspect they, the kit makers and LHBS's, want you to get done ASAP so you will start another brew and buy some more stuff, but I agree that in the long run it seems like it would only turn customers away. Or at least they are going to go elsewhere for advice.

Dennis
 
The most common schedule is 1-2-3. 1 week in primary, 2 weeks in secondary, and 3 weeks in bottles, usually followed by another 1 week in the fridge.

Not saying 4 -2 - 8 is wrong or anything. But 4 weeks in primary seems like a helluva long time for an ale. My fermentation is usually done (confirmed by hydrometer, not counting bubbles) within 5-6 days, even with re-hydrated dry yeast. Then I get that puppy off that mess of dead yeast cells and into a nice clean secondary for 2 weeks or so. Keep in mind some beers don't require a secondary at all, and some people have sworn off the secondary entirely and produce excellent beer still.

The 8 weeks bottle conditioning is great for most beers, if you can wait that long, but some beers may 'peak' sooner than that, depending on your personal tastes.
 
4 weeks is . . . ok . . it is long but not wrong. I go 2-1-3. And love new beer. Heck I think once beer gets a few months old it starts to lose it's sparkle. Plus - I just make better beer then I did months ago LOL
 
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