Thoughts on bottle carbonation time?

I bottle my beer using PET plastic bottles 1 qt size. They works quite well for me. The fact that you can do a squeeze test on the bottles to feel if they are carbonating or not is a small plus. Generally it is suggested that you give the bottles a couple of weeks to carbonate before putting them in the fridge. I was wondering how much this time frame could be shortened without experiencing problems?

I have found that the bottles are quite flexible to the squeeze when first filled and usually start firming up by the next day. Within a couple of days they are very hard to the squeeze almost like a glass bottle.

So my question, how long/short of a time from bottling to refrigerating? Ballpark answers are fine........all thoughts appreciated.

Thanks

I don't know how the time differs between PET and glass, but I generally assume 3-4 weeks for glass bottles. Of course, most of that isn't really carbonating, it's letting the beer age, lose the green flavor, and develop the proper taste. My experience has been 3-4 days for actual carbonation.

I am thinking the 3-4 days is about rite. At least to the squeeze test. My thinking is that after the carb period is mostly taken care of that any conditioning, clearing, settling will be better accomplished in the cooler temps of the fridge vs the more moderate temps of the basement or the house in cooler weather. I may be wrong on that point but I have read before that one way to condition in the fridge if space is an issue.........rotate the cold conditioning bottles with the ones sitting at room temp. Which would lean my thinking to........if carbing is accomplished..........colder conditioning is better is available.

I may be wrong in this thinking and why I am asking for opinions.

Thanks

Enoch52 said:

I don't know how the time differs between PET and glass, but I generally assume 3-4 weeks for glass bottles. Of course, most of that isn't really carbonating, it's letting the beer age, lose the green flavor, and develop the proper taste. My experience has been 3-4 days for actual carbonation.

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Watch that you're not in such a hurry, because nothing good happens in brewing when you're in a hurry. Go to the store and buy a brand you want to try to make. That said, you can drink beer anytime after you bottle it. The quality will just vary. Starting out, it is a good way to learn to be patient about the conditioning process as you can taste and see the difference each week makes.

For me waiting two weeks to try the first bottle is now the norm. I stopped testing at one week because every beer I tired in that time frame wasn't ready, so no need to continue that process. Two weeks beers are good, but not great. 3 weeks on every beer has been spot on good. So I leave it to you and your preference for how you want your beer to taste.

I used Cooper's 740mL PET bottles for my 1st couple of batches. Now using 11.2-12oz glass bottles,I see no difference in the amount of time needed for good carbonation & conditioning of flavors & aromas. Even with the PET bottles,3 weeks at room temp was ok,but 4 weeks was def better.
And at least a week in the fridge for any chill haze to form & settle out & co2 to get well into solution. That's for average gravity beers. Bigger beers will need more time.

Thanks for the ideas. I understand the time=good beer thing. My question leans more in the direction of time at room temp vs time at colder temps total time being more or less the same. In other words if a sufficient amount of carbing has taken place, be it 3 days, a week or 2 weeks........is there any reason to keep the beer at room temp the longer time frame vs getting it into colder storage and cold conditioning?
That said......my experience has been that the last bottle out of a batch is generally better tasting than the first bottle (assuming consumption over a period of several weeks and not all at one sitting) LOL.

lgilmore said:

Watch that you're not in such a hurry, because nothing good happens in brewing when you're in a hurry. Go to the store and buy a brand you want to try to make. That said, you can drink beer anytime after you bottle it. The quality will just vary. Starting out, it is a good way to learn to be patient about the conditioning process as you can taste and see the difference each week makes.

For me waiting two weeks to try the first bottle is now the norm. I stopped testing at one week because every beer I tired in that time frame wasn't ready, so no need to continue that process. Two weeks beers are good, but not great. 3 weeks on every beer has been spot on good. So I leave it to you and your preference for how you want your beer to taste.

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Thats along the lines of my own thinking also. 3-4 days. I am really not concerned with the PET vs Glass part as for the time being I have no intentions of going the glass bottle or kegging route. That is subject to change of course........ tomorrow, next week or down the line but after a couple of years and many batches.......the PET bottles have worked out just fine for me.

Enoch52 said:

I don't know how the time differs between PET and glass, but I generally assume 3-4 weeks for glass bottles. Of course, most of that isn't really carbonating, it's letting the beer age, lose the green flavor, and develop the proper taste. My experience has been 3-4 days for actual carbonation.

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vnzjunk said:

Thanks for the ideas. I understand the time=good beer thing. My question leans more in the direction of time at room temp vs time at colder temps total time being more or less the same. In other words if a sufficient amount of carbing has taken place, be it 3 days, a week or 2 weeks........is there any reason to keep the beer at room temp the longer time frame vs getting it into colder storage and cold conditioning?
That said......my experience has been that the last bottle out of a batch is generally better tasting than the first bottle (assuming consumption over a period of several weeks and not all at one sitting) LOL.

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Well,most of the time,2 weeks in bottles generally isn't long enough for good carbonation & a "mature" beer. The last bottles of the batch tasting better to you bares this out. So 3-4 weeks at room temp is a good average.
That said,If you have a cooler place to store them after you know they're carbed & conditioned,then storing them there would help them last longer certainly. If you have a dedicated beer fridge & can get most if not all of them in there when they're ready,so much the better. They'll taste better longer & head/carbonation & clarity will def be great.

Thanks... I would think cooler temps storage wise (not fridge time) would slow things down a bit compared to warmer temps. With summer rolling in and temps here in WA getting into the 70's and 80's it became time to switch my beer location for storage downstairs in the basement where temps are in the 60's and fermentation slows down for both buckets and bottles, which is a good thing as the last two batches have had slight blowouts fermenting in my office. Now downstairs in a much cooler room (10-20 degrees) fermentation seems to be going very "nice". Steady consistent and not overly violent bubbling.

So, I think cooler will mean slower conditioning for sure, but you also might get a better tasting brew out of the deal.

Don't condition them down there. 60's is too low for the yeast to carbonate in a reasonable time,if at all. I've had them stall out being a lil too cold. Carb & condition in warm temps,store them in cooler temps.

It depends on the beer as well as process in my experience. Beers that I have cold crashed and lagered take much longer to carbonate due to the lower amounts of yeast in suspension. I have an English IPA (1 week cold crash) that still hasn't carbed up completely after 6 weeks and a lager that is going on 5 weeks that is still under carbed and very green. The common 3-4 weeks is a general rule, but there are exceptions. Big beers can take a long time to carb up and mature as well.

vnzjunk said:

Thanks for the ideas. I understand the time=good beer thing. My question leans more in the direction of time at room temp vs time at colder temps total time being more or less the same. In other words if a sufficient amount of carbing has taken place, be it 3 days, a week or 2 weeks........is there any reason to keep the beer at room temp the longer time frame vs getting it into colder storage and cold conditioning?
That said......my experience has been that the last bottle out of a batch is generally better tasting than the first bottle (assuming consumption over a period of several weeks and not all at one sitting) LOL.

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Basically, what UnionDr was saying is that you want to condition at room temperature. When you try to condition too cold, you lose some of the effectiveness. This isn't to say that your beers won't be helped by a FEW DAYS in the fridge prior to drinking . . . but do the actual conditioning at room temperature (high 60's low 70's) . . . that's the best way to develop the flavors you want fastest. Then, if you're going to store them for some time, and have somewhere in the mid to low 50's, that would be ideal. Finally, give them at least 24 hours in the fridge prior to drinking them

"Don't condition them down there. 60's is too low for the yeast to carbonate in a reasonable time,if at all. I've had them stall out being a lil too cold. Carb & condition in warm temps,store them in cooler temps"

You didn't quite read or comprehend my post. Right now my "fermenters" are down in the basement because the temp is in the 60's (low) and it works great for fermentation. My office in the summer can hit 85 which is not good for beer bottled or bucketed. Logic calls for moving it downstairs where the temp is much cooler.

Yes, it can take longer to carb up, a week or two more. But as a faithful brewer I usually have at a minimum 3 different brews that are ready now to drink and I do not have to rush through the process for drinkable beer.

Honestly 75% of the brewing problems listed in this forum center around being in a hurry. Brewing consistently and building inventory allows you to be patient in your brewing, which in turn gets you better results.

I've learned "never" be in a race to bottle. It takes a long time to make a beer taste bad by waiting. The opposite seems to happen a lot when you rush. It seems to take no time at all.

According to me it depends on the type of wine and how the wine is stored.

Crysta Waston said:

According to me it depends on the type of wine and how the wine is stored.

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FYI this is a 2013 thread about beer