Noob Bottling Question- Advice needed.

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Robusto

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Hi all-
I have what is maybe a dumb noob question. I have not brewed my first batch yet (I ordered my equipment, but have not received it yet), but have some concerns about brewing up 5 gallons of beer. I have enough bottles, but I live in an apartment and have a small fridge. If I take up half of the fridge with bottles, my wife is going to have a fit.

So, my question is; can I bottle it all and then put half in the fridge (after the brew is allowed to carbonate), and then keep half in a cool, dark closet? Will this hurt the beer not put in the fridge? Or, would it be better to bottle half, and then put the other half in a 3 gal secondary fermenter and leave it alone until later?

Thanks for the help,

Fred
 
You can bottle and only put one bottle in the fridge at a time if you want. I keep a 6er or so in the fridge and most of them on a shelf. No need to refrigerate a properly bottled beer until you're ready to chill it.
 
Yes you can store it at room temp. Just put some in the fridge a day before you plan on drinking.

What about "cold conditioning"? I was reading (I can't remember where, as I have been reading every thing that I can find about brewing) that you should refridgerate the bottled beer for at least a week before enjoying. a nother source said a min of 48 hours?

Any thoughts?

Thanks again-
 
i let mine sit in my garage and they have all turned out fine (except my Choc Rasberry Stout :( ...) I always allow my bottles to sit in my fridge for atleast a week to cold condition and drop the yeast out of suspension so it isn't being poured into my glass. The longer you let it sit the clearer it gets but only to a certain extent...eventually most of the yeast drops out and you get a clear beer. Let them sit a week and you should be good- were not talking about rocket science- just beer...
 
As the other posters noted, your carbed beer can sit at normal/cool room temps until you are ready to chill and drink.

Normally I keep 1-2 bottles of each carbed beer in the fridge so I have a choice. This usually means 6-8 beers in the fridge. My wife donated a shelf in the fridge to my beer stuff so I have plenty of room to store beer, yeast, etc. She probably did it to reduce fridge clutter, but I am grateful either way.
 
yeah you want to bottle condition at room temperature for at least 4 weeks, and anytime longer than that will certainly not hurt your beer whatsoever, it will probably help it actually (unless your keeping at like 90 degrees or something). and a day or 2 in the fridge i think is sufficient for dropping most of the yeast out of suspension so you're not drinking them all the way through. once you've bottle conditioned long enough, you're fine to throw a few bottles in the fridge at your leisure... no need to put them ALL in the fridge at once.
 
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