Storage Temperature & Time

I will be bottling my 1st homebrew later this week sometime and have a couple of questions about the bottling process.

1.) Once the bottles are clean and dry, how long can they sit before you need to use them?

2.) What temperature should you store your bottles at during the 2 week carbonation time?

3.) What temperature should they be stored at after the carbonation period?

4.) How long will they last at "X" degrees after they are bottled?

My basement is unfinished and was hoping to store the bottles there in case one of them decides to blow up. I know that the basement is cooler than the house, but I haven't gotten a chance to measure the temperature yet. I would guess that it's somewhere in the 60's. Would it be OK to let the bottles sit in the basement to condition, or do they need to be held at the 70 degree mark where I am holding the secondary.

Thanks!

I'm no expert, but I think it might be a better idea to store your bottles in a cardboard box in the house (hopefully 70-75 degrees) for the first week or two, then put it down in the cellar. I've noticed that my recently bottled brews taste great and carbonate in just 3-5 days in my house (which is in So-California and ~75 degrees). Fortunately, you have the advantage of having a slightly cooler place to cellar your brews after they finish carbonating. Cheers to that! Wish I had a cellar

I'm also interested in storage temperatures, both for long term bottle conditioning and basic "keeping them fresh" after 3 weeks of conditioning. Is there a recommended range for different brews, or does anyone have some experience stories they can tell?

Jason

There are no hard and fast rules on this stuff...

I usually bottle condition my beers in the same place where they fermented, if possible; which is a closet upstairs during the cool moths and in the basement during the hot months. I figure this puts the least amount of stress on the yeasties while they do their final work in the bottle.

As far as storage temps, the aging process will go faster at higher temps and slower at lower temps. Beer held in cold storage (under 40 F) will change in character only very gradually. If you're cellaring beer in order to improve (mature) the flavor, you probably want it a little warmer than that. I keep all of my beer that's not refridgerated at any given time on my basement floor, which runs in the 58-68 range. I think that's a touch on the warm side in the summer, but it's the best I can do.