Bottle-Conditioning Temperatures

What temperature is best to condition my bottles at? I was thinking of giving it two weeks at 68 F ish and then leaving in in the fridge for the last week. What temp. do you keep your bottles at?

I keep them at room temperature until carbed, then store either in the laundry room (in the 50's) or basement.

I'm not an expert by any means because the last two brews I did, took 4-5 weeks to develop carbonation in the bottles. My problem was that it was a bit too cool in my storage area (65 F) and my yeast worked very slow. After 3 weeks I realized the problem (plus some questions answered on the forum) and I gently agitated the bottles and placed them in a room that was 72 F. Now they are carbonating nicely.

mew said:

What temperature is best to condition my bottles at? I was thinking of giving it two weeks at 68 F ish and then leaving in in the fridge for the last week. What temp. do you keep your bottles at?

Click to expand...

Just like Yooper said. I go 2-3 weeks at room temp is good.

When its been cold in the house, and the beer was pretty clear at bottling, I also try to get them at the higher fermenting temp for the 1st day or two. (68-72'F) I have a warm spot in the house that I use for this.

For best results don't put them in the fridge until the 3 weeks are up. Also if they are right at the 3 weeks let them sit in the fridge two days before popping one open. The cold will reduce the internal pressure and let them carb a little more. If you can't wait the two days, after they've chilled, let it warm up for 5-6 minutes before opening. The carb will increase slightly.

I've had my Dunkelweizen in bottles now for over 5 weeks, and they're still fairly flat. Over two weeks ago, I moved them from the 60 degree garage to the top shelf in my closte, with a heating pad, spacer, and an overcoat over them. Getting temps from 70-75 degrees. Yesterday I opened one, and it's still flat.

Is there any hope for this batch?

I want to repeat the batch, but I don't know what to change. I don't think the primary fermentation has anything to do with carbonation, but that first 2 week ferment may have never reached 70 degrees. Is it possible it's related?

hoppyhopman said:

I've had my Dunkelweizen in bottles now for over 5 weeks, and they're still fairly flat. Over two weeks ago, I moved them from the 60 degree garage to the top shelf in my closte, with a heating pad, spacer, and an overcoat over them. Getting temps from 70-75 degrees. Yesterday I opened one, and it's still flat.

Is there any hope for this batch?

I want to repeat the batch, but I don't know what to change. I don't think the primary fermentation has anything to do with carbonation, but that first 2 week ferment may have never reached 70 degrees. Is it possible it's related?

Click to expand...

What was the OG? Bigger beers take longer to carb and condition.

Sorry for the late reply. Its OG is 1.06.

I opened another the other day. No apparent increase in carbonation.

Elsewhere on this forum, someone suggested, maybe as a last-ditch, to shake the bottles over a period of a couple of days, then wait another week, presumably to break up any flocculation (I do see some minor flocculation) and maybe get some more fermentation. I'll try this on a couple of bottles.

Another thing I saw is to actually open the bottles, put in a few grains of dry yeast, and cap them again.

Your thoughts?

I would leave them alone at 70+ degrees for at least three weeks before I opened them up to add some yeast though.

The 3 weeks at 70 degrees, that we recommend is the minimum time it takes for average gravity beers to carbonate and condition. Higher grav beers take longer.

Stouts and porters have taken me between 6 and 8 weeks to carb up..I have a 1.090 Belgian strong that took three months to carb up.


Temp and gravity are the two factors that contribute to the time it takes to carb beer. But if a beer's not ready yet, or seems low carbed, and you added the right amount of sugar to it, then it's not stalled, it's just not time yet.

Everything you need to know about carbing and conditioning, can be found here Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. With emphasis on the word, "patience."

Lazy Llama came up with a handy dandy chart to determine how long something takes in brewing, whether it's fermentation, carbonation, bottle conditioning....



If a beer isn't carbed by "x number of weeks" you just have to give them more time. If you added your sugar, then the beer will carb up eventually, it's really a foolroof process. All beers will carb up eventually. A lot of new brewers think they have to "troubleshoot" a bottling issue, when there really is none, the beer knows how to carb itself. In fact if you run beersmiths carbing calculator, some lower grav beers don't even require additional sugar to reach their minimum level of carbonation. Just time.

I've carbed hundreds of gallons of beer, and never had a beer that wasn't carbed, or under carbed or anything of the sort (Except for a batch where I accidently mixed up lactose or Maltodextrine for priming sugar). Some took awhile, (as I said up to six months) but they ALL eventually carbed.

I don't believe there are ANY carbing problems (besides the rare capper that maybe puts a bad seal on a bottle, or tired yeast in a HIGH gravity beer) that isn't simple impatience.

As I said in my bottling blog, it's really a fool proof process, you add sugar, keep the beer above 7 and wait.

Revvy said:

Click to expand...

it's amazing how difficult that equation is until you see that diagram!

NordeastBrewer77 said:

it's amazing how difficult that equation is until you see that diagram!

Click to expand...

Yeah, Llama was a genius!

I've started adding about 2 grams of fresh Nottingham when I bottle some beers. The fresh yeast definitely helps in getting the beer carbonated and since it has a low fermentation range it will carb the beer at cooler temps.

Love it. The diagram's hilarialous.

It's a relief to know that this part of it is actually very simple; us engineers have an attraction to complexity. I've seen this over and over in the forums -patience may be the hardest part.

One more question, though: considering that my Hallertau hops included a clarifier, is the sediment I see a further indication that it needs more time, or is that unrelated?

Oh jesus it's another engineer homebrewer... go find the poll, and check yourself in

EDIT: here
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/whats-your-occupation-engineer-non-engineer-135492/

Thanks for the poll, Bomber, which I've completed.

Soooo.... my question remains: Could the unwanted sediment I see be related to this prolonged lack of carbonation?

hoppyhopman said:

Thanks for the poll, Bomber, which I've completed.

Soooo.... my question remains: Could the unwanted sediment I see be related to this prolonged lack of carbonation?

Click to expand...

You mean "wanted sediment"? Right? Let me ask you this... what do you think that sediment is?

I always call that yeast poop. Since it's left over from the caronation production process with a few biproducts. CO2 and the sediment at the bottom which the yeast have farted out....aka yeast poop.

beerloaf

MuchoGusto said:

You mean "wanted sediment"? Right? Let me ask you this... what do you think that sediment is?

Click to expand...

i think he means excessive or UNwanted sediment. i'd also venture to guess he's aware of what that sediment is. some of us do our best to limit the amount of yeast at the bottom of the bottles.

I don't think its usually yeast but trub from the fermenter when there is excessive sediment. Cold crashing is a good way to reduce that, and not rousing the bottom of the fermenter when transferring to the bottling vessel. If you look at some bottle conditioned Belgian ales where the beer is often times filtered before being primed and re-yeasted, the amount of yeast is very slight. Plus, yeast will usually get pretty compact on the bottom of the bottle whereas trub will always stay kind of loose and want to wash into your glass.

bottlebomber said:

I've started adding about 2 grams of fresh Nottingham when I bottle some beers. The fresh yeast definitely helps in getting the beer carbonated and since it has a low fermentation range it will carb the beer at cooler temps.

Click to expand...

@BottleBomber, how long do you wait to use the remaining 9 grams of Notty in a brew after you use the 2 grams to bottle?

LTownLiquorPig said:

@BottleBomber, how long do you wait to use the remaining 9 grams of Notty in a brew after you use the 2 grams to bottle?

Click to expand...

I don't add the 9 grams, I keep the open packet for this purpose. It's fine, its not going to go bad or get infected or anything. I just fold the packet closed with a clip on it and keep it in the butter compartment in the beer fridge with all the other yeast.

This is interesting: I've had an Arrogant Bastard clone that has been slow to bottle condition (slightly flat, sweet, and low alcohol after 6 weeks). I think this is because my first three weeks in the bottle were slightly under 70 deg.

Five days ago, I put two bottles in the fridge. One I tasted after 4 hours, and it had the above qualities.

Today I took the other one out and tasted it - almost perfect. HUGE difference. I'm happy, but I don't get it!

Generally, brewing instructions say to chill the beer for 24 hours before serving. Could there be something that happens during that final chilling?

There is. CO2 is able to dissolve in colder beer. All the gas in the headspace goes into solution. The same thing is true of oxygen as well though, so if you've been cold crashing a batch it is best to take it out and let it come to room temp before you do anything with it, as it is way easier to get oxidation problems when it's 38 degrees

Wow. I had no idea. This is great news, because I have a Dunkelweizen batch from November that has the same qualities, and it may now be good.

Once again, patience is the hardest part of brewing.

Thanks so much, guys!