bottling best practice...

after a couple brews Im kinda hit or miss with the carbonation. Im trying to figure out why.

My typical process has been prime with 5 oz sugar dissolved in water added to the bottle bucket. bottle and place in cases. Store in closet for a week or two at about 67-70 degrees. Then I have moved them to the garage for a couple more weeks. The garage is about 50 to 55 degrees. Is that a problem or should I simply let the bottles age in the closet at a fermentation temp for the whole time?

What is yalls procedure? I dont really ever remember seeing or reading anything on where or at what temp to bottle age.

Three weeks at 70* F. is the dogma. Big beers may take longer; cooler temps may take longer. That's just for conditioning; if you're talking about aging, I try to get them cooler for longer, after the conditioning phase is done.

That said, I almost always crack a bottle at one week, and another after two. Gotta see how it's doing!

What frazier said, and make sure you get that bottling sugar mixed around well without aerating the beer.

bacchusmj said:

My typical process has been prime with 5 oz sugar dissolved in water added to the bottle bucket. bottle and place in cases.

Click to expand...

5oz is only a median amount. I found that out the hard way. Different styles need different volumes of Co2, so the amount of priming sugar varies.

bacchusmj said:

Store in closet for a week or two at about 67-70 degrees. Then I have moved them to the garage for a couple more weeks. The garage is about 50 to 55 degrees. Is that a problem or should I simply let the bottles age in the closet at a fermentation temp for the whole time?

What is yalls procedure? I dont really ever remember seeing or reading anything on where or at what temp to bottle age.

Click to expand...

Temperature has a major effect on carbonating b/c it affects the activity levels of the yeast. Warmer = faster aging/conditioning, colder = slower. I leave mine in the closet for a few weeks, then pop them in the fridge a few days before I begin to drink them.