Question about storage once brew is bottled

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I live in Northern Ontario, the weather is getting colder.

I bottled my home-brew about two weeks ago. I decided to store the bottled beer in my basement cold room/storage.

It's chilly in there, but not really really cold. Was this a mistake? Or will it just take longer for the yeast and sugar to carbonate? Should I take the bottle beer out to carbonate in a warmer environment?

I also used carbonation drops this time. I also see a few carbonation bubbles rising the surface -- is this okay? (again I didn't notice alot of this in my first batch because it was a darker beer)

Also this is the 2nd batch I've bottled -- different type of beer though. This one is similar to a corona. It is light colored and I notice a lot of things floating around in the beer. Is this bad? They appear to be crystal like things floating around, almost like tiny chips of glass (it's not glass)

Thanks
 
You'll want to keep your beer right around 70F until they're carbed up. Usually this can take up to 3-4 weeks. Pop one open in like 3 weeks to see if they carbed correctly. If so, you can the bring them into cold storage. I wouldn't keep the temps too low until they are carbed up correctly just to make sure they do indeed carb up for you.
 
Was it an ale or lager? I will assume it's an ale since that's what we brew the most.

The cold condition is great for lagers, but not ales. When bottle conditioning ales the room temp should really be closer to 70 than 60.

It will carbonate, but it'll take much longer to get there. I'd recommend moving it back into a warmer room for a week then check a bottle. If it's carbonated enough then it's ready to place back into the cool/cold storage area. If not, then give it another couple of days or a week.

As for the floaties...it's probably just some leftover yeast. It'll fall out in the cold.
 
If it helps, realize there's a difference between the time it takes to carb and condition a beer, and the storage process. Gravity and temp are the two most important factors in letting a beer carb and condition. 3 weeks @ 70 degrees is about the minimum time it takes for a normal gravity beer to come to carbonation. The higher the gravity and/or the lower the temp, and it will take longer.

And just because a beer is carbed, it doesn't necessarily mean the beer doesn't still taste bad. It may need more time to lose what we call greeness.

I discuss the process in this blog...
Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning.


After you reach the point where the beer is carbed to a level you like and tastes good, THEN you think about storage. Most of us just chill down a few bottles of beer at a time and drink them leaving the rest at room temp til they have more space in the fridge and are low (that's what I do), while others have the space to cellar their beer, move it to a cooler place til they need to restock the fridge, while others have room to fridge their entire batch (lucky bastiges). Either way doesn't matter.

It's only how you store the bottles before they are carbed/conditioned that the temp is more crucial to getting them done sooner.

But if it's below 70, it will take longer for them to be ready.
 
I don't plan on openning these for a while... it's a mexican czerenza (spelling). I'll move them to a wamer place.

Thanks for all the advice.
 
Remmy I noticed you live in Michagan... I live their... can you recommend any home brew stores perhaps no more then an hour away from the Sault?
 
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