Bottle Conditioning or aging

Just curious to know some of the different effects that temprature can have on your beer when conditioning or aging...

I believe colder temps when carbing will slow the process. Could be completely wrong though.

Boy said:

I believe colder temps when carbing will slow the process. Could be completely wrong though.

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Correct, if your prime carbing since the yeast need to be at a fermentable temp to eat up the sugar. Cold temps with ale yeasts would stop the carbing process.

But, cold temps will slow the effects of aging a beer as well, like trying to maintain hop aroma and flavor as an example.

Thanks guys...appreciate it

Warm after priming then cool for long term conditioning depending on the style.....then in the fridge for a couple of weeks works for me. Generally speaking...the higher the ABV...the longer you may want to condition. Amazing how a beer transforms in time.....

norsk said:

Warm after priming then cool for long term conditioning depending on the style.....then in the fridge for a couple of weeks works for me. Generally speaking...the higher the ABV...the longer you may want to condition. Amazing how a beer transforms in time.....

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This beer is a Scottish Ale brewed with Heather tips...its roughly 5.5% and looks real nice...the problem is...and maybe its not even a problem but as I was doing weekly test on it in the secondary it was super nice and clear...after bottling I think it stirred up the yeast a little and seems to be a little hazy...Not sure if I did something wrong during bottling or if it now just needs more time to settle again but in the bottle...it seems to be clearing up somewhat after a week and I am going to crack one open to see what it is doing and then I will go from there...but it is conditioning in the bottle now at around 70-71F...We used a Edinburgh yeast...

Does anyone know if the cloudyness will go away in time with conditioning or aging? This beer was super clear and then when I bottled it got really hazy and cloudy...did I do something wrong? Will this go away in time?

unionrdr said:

Yeah,the cloudiness will settle during conditioning. Then,when chilling,it may get some chill haze. But this settles out with up to 5-6 days in the fridge,ime.

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That is good to hear...maybe we will just have to age this one for about 3-4 months

I feel it is best to carbonate at room temperature so the process isn't slowed to a crawl. Once carbed, the beer can be cellared and conditioned at cooler temperatures to help slow the maturation process and prolong the peak period of your beer.

Yeast settle during this time and will fall to the bottom of the bottle, clearing the beer. If there is a certain degree of chill haze that is noticed upon placing the beer in the fridge, letting it sit for a couple weeks in the fridge should take care of this (except in extreme cases.)

nefarious_1_ said:

I feel it is best to carbonate at room temperature so the process isn't slowed to a crawl. Once carbed, the beer can be cellared and conditioned at cooler temperatures to help slow the maturation process and prolong the peak period of your beer.

Yeast settle during this time and will fall to the bottom of the bottle, clearing the beer. If there is a certain degree of chill haze that is noticed upon placing the beer in the fridge, letting it sit for a couple weeks in the fridge should take care of this (except in extreme cases.)

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I believe I will do this method...its got another week for carbonating then I will bring to the basement which is cooler but not fridge temp...let it do its work for a couple months...

unionrdr said:

Well,once it's been in the bottles for a minimum of 3 weeks,you can chill some in the fridge just till the chill haze clears. This can be a couple of hours to 5-6 days on average.
Most average gravity beers don't need to sit for a couple of months at cellar temps.

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Hey thanks for the tip! I will take note of that indeed!

The cooling worked nicely...I threw one in the fridge in the morning and tested when I got home about 9 hrs. later...needs more time in the bottle as it was only 1 week but it is doing great. By throwing it in the fridge helped clear it up a bit, it was still not as clear as it was when I pulled samples from the secondary but I feel in time it will settle and get that nice clear look again...It had great carbonation and the taste was not too bad...I will test again after another week and then move them into our basement where it is cooler and for aging...test again in about 2-3 months and see where we are at...