Testing brew after a week, to chill or not chill

I'll start by thanking everyone for all posts and the information you each provide on your brewing advice. I have bottled my first ever batch, a simple Irish Red. Typical newbie thing, 9 days in primary, 12 days in secondary then bottled (have a brown ale now that I will not transfer to a secondary based on most opinions here). It's been bottled for 9 days now. I did a test early on to really get to know the conditioning process. Unfortunately here in NE Ohio I haven't been able to get the temps above 70 for long, it's staying about 68 to 71.

After 5 days I put a bottle in the fridge for 1 day. Opened it and absolutely no carbonation which is what I expected (still dreamed of frothy head and more bubbles than a Don Ho song). However the wife...sorry SWMBO...and myself thought the taste was really good. So I want to do another test tomorrow or the next day on another bottle. Is it recommended to chill the bottle for testing or is better to test one a room temp? I may be misunderstanding but it's seems the chill make knock out some of the co2 that I am trying to test.

Thanks in advance!

Brian

definitely refrigerate it before opening.

cooler liquids can hold more gas (CO2) in solution than warmer ones, so chilling the beer for a period of time will help lock that CO2 into solution. otherwise your beer can possibly release the gas if it's too warm, and will foam out all over.

PolishStout said:

definitely refrigerate it before opening.

cooler liquids can hold more gas (CO2) in solution than warmer ones, so chilling the beer for a period of time will help lock that CO2 into solution. otherwise your beer can possibly release the gas if it's too warm, and will foam out all over.

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Wow, thanks for the prompt feedback!

Chilling it will also help the sediment to compact on the bottom. But it is still quite early to drink it; 4-6 weeks in the bottle will really help your beer.

You didn't mention it, so I have to ask... Did you add priming sugar before bottling?

I know it's way too early to deem the quality or carbonation but I want to kinda chart the progress of conditioning as I have never brewed before. I am trying to keep decent journals of my first two batches. Or at least it's a good excuse to drink the beer to help calm my non patient self. Hell, kegs are looking better already after bottling just one time. But, it was some nice bonding time with my daughter. Probably not to many 6th grade girls who can bottle beer. I thought it would make a good talent show.

stubbornman said:

You didn't mention it, so I have to ask... Did you add priming sugar before bottling?

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Yes, it was just the 5 oz package the came with the kit. I used Revvy's idea and poured part of the primer into the bucket first and then the other half about mid way through siphoning. But, I didn't really stir it all.

Four additional days really isn't enough to make a big difference.

I try to keep my "sampling" intervals to a week.

Think about it, each one is one-less good beer you'll have in the end. The BEST beer is always the last one you open.

but if he and his wife enjoy it, let them sample away!

my beer has been done fermenting for a while now (about 2 months in primary) and I haven't gotten around to bottling it, but I certainly have enjoyed pulling several mugs over the past few weeks and drinking them uncarbed.

PolishStout said:

but if he and his wife enjoy it, let them sample away!

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Oh, for sure. It'll jus tmake them brew bigger batches and more frequently.

And I thought I was I'm a rush to sample my wares at 2 weeks.

Houston....we have bubbles! I could taste the difference in today's test. A little crispness to the beer. Nothing exciting but the beer poured and bubbles rose to the top of the glass. Most of them stuck to the sides of the glass. No head but definitely a difference from Friday's test. Pretty happy about the slight increase in carbonation. Plus I got to have a beer! Saturday will be another test at the 2 week mark. I don't know but I think I'll have some drinkable beer at the 3 week mark. The pipeline is starting!