Noob question

When I'm fermenting in the bottles....I refrigerate it...right?

I hope you arent fermenting in bottles, they will explode. Now if you are referring to carbonating or condtioning in the bottles... keep them warm enough to carbonate, dont get them too cold or the yeasties will go to sleep and not carbonate your beer. I generally keep the bottles at room temp for a couple weeks for my ales before I chill them. Does that help!?

Brewpilot

Yeah my bad...that's what i meant. After the fermentation and whatnot.....like the carbonization.

So you don't refrigerate the bottles in this process? Thanks.

Keep them at room temp, that way the yeast will ferment and carbonate just like they did in your fermentor. Like I said, I generally wait a couple weeks, test a bottle after a couple weeks and if it is fizzy enough, chill and drink the rest. Not all at once mind you. The beer will probably look CRYSTAL clear in the bottles after 2 weeks when they are warm... when they are chilled the beer will again become cloudy until the protiens precipitate out and settle... a couple weeks in the fridge and all of my beers, even the bad ones, were as clear as any commercial brew. Welcome to the hobby and the forum... want another simple recipe to add to your collection?

Brewpilot

Thanks! And yeah, that'd be great!

Also, when putting the sugar in the beer to carbonate it...somebody told us to disolve it in warm water. I am just curious...if you know....how much water to disolve it in.

jontanner said:

Thanks! And yeah, that'd be great!

Also, when putting the sugar in the beer to carbonate it...somebody told us to disolve it in warm water. I am just curious...if you know....how much water to disolve it in.

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I usually use a couple cups of water with my priming sugar.

If you haven't yet, you should check out www.howtobrew.com

-walker

Aight.

Also, one last thing.

As I am transfering my beer into the bottling bucket... it has a really sweet smell. Is this normal?

Well, it should smell like beer. Taste it, and see if it tastes ok. Also, you should do a hydrometer reading to make sure it's done fermenting. Otherwise, if you bottle too early, the bottles will explode.

Lorena

I'm pretty sure it was done fermenting.....I would maybe heard it bubble in the airlock like...well, i'm not sure, but rarely at all.

Bubbles, or the lack of them don't guarantee it's done. Do you have a hydrometer?