Bottle Conditioning - Full Carbonated 6 days

[cmscott]

I have been brewing for about a year and a half and have done around 15 batches.

A week ago I bottled a smoked milk stout I had made a while back and wanted to see if I could recreate. The first batch I made took a little over 30 days in the bottle of my 68 degree basement to get a nice creamy head.

The batch I bottled last week I popped a tester yesterday (exactly 7 days after bottling) and to my surprise it was fully carbonated (in fact perhaps a hair too carbonated). I put a couple more that morning in the fridge to see if I had a one off and when popping them that night they all were fully carbonated.

I ended up putting the full batch in my refrigerator as I wanted to stop the carbonation process.

The questions I have is that enough to stop the process or could I end up with bottle bombs still?

The beer could use some more aging can I move them back to my cellar after 2 days cooling down or can I just age them at refrigerator temps to make sure there is no more co2 produced?

 

[progmac]

that's fairly normal. at 6 days, the co2 hasn't really absorbed into the liquid, it is, i think, mostly in the headspace. anecdotally, i've noticed that beers that I open sooner than 10 days hiss and pour with a large head that dissipates to nothing, almost like soda. i don't see any reason to put them all in the fridge at this point.

 

[cmscott]

Already in the fridge - if I pull them back out after 24 hours what did I lose?


The head was not a quick dissipating, in fact I was doing other things and when finishing the beer I had opened 20 minutes later there was still a nice creamy lacing ontop. The beer was if anything just a hair to bubbly for a stout but the co2 certainly seemed to be dissolved into the beer.

 

[DSorenson]

From my understanding there are a few things at work here:

1) time to ferment the sugars in the bottle. For most moderate gravity beers, I cannot imagine this takes very long. My barelywine isn't carbonated at all in 4 weeks. A mild I produced was done in about 2 weeks- perhaps shorter, but I can't know for sure.

2) cold fluid temperatures. CO2 dissolves better in cold liquids. This means that putting your beer in the fridge is required before decent carbonation can be achieved.

3) Cold storage. I store my beers in the fridge a minimum of 2 days before opening, but longer is better. The cold temperatures cause more particulates to fall out of suspension. If these particulates are still in suspension when the bottle is opened, they behave like little agitators that knock the CO2 out of the solution.

So it is possible you are experiencing the effect of carbonation in your beer, but it is unlikely that your beer is properly carbonated. As progmac alluded to, there are different qualities of carbonation.

 

[DSorenson]

Already in the fridge - if I pull them back out after 24 hours what did I lose?


The head was not a quick dissipating, in fact I was doing other things and when finishing the beer I had opened 20 minutes later there was still a nice creamy lacing on top. The beer was if anything just a hair to bubbly for a stout but the co2 certainly seemed to be dissolved into the beer.

Feel free to pull them out, it will not hurt anything. What you are describing is unlikely, but it might be possible. Still, without suitable time in the fridge, I am surprised the beer is behaving as you describe.

Also feel free to leave some in the fridge and see what I mean about the fridge time.

Take careful notes on this experience, as you will benefit from this later.

You might find that your beer will be significantly over carbonated in a few more weeks.

 

[cmscott]

I had been doing a run of higher gravity beers which have benefited from at least 30 days in my cellar but as I am still a bit of a newbie I taste every 7 to 10 days to see how things are progressing. This beer ended up clocking in at about 4.2% so that is a factor.

This is my first batch I recall feeling was pretty right on the carbonation so soon and in a worry about possible bottle bombs and loosing a great tasting beer I got it all cold.

My first one tasted had about 12 hours in the fridge and the next 2 had only 6 hours. I will leave a couple more to go for for 48 hours and move the rest back to the basement.

These beers would have had 7 days at around 70 degree 30 hours in the fridge - when would be a good time to pull another 1 after moving them back into the 70 degree?

 

[progmac]

in the summer this does all tend to happen at a somewhat accelerated pace. it sounds like OP has a well-carbed beer. Might as well drink 'em!

 

[DSorenson]

I had been doing a run of higher gravity beers which have benefited from at least 30 days in my cellar but as I am still a bit of a newbie I taste every 7 to 10 days to see how things are progressing. This beer ended up clocking in at about 4.2% so that is a factor.

This is my first batch I recall feeling was pretty right on the carbonation so soon and in a worry about possible bottle bombs and loosing a great tasting beer I got it all cold.

My first one tasted had about 12 hours in the fridge and the next 2 had only 6 hours. I will leave a couple more to go for for 48 hours and move the rest back to the basement.

These beers would have had 7 days at around 70 degree 30 hours in the fridge - when would be a good time to pull another 1 after moving them back into the 70 degree?

The fact that it was only 4.2% definitely plays a role here. I say if you were happy with the results, go ahead and drink um. The fridge time definitely plays a role. Leave one in the fridge for a week. On the 6th day, put a new bottle in. On the seventh day try them back to back. You'll see the difference!