bottle conditioning

I am about to bottle a Dead Guy clone this weekend. This is just my 4th batch and all previous brews have been IPAs. The recipe I am going by doesn't say how long to bottle condition...does anybody know if this ale will need two weeks in the bottle like an IPA or is it less time??

 

i won't touch anything before 3 weeks in the bottle. most of them i try to let sit for a month, then a week in the fridge.

 

Sometimes I go 3 weeks if I'm in a hurry, but usually I don't even look at it for a month.

 

Thanks for the info...I was hoping to have it ready for a festival we have in town in a few weeks, but I think it would be best to just let it sit and be patient!!

 

It depends on the temp of the room they are chilling in.if the room is a little warmer then they will carbonate quicker.i would say try one after 2 weeks just to see if its ready.but i agree letting stronger beers like a good IPA sit longer really improve there taste.

 

The 3 weeks at 70 degrees, that we recommend is the minimum time it takes for average gravity beers to carbonate and condition. Higher grav beers take longer.

Stouts and porters have taken me between 6 and 8 weeks to carb up..I have a 1.090 Belgian strong that took three months to carb up.

And just because a beer is carbed doesn't mean it still doesn't taste like a$$ and need more time for the off flavors to condition out. You have green beer.

Temp and gravity are the two factors that contribute to the time it takes to carb beer. But if a beer's not ready yet, or seems low carbed, and you added the right amount of sugar to it, then it's not stalled, it's just not time yet.

Everything you need to know about carbing and conditioning, can be found here Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. With emphasis on the word, "patience."

If a beer isn't carbed by "x number of weeks" you just have to give them more time. If you added your sugar, then the beer will carb up eventually, it's really a foolroof process. All beers will carb up eventually. A lot of new brewers think they have to "troubleshoot" a bottling issue, when there really is none, the beer knows how to carb itself. In fact if you run beersmiths carbing calculator, some lower grav beers don't even require additional sugar to reach their minimum level of carbonation. Just time.

I've carbed hundreds of gallons of beer, and never had a beer that wasn't carbed, or under carbed or anything of the sort (Except for a batch where I accidently mixed up lactose or Maltodextrine for priming sugar). Some took awhile, (as I said up to six months) but they ALL eventually carbed.

 

Amen!

 

What about conditioning temp? Would it make sense to bottle condition at the same temp you fermented at (mid-60's)? Or should you condition warmer? And is it as important to keep the conditioning temp as consistent as the fermentation temp?

I've conditioned my last few batches at room temperature, and they all turned out well. But we're getting into summer now so room temp will be a bit higher these days. And in my drafty old house, the temp could range from 70 to 80-something in the summer, depending on what its doing outside.

I just bottled a porter that was almost 9%. I'm planning to condition at least a month before I open the first one. I could put it in my closet like my previous batches... or I have room in my fermentation freezer (which stays around 65). Any thoughts?

 

I'm still drinking beers I brewed almost 2 years ago (had to play Army for a year).....

 

I like to condition/carb around 70. Going a bit higher than fermenting temps won't cause off flavors because the mini-fermentation isn't big enough to create by-products to really affect the taste.

Now, pushing it to 80 makes me nervous. *I* wouldn't let mine get that warm, but I can't base that on anything other than the fact that it seems TOO warm to me.

 

Playing army is no fun. Were in cleveland are you located? I am on the eastside