I chilled my beer right after bottling... HELP

Hey all, I am really upset with myself after misinterpreting some instructions. I bottled my beer almost 6 days ago and I really screwed up. I capped and put them in the fridge immediately. I was under the impression that the beer was supposed to be conditioned in a chilled environment. Is there anything I can do to save it or am I just SOL at this point and stuck with a delicious FLAT IPA? Any input or suggestions are welcome, hell insults are welcome at this point.. I am so upset with myself over this. PLEASE HELP!

 

Welcome!
It will be fine, just take them out of the fridge and shake them up pretty good.
Let them sit at room temp for a week. (65F-75F)
Shake them up again.
Let sit for one more week.
Chill one and drink it.
If good then chill all and enjoy.
If not, repeat.

 

Do what wedgwe said except drinking after 2 weeks... Read this and repeat "Three Weeks at 70, Three Weeks at 70"

In actuality it may be 4 or 5 weeks, because it may take your yeast a few days to get up to speed after being forced into dormancy by the cold.

But either way, you haven't caused irreperable harm.

 

There's no problem. You've just delayed the carbonation a bit.

Warm up the beer to at least 70 °F and wait 2 weeks more before opening one.

 

The yeast ate a hundred times more sugar in five days.
ime, 2 weeks carbing at ~68°F followed by at least one week in the fridge is plenty for anything in the 60-point or lower OG range...

Cheers!

 

Maybe, maybe not... the point is, if it's NOT carbed in the 2 week you predict, he shouldn't declare that there's something wrong... he just should wait longer. That ultimately it will all be fine... that carbing is both foolproof and finicky.... and the timeline is defined not by US, but by the yeast... That's why in situations like this, I err on the side of saying longer than shorter.... Plus I find drinking bears early in the hope that it will be carbed, and it ends up not being...is just a waste of beer. Me, personally I'd rather have 2 cases of perfectly carbed and condition beers.. then sample a few because I was impatient and have less GOOD beer.... but that's just me.

 

Back when I was bottling that worked every time - except for my stouts. Those took the extra week of warm conditioning, but no more time in the fridge.

Tip: when bottling, use one 12 ounce plastic soda bottle as a "sentinel". Squeeze that puppy every few days.
When it's rock-hard they're all ready for the fridge, no guesswork required...

Cheers!

 

Don't shake your bottles. Let them warm to room temperature then gently invert a couple of times to suspend the yeast.

 

Thank you all so much for your responses. This makes me feel a lot better. As soon as I get home I am going to get these beers out of the bridge. This is clearly my first batch. I did primary fermenter for 17 days, secondary for 14 days, dry hoppping for final 6 days in the secondary. I fermented at about 64 degrees. I am about 5 weeks in and looks like I will have about 3-6 more depending. I am very excited.

 

While waiting, brew more!

 

I want to. Initially I was going to wait until the first batch was completely finished and ready to drink before I started my next one, only because it was my first time and I wanted to see how it turned out. I don't think I can wait another 3 weeks minimum before starting my next batch.

 

I want to. Initially I was going to wait until the first batch was completely finished and ready to drink before I started my next one, only because it was my first time and I wanted to see how it turned out. I don't think I can wait another 3 weeks minimum before starting my next batch.

 

Make more beer now... it's called building up a pipeline. Having beers at different stages of fermentation and conditioning means that you won't run out of beer for one thing, also that you'll be able to let batches condition longer which means they'll have plenty of time to improve.

You'll also get more benefit from by actually improving your PROCESS by brewing in these next few weeks than you will for sitting around for 3 weeks waiting... PLUS you'll be less tempted to "sneak" a few to "check the carbonation level" if you're actively engaged with other beers.

If you only have one fermenter and one secondary, AND you're choosing to move to a secondary rather than extended primary like many of us are doing.... you have the perfect opportunity to have 2 more beers ready to go by the time you've drunk this batch...

Brew, then in 2 weeks move that batch to secondary, and brew another batch in primary.

And then when you're bottling your second batch you can be enjoying your well conditioned first batch of beer.

If you're worried that this one might not turn out or whatever and that's why you're delaying... your beer will turn out FINE... it's really hard to screw up a batch... Look at what you did... you think you screwed up and we're telling you it will be fine, because we know from experience it will....

There's no logical reason to not brew in the interim, except your fear.....

And this isn't a hobby about fear... it ain't rocket science....it's one of the oldest and easiest processes on this planet for making a consumable product. It's been done since cavemen times with a lot less sophistication and know how (and things like sanitizers) than we have now...

The only way we usually ruin our beers is trying to "fix" a problem that isn't there... panicking that the airlock is not bubbling and messing with it... stuff like that.

Read this article and get brewing again, you'll learn more in the next 3 weeks by brewing than you will by not brewing and thinking you're going to learn MORE by drinking your beer in three weeks....

 

I am beyond pleased with my IPA. I can't thank you guys enough for pointing me in the right direction. I am also pleased with how exciting this new hobby is. The community surrounding it is out of this world! 🍻🍻🍻

 

It's beautiful, and it's only going to get better from here.

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That is a beautiful beer. Congratulations!