Alt Bier Cold Conditioning Question

[Everything_Bagel]

Hi everyone,

I'm pretty new to homebrewing and I recently bottled my 3rd batch (an Alaskan Amber partial mash). My problem: I thought this was a simple amber ale. My roommate and I love the beer so we just looked up the ingredients and brewed it with WLP-029 yeast. When i looked at the instructions (http://www.byo.com/stories/issue/ar...0/117-alaskan-brewing-cos-alaskan-amber-clone) after brewing I realized that it requires cold conditioning!

So here's what I did: Not having the temp range to cold condition (or a secondary fermenter for that matter), I left the beer in the primary for two weeks at 60-70F. I bottled it yesterday and it's sitting at the same temp.

My question: Should I throw the bottles in my mini-fridge and bottle-condition at 40-50F for a few weeks or should I just leave it at 60-70F. If so, how long should I wait to put them in the fridge. Thanks for the help!

 

[Everything_Bagel]

I've been measuring the temp of the fridge and it gets down to 42. Any thoughts?

 

[Yooper]

Well, first let them carb up fully for two to three weeks. Then, if you want to do some cold conditioning stick them in the fridge for two-three weeks.

 

[Draken]

I've been measuring the temp of the fridge and it gets down to 42. Any thoughts?

If your fridge only gets to 42 you have other food safety issues. 40-120 is the range for bacterial growth in food. You need to drop the temp in the fridge or start thinking about a new one. Yes you are on the very low end of the scale, but it likely means the fridge has an issue that will only get worse with time.

 

[Everything_Bagel]

don't keep food in there. it's a mini-fridge. I'm gonna do a few things: Keep 1/3 of the beers in the mini-fridge at 45F, 1/3 at 55-60F in a wine cooler we have, and 1/3 at room temp for 2 weeks with cold conditioning for another few weeks. I'll let you know how it goes

 

[Yooper]

don't keep food in there. it's a mini-fridge. I'm gonna do a few things: Keep 1/3 of the beers in the mini-fridge at 45F, 1/3 at 55-60F in a wine cooler we have, and 1/3 at room temp for 2 weeks with cold conditioning for another few weeks. I'll let you know how it goes

They probably won't carb up under 63-65 degrees.