Bottle carbing temperature

[owenslj]

So, I brewed and bottled my first batch ever. American Amber all Extract kit. So far, so good. I went cheap and only got one bucket (with a spigot), so after 3 weeks in primary, I made my corn sugar primer, cooled it, and put it in my sanitized brew kettle, then moved it from the primary to the brew kettle with a nice whirlpool flow via the spigot, trying to minimize sediment transfer. Then, of course, I had to clean out and sanitize the primary and siphon the beer back to it for bottling with tubing. Definitely gonna spend the $17 for another bucket and $10 for an autosiphon before the next batch. I was REALLY worried about oxidizing the beer. We'll see, I guess. Anyway, It's been in the bottles for 3 days now, at a fairly steady 68F. I'm a nervous nelly, so I've worried over every step in the process. I've looked all over the forums here, and the general consensus seems to be bottle carbing is best at 70-75F. I have a room upstairs over the garage with independent thermostat. The question is, would it be worth moving the bottles up there, and setting the thermostat to, say, 72F for a while? I'm planning 3 weeks total to carb, then refrigerate. (Of course, I plan to open one at one week and another at two weeks, just for the sake of science). Also, the bottles are in a plastic tub, with a thermometer inside the tub. That's the temp I'm using, not the ambient room temp.

Thanks in advance!

 

[HistoryBrewing]

Warmer is always better when you want them to carb up. That said, I wouldn't worry about moving them to that other room unless it's convenient. Three weeks at a steady 68 should still do the trick. It kinda just depends on how carbed you enjoy your beer.

You could always move some up to that other room and leave the others in the room that's 68 and see if there's a significant difference with a two to four degree rise in temp.

 

[trogdor447]

My room is round about 68-70 degrees on a normal... I have the beer in the corner, might be a little chillier from the wall radiating cold off the window. Regardless mine are usually fully carbed in 2 weeks. Keep in mind your yeast are still active and thats what is causing them to carb, might give off flavors if you pull it up too high

 

[unionrdr]

Also,when you build your bottling bucket,buy the red & white Italian spigot for it. It has a recess on the end of the spout that fits 5/16" or 3/8" tubing. 5/16" fits tighter. Or the end of my 3/8" tubing pirated from another piece of equipment is stretched out. Anyway,I put the bottling bucket on my fermenter stand with the bottling bucket on the floor with the racking tube half way 'round the bottom of the bottling bucket to induce a swirl. This pick of my bottling bucket showes how low I put the spigot (1 on right);
http://[URL=http://s563.photobucket.com/user/unionrdr/media/PICT0003_zpsd8b211ca.jpg.html] [/URL]
I also show a closer view in my gadget videos on youtube. This tap height allows for little tipping of the bottling bucket to get all but the last couple TBLSP's of beer out,leaving any grainy bits behind.

 

[owenslj]

Thanks for the quick responses! I like History's idea of moving some bottles to the warmer temp. I'm all about experimentation and data collection. Hopefully, that will serve me well in my new favorite hobby!

Slainte!

 

[unionrdr]

In really cold weather,I've had the boys move my boxes of beers to the master bedroom,the warmest room in the house traditionally. That works quite well.

 

[dickproenneke]

A while back I received some (bad) advice concerning the OP's question.

My home is small and stays pretty cold in the winter. It's difficult for me to find extra floorspace, let alone enough *warm* extra floorspace to condition 2 cases of bombers. I did manage to free up some space next to a heating vent in my office, but I was concerned about conditioning temps exceeding the widely accepted 68-74F range. I posed my question here on HBT. An experienced brewer assured me that the bottles would be fine even with hot air warming the bottles in excess of 80+. General agreement on the thread was the same. The brewer asserted that because such a minute amount of fermentation is taking place during the conditioning process, excess heat isn't going to effect the flavor profile of the finished beer. So I think GREAT! It's a win/win. No off-flavors plus my beer will be carb'd up sooner with the warm temps. Well, it turns out that the brewer's advice was only half true. My beer did carb up very quickly at high temps. But unfortunately my stout also had a perceivable clove/spice/banana-like flavor that I associate with belgians. Same thing happened with a blonde ale the next month. I know for a fact that the off-flavors were not present during bottling, only after. Live and learn. From now on, I will only condition at the high end of my yeast's manufacturer stated temperature range. With the exception of some belgians that may actually benefit from hot bottle conditioning.

 

[unionrdr]

I've never experienced that in all the beers I've bottled,& some got up near 90F in warm weather. You also have to remember that some off flavors will be light enough or not very detectable till the beer carbs & conditions. Then the carbonation brings it out. The flavors you descripe are mainly produced during initial fermentation,where most of the fermentation takes place. The little bit used to produce carbonation in the bottles shouldn't be anywhere near enough to produce major off flavors.

 

[dickproenneke]

I've never experienced that in all the beers I've bottled,& some got up near 90F in warm weather. You also have to remember that some off flavors will be light enough or not very detectable till the beer carbs & conditions. Then the carbonation brings it out. The flavors you descripe are mainly produced during initial fermentation,where most of the fermentation takes place. The little bit used to produce carbonation in the bottles shouldn't be anywhere near enough to produce major off flavors.

That is what I initially thought, and I wouldn't call it a major off flavor but certainly noticeable. I generally ferment cool using clean ale strains (chico and notty) and watch my FV temps like a hawk. Never had any issues with off-flavors when the bottles were conditioned around 70F, but in excess of 80F there was a perceivable difference.

 

[unionrdr]

That's strange,I never experienced perceptable off flavors just from bottle carbing. I still wonder if it's just something you couldn't percieve till carbonated.

 

[dickproenneke]

I still wonder if it's just something you couldn't percieve till carbonated.

Interesting. I may de-gas one of the beers in question to see if the off-flavor becomes any less noticeable.

 

[unionrdr]

That'd be a start. We're never done learning as brewers.