Bottle carbonation and conditioning

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mike_bkk

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Question regarding how long to leave the beer to bottle carbonate and condition.
I read that it takes generally 2 weeks to carbonate. My question is can I leave it for longer like 3 weeks at temperature?
If I were to say have a batch of beer bottled but then had to go out of town and wasn't able to get it into the fridge for 3 weeks would this be a problem?
Thabks
 
As long as you didn't go overboard on the priming sugar, and capped tightly, you should be fine. I would suggest, however, if you're leaving it for an extended period of time, storing the bottles in a lidded rubbermaid tub would be smart, just in case.
 
I usually only leave them for only 2 weeks, but often keep a few bottles for up 2 months and in most cases the beer is even better after this length of time.
 
Question regarding how long to leave the beer to bottle carbonate and condition.
I read that it takes generally 2 weeks to carbonate. My question is can I leave it for longer like 3 weeks at temperature?
If I were to say have a batch of beer bottled but then had to go out of town and wasn't able to get it into the fridge for 3 weeks would this be a problem?
Thabks
Let me clarify a few misconceptions in your post.
1. It only takes about 24 to 36 hours to carbonate your beer. However, at this point the beer will pour with no heading at all, just like your can of Pepsi.
2. If you do some testing you will discover that at a week your beer will form some head when poured but it will not last long.
3. Many variety of beers will be fairly mature at 3 weeks at room temperature, forming a good, long lasting head. This is not true of all varieties of beer. The darker the beer and the higher the alcohol content, the longer the beer will need to mature. My robust porter does not seem very robust until about 3 months at room temp. The "Deception Stout" I make was still improving at the end of the second YEAR but that was the last bottle.
4. I store my beer at room temp. It may be drunk fairly soon (IPA, Pale Ale) because of the oxidation that destroys the hop aroma but often spends several months at room temp.
5. Use your hydrometer to verify that your beer has completed fermentation. Two identical readings at least a day apart that are near or below the expected FG are needed. Once your beer has completed fermentation you don't have to worry about bottle bombs provided you calculate the proper amount of priming sugar and it gets well mixed before you bottle the beer.
 
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Question regarding how long to leave the beer to bottle carbonate and condition.
I read that it takes generally 2 weeks to carbonate. My question is can I leave it for longer like 3 weeks at temperature?
If I were to say have a batch of beer bottled but then had to go out of town and wasn't able to get it into the fridge for 3 weeks would this be a problem?
Thabks
3 weeks is not a problem, though the flavor may continue to change a bit. I generally let my darker beers condition for an additional 2 to 4 weeks after carbonation so some of the flavors mellow a bit.
 
5. Use your hydrometer to verify that your beer has completed fermentation. Two identical readings at least a day apart that are near or below the expected FG are needed.
I agree, except that I would give it 3 days between readings. And since a standard hydrometer is difficult to read to the nearest gravity point, I use a narrow range bottling hydrometer. It has hash marks every half point, and it can easily be read to a quarter point. I recommend it as a safety measure.
 
e. My question is can I leave it for longer like 3 weeks at temperature?
What temperature?

If you are talking about anything less than 80°F (27°C) then as long as you wish. Though you should sample it every so often and if it gets to the perfect taste you want it to be, then it'll probably be better to keep it in cooler temps so it doesn't pass that perfect taste up before you drink it.

For me, I've found that my beers taste better 3 to 6 weeks after bottling than when only a couple weeks from bottling. Though if you are doing very hoppy dry hopped beers, then sooner might be better for them going by what I read from others. I don't do extremely hoppy beers and don't dry hop either.

Why 80°F (27°C)? I just pulled that out of my.... hat.
 
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