Bottle condition at room temp or cold?

[blawjr]

Please excuse the looong story, but here goes: I have a Belgian Witbier (kit from midwest) in the bottle and its been bottled for a little over 5 weeks now. I refrigerated one at 3 weeks and tried it, and it had a weird flavor to it...it was like a strange spiciness(?) to the aftertaste, I could smell it too, smelled exactly how it tasted. It's a hard flavor to explain but it was like a sweet spice type of taste. Anyways, I didn't care for it all so I assumed that it just needed to condition longer. I waited another week and did the same thing, tasted pretty much the same. At this point I put a few in the fridge to condition while cold, waited another week and tried one, the taste was still there, but less so. After this taste test I figured that if I condition it while its cold, it seems to get better quicker. Of course, it could just be the flavor thats supposed to be in the beer and I simply don't like it. (Perhaps i'm just tasting the coriander?) In any case, here's my question: When bottle conditioning, once I bottle it, should I let it sit at room temp, or go straight to the fridge, or wait a little while and then put it in the fridge? Whats the general consensus on this?

 

[Taygel]

It's my understanding you bottle condition at " cellar temps" so Im thinkin 55 ish. Good luck.

 

[NorthRiverS]

blaw,

Room temperature is best. It is the ideal way for the yeast to be happy and produce the carbonation you desire. Make them happy.

NRS

 

[avidhomebrewer]

Go with room temp. I age in my basement, which is around 65 or so year round. Beer turns out fine.

 

[unionrdr]

I bottle condition at 70F in my comp room. Between the comp fan,& a small oil heater,it's easy enough to do. After 3-4 weeks for an average gravity beer,they're crystal clear & nicely carbed. But,refrigerate at least 3 days. As soon as they chill down,they haze up again. It takes 3-5 days to clear up like they were when you put them in.
That's why we preach the 3-5 day chill routine. The lower your conditioning temps,the longer it'll take to carbonate/condition. It's the Ale counterpart of lagering (German for "to put away") to me. Refrigerating them after that is like cold crashing. Plus,the little bit of yeast left on the bottom of the bottle packs down tighter. It allows you to pour off more beer into your glass.

 

[Revvy]

With ales there's really no such thing as cold conditioning, cold puts ale yeast to sleep, and there ain't sleepworking yeasties that we know off.

They won't carb OR condition in your fridge in a reasonable amount of time...

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.

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."

 

[Calder]

The flavor is probably from the yeast. What yeast did you use? You might want to look up it's flavor characteristics to see if it says anything similar to what you are tasting. Coriander has an orange type flavor.

Keep at room temperature for carbonation and conditioning.

 

[Taygel]

Shows how much i know!!! I was thinking that the beer was carbonated already. Anyone have any ideas as to what "cellaring" is?

 

[Revvy]

Shows how much i know!!! I was thinking that the beer was carbonated already. Anyone have any ideas as to what "cellaring" is?

Cellaring is storing carbed and conditioned beer. That's after all the processes are done. If the temp is above it's dormancy temp, some changes will still occur, just much slower....

 

[blawjr]

Yea this taste certainly isn't orange like, so it must not be the coriander. I used Wyeast Activator pack "Belgian Witbier 3944".

As far as carbonating goes, it's well carbonated, I know I should leave it at room temp so the yeast will carb the beer, I was just wondering about whether or not letting the beer age past that point would be better done in the fridge or still at room temp.

 

[blawjr]

I think I've solved the mystery, here's the description from wyeast:

"This versatile witbier yeast strain can be used in a variety of Belgian style ales. This strain produces a complex flavor profile dominated by spicy phenolics with low to moderate ester production. It is a great strain choice when you want a delicate clove profile not to be overshadowed by esters. It will ferment fairly dry with a slightly tart finish that compliments the use of oats, malted and unmalted wheat. This strain is a true top cropping yeast requiring full fermenter headspace of 33%. "

I think I probably just don't like this yeast strain. Thanks for all your help guys!

 

[Taygel]

Now, I could be wrong here, but I would cellar it but if you can't do that, just put it where its the coolest place in your house. It should age nicely.