Bottle conditioning on HVAC vents

mvaughan06 · Feb 10, 2012

hey guys. just did a newcastle clone from Midwest, i bottled them this last Sunday (2/5/12) and i figured I'd see if they were progressing any. threw one in the fridge until it was cold, and popped it open. there was only a faint hiss when i popped the cap off. poured the beer, zero head, brew is flat as a board.

yes, i know it's only been 5 days, but i figured they would be somewhat drinkable. my 3 previous brews have been ready to drink after a week.

so, i started to panic and started doing some searches. I've been storing them in our guest bedroom, on the bed. only possible problem i can think of is that since the room is unused, i get the HVAC vent closed. so the room is noticeably cooler than the rest of the house, which the thermostat is set for 67 degrees. my guess is that the room they've been in is roughly 60 degrees, possibly cooler.

I've got a case with about 18 or so 12oz-ers. and another with 12 22oz bombers. i went ahead and shook all of the bottles for 3-4 seconds vigorously to get the settled yeast re-suspended.

since the house's thermostat is set on 67, and what I've read most prefer to condition bottles at 70-75, I'm curious if there would be a problem setting the boxes on top of the heat vent to keep them a little warmer than 67. since the furnace runs here and there it's not like they'd be constantly heated, with possibility to overheat / explode / etc.

do you guys think this is something that would be beneficial to the brew for carbonating? or do you think the fluctuation in the temp going up and down would be too much and cause a problem.

i know carbing takes patience, i just don't want to have them sit around forever and not be carbed because they were too cool.

thanks

GTaylor · Feb 10, 2012

Had to do that with my latest batches, placed them around the vent in a spare bathroom and they carbed up nicely. No explosions so far, I do rotate them around so that all sides get a little bit of the heat at some point.

Revvy · Feb 10, 2012

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.

And just because a beer is carbed doesn't mean it still doesn't taste like a$$ and need more time for the off flavors to condition out. You have green beer.

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."

If a beer isn't carbed by "x number of weeks" you just have to give them more time. If you added your sugar, then the beer will carb up eventually, it's really a foolroof process. All beers will carb up eventually. A lot of new brewers think they have to "troubleshoot" a bottling issue, when there really is none, the beer knows how to carb itself. In fact if you run beersmiths carbing calculator, some lower grav beers don't even require additional sugar to reach their minimum level of carbonation. Just time.

I've carbed hundreds of gallons of beer, and never had a beer that wasn't carbed, or under carbed or anything of the sort (Except for a batch where I accidently mixed up lactose or Maltodextrine for priming sugar). Some took awhile, (as I said up to six months) but they ALL eventually carbed.

Stauffbier · Feb 10, 2012

Revvy said:
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.

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Did it take them 6 to 8 weeks to CARB or 6 to 8 weeks to mellow out? My stouts are carbed after 1 or 2 weeks, but seem to take much longer to gain a good taste....

Revvy · Feb 10, 2012

mvaughan06 · Feb 11, 2012

ok guys. thanks for the input. i ended up putting them on top of the bloody in my laundry room, i have 2 other brews in buckets in there with the temp reading 70. the bedroom i had them in was probably too cold, my guess would be 58-60 degrees. there's a noticeable difference between the hallway (67°) and waking into that room.