Bottle Conditioning Question.

[Keepcalm]

Its been 4 ,5 weeks since i bottled my first brew. I used the primming sugar that came with the kit and followed the directions.

Question is do you have to put all the bottles in the fridge at some point or is it ok to only fridge before you plan on drinking?

Kind of seemes like the beers are to carbonated.

Thanks,
Keep Calm

 

[JimRausch]

If they are carbonated to your satisfaction, then you can fridge them as you have room. Personally, I store them in insulated boxes in my garage and move them into the fridge when I have room. By the way- I have 15 insulated boxes in my garage (each hold 42 bottles) and SWMBO is starting to complain......

 

[GHBWNY]

Treat your bottle-conditioning as you would your primary ferm, since priming is a "mini-ferm" of sorts. I bottle-condition at room temp for 3 weeks, then put in fridge for a week. The cold pushes the CO2 back into solution and helps settle any micro-debris that may have been excited during priming.

 

[Keepcalm]

Would you also do that if you were going to age a stout? Or would you leave that at room temperature until ready to drink?

Thanks,
KeepCalm

 

[JimRausch]

No, once fully carbonated, I believe it's best to keep them as cold as possible to lengthen their lifespan.

 

[JBrady]

No, once fully carbonated, I believe it's best to keep them as cold as possible to lengthen their lifespan.

This

 

[PADave]

Would you also do that if you were going to age a stout? Or would you leave that at room temperature until ready to drink?

Thanks,
KeepCalm

Once you chill, you slow down the ageing process greatly. For a stout, I leave at cellar temps, good things can happen over time. For something you want to keep fresh, the fridge would be best.

 

[RM-MN]

Would you also do that if you were going to age a stout? Or would you leave that at room temperature until ready to drink?

Thanks,
KeepCalm

I leave my stouts at room temp to age but never more than 2 years..... because I keep sampling them and then they are gone. At 2 years my stouts are very good.

 

[hottpeper13]

I bottle 1/2 of the (Black Friday ish) barrel aged RIS and keg condition the rest with maple syrup,keep it at ~70* for 3 weeks then cellar for .....well 2015 is as far back as I can go for now , so I started making 10 gal a year. I would like to go far enough in the past to say(5-6 years) it's time to finish this batch cause it's not getting any better.

 

[kh54s10]

I don't believe that the chill to lengthen their lifespan applies to all styles. For an IPA possibly. For a Stout if you chill them when fully carbonated, IMO, you are changing the aging process.

For what it's worth I have always kept only 6-12 beers chilled at a time. I have drunk some of my Stouts in a period from 2 months aging to 2+ years. The ones that I put in the fridge at almost 2 years were better than the ones at 2 months. The peak in flavor was about 20 months.

In lighter beers that I drank faster, I could not see any difference from the 6 pack I chilled at 3 weeks conditioning to the ones that sat in the basement for a couple of months before being chilled.

Another consideration is that I often have a couple hundred bottles of beer. I don't have the capacity to chill them all at the same time.

 

[eadavis80]

Almost all my beer - all styles - stay in a bedroom at room temp. I just throw 1-2 in the fridge before work and have 1-2 when I get home. They taste fine. As for the OP's "overprimed" concern, if you used all the priming sugar that comes with the kit, it's probably too much. Most kits have 5 oz. of priming sugar, but most styles only require 3-4 oz. for a 5-gallon batch. Check out a free priming sugar calculator to see how much priming sugar you should really use. https://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator