Bottle Conditioning Temp

[dropdeadsuit]

Hey all,

Intermediate amateur here - just moved to a new apartment and I'm getting used to the drafty, un-insulated SoCal construction.

I just brewed and bottled an ale and am conditioning it for a few weeks now ... but I just took some temperature readings in the cabinet where the bottles are resting and the ambient temp was 57 degrees at 10AM.

I was wondering:

1). Assuming it dipped a few degrees below that overnight, has / will this temp ruin the carbonation in these bottles, or will it just make it take longer? I'm using a British Ale yeast

2). Does anyone have tips or tricks on controlling bottle temps in situations like this?

thanks!

 

[Black Island Brewer]

My home is too small and too cold to bottle condition in a timely manner. It will take longer at cooler temps, and maybe not at all at 57F for an ale. I solved my problem by putting my bottles into my fermentation chamber and raising the temp to 75F.

 

[grimzella]

im not sure about the "may not carb at all" statement.. but I do agree with "it will take longer at cooler temps" I have tried this ....

3 beers...
a lighter muntons mild ale, Safale US-05
a brown ale ..British ale yeast (white labs)
and a raspberry wheat.. Danstar Munich Wheat ..

to test this idea.. I put three beer each in the man fridge.. around 38deg f
the basement is normally 68-70 deg.. even during winter. (this is where I carb up my batches) Normally, it will take about 2-3 weeks to be about 80% carbonated. still green and slightly under carbed but drinkable..

The beers placed in the fridge do carb up.. and since I had 9 beers to test.. I started drinking them around the time the basement beers were carbonated. the first one I tried at 3 weeks was not carbed up much at all.. but I could tell it was starting.. by the time I got to the last beer.. roughly 2 months, I would say it was carbonated very well.. maybe a little longer and it would have been perfect.

Yeast prob has a lot to do with this.. but my tests showed carbonation still takes place.. even tho its cold.

 

[dropdeadsuit]

Thanks for the tips and advice! Still learning the ins-and-outs of the new place (and where we can store bottles with stable temps).

Good to know the beer will still carbonate at these lower temps - I was planning on checking a bottle after two weeks but maybe I'll wait an extra week if these cold temperatures linger here. I may move the storage to a cabinet more up off the ground for now, since that area seems to be especially drafty.

 

[schmitt777]

I'm having the opposite issue, I'm getting very random over carbonation.

Doing 5 gal batches and using the 5 oz pack of corn sugar to prime in my bottle bucket.

The only variable I see is the amount of star San foam left in my secondary when i transfer from primary as well as foam in the bottle bucket and even bottles.
I have read star San is good for yeast and actually helps with fermentation so if there is some mixed in via foam during the bottle process could it be causing the over carb issue ?

Should I in fact fear the foam
Thanks
Dave

 

[Joe9216]

If your just dumping the sugar into the bottling bucket and then racking into that, your problem lies with uneven distribution of the priming sugar. always boil the priming sugar in about 1/2 gallon or less water to fully dissolve the priming sugar so that when it is dumped and racked into it it will give you the same amount of sugar throughout your batch. just be sure you cool it down to fermentation temps before you dump it so you dont kill the yeast with the high temps.

I havent had any issues racking into a bit of star-san foam even though i try to let it dissipate before i do.

 

[iijakii]

Half gallon, jesus. I wouldn't want to add a half gallon of water to my beer. You can easily dissolve it in 1-2 cups of water...

 

[Joe9216]

One of the drawbacks of typing on a phone and not proofreading.... 1-2 Cups is what is should be

 

[grimzella]

I'm having the opposite issue, I'm getting very random over carbonation.

Doing 5 gal batches and using the 5 oz pack of corn sugar to prime in my bottle bucket.

The only variable I see is the amount of star San foam left in my secondary when i transfer from primary as well as foam in the bottle bucket and even bottles.
I have read star San is good for yeast and actually helps with fermentation so if there is some mixed in via foam during the bottle process could it be causing the over carb issue ?

Should I in fact fear the foam
Thanks
Dave

I will randomly stir the 5 gallon bottling bucket .. I fill about 6-8 beers then stir.. 6-8 then stir.. its prob a little excessive.. but i'm buzzed at the time on homebrew so I don't mind the extra work

 

[schmitt777]

I will randomly stir the 5 gallon bottling bucket .. I fill about 6-8 beers then stir.. 6-8 then stir.. its prob a little excessive.. but i'm buzzed at the time on homebrew so I don't mind the extra work

I typically mix in the corn sugar with 2 cups of boiled water then cool.
Run the beer into the bottle bucket on top of the sugar/water solution and give it one good mix before bottling.

One other thought is that I have been using yeast smack packs and building a starter.