Bottle conditioning

[Toppers15]

All,

Question - I'm sure there are varying answers.

Ferment the beer, bottle & carb @ room temp for 2-3 weeks. What do you do after this? Throw them all in the fridge? Throw them in the cellar (50-60deg), leave them room temp?

I'm looking to figure out how I should store my beer if I have way too many on hand (which is my plan - babyb coming in June so I want to brew almost every second weekend until then)

What happens to the beer in all of those scenarios? Thanks!!

 

[Yesfan]

All,

Question - I'm sure there are varying answers.

Ferment the beer, bottle & carb @ room temp for 2-3 weeks. What do you do after this? Throw them all in the fridge? Throw them in the cellar (50-60deg), leave them room temp?

I'm looking to figure out how I should store my beer if I have way too many on hand (which is my plan - babyb coming in June so I want to brew almost every second weekend until then)

What happens to the beer in all of those scenarios? Thanks!!

After two to three weeks, just put a few in the fridge. You don't have to put all 50+ bottles in there. The beer stores don't, so homebrew should be no different. Just rotate your stock so you always have a small supply of cold brew on hand.

 

[Toppers15]

Thanks. I'm more concerned with what 'happens' to the beer at different temps as it ages. Maybe the answer is nothing.

 

[jtratcliff]

Some beers get better with extended bottle condition, some do worse.... Big, bold flavors will mellow and blend. Hops will fade.

Taste 'em over time and take notes...

 

[lowtones84]

And in general, the colder they are the slower the aging process will be. This can be a good thing or a bad thing. I typically think if you have a cellar type area that's about the best place, unless it's something that should be consumed quickly.

 

[JB_Brewing2]

I cellared all my ales and lagers with no ill effects; not sure of the impact on other styles. Certainly best to keep your bottles out of the light too. An old sweater or jacket used to cover my brews.

 

[Yesfan]

And in general, the colder they are the slower the aging process will be. This can be a good thing or a bad thing. I typically think if you have a cellar type area that's about the best place, unless it's something that should be consumed quickly.

Good point. My cousin had a batch bottled one time and couldn't understand why they were taking so long to carb up. His basement was around 73F. Come to find out, he had placed the bottles directly on the concrete floor which was obviously a lot colder than the rest of the basement. Just moving the bottles off the floor allowed them to carb up a lot faster.

 

[lowtones84]

Good point. My cousin had a batch bottled one time and couldn't understand why they were taking so long to carb up. His basement was around 73F. Come to find out, he had placed the bottles directly on the concrete floor which was obviously a lot colder than the rest of the basement. Just moving the bottles off the floor allowed them to carb up a lot faster.

Absolutely. You might not think it's that different, but even if some bottles are against an outside wall and some are a foot or two inside you might find some difference! I've been homebrewing for six years and have always bottle conditioned, Ive seen some very interesting things.

 

[RM-MN]

Absolutely. You might not think it's that different, but even if some bottles are against an outside wall and some are a foot or two inside you might find some difference! I've been homebrewing for six years and have always bottle conditioned, Ive seen some very interesting things.

For sure. I leave my bottled beer at room temp and what I have found is:

Wheat beers will gradually lose their cloudiness and become perfectly clear.
Hoppy ales will gradually lose the aroma. Takes about 3 months to lose most of it.
Dark beers will lose their sharp flavor and become more mellow, The darker the beer and the higher the alcohol the longer they take. The imperial stout I made last year has finally become pleasant to drink, one year after bottling. Another stout stayed in the bottles longer and the last one at 2 years was very smooth.

 

[Toppers15]

Thanks for all the replies.

I think I'll stick to keeping ales and smaller beers in the cellar (50-60F), bigger beers & stouts at room temp to let them mellow, and IPA's cold to preserve the hops as long as possible.

Good chat - thanks!

 

[lowtones84]

After a couple of months or so (not a real rule whatsoever) of conditioning, bigger beers I think benefit from cellar time. I have no way whatsoever to back this up, but I think the slightly cooler, slower maturation leads to a better product in the end. I could also be totally full of it Experiment and find what works best for you!

 

[ArthurDigbySellers]

I don't have enough room in my beer fridge to store all of my excess beer (too much store bought craft beer I guess) so I just leave my beer in the same closet that I condition in until I decide to move a 4 or 6 pack into the fridge to drink. This has probably resulted in IPAs that have tasted less than stellar at 6 months but I think it will be fine for the case of Yooper's Oatmeal stout that I have in there.

The problem is that I don't have a basement or other part of the house that is going to be below 70 degrees. I'm going to start brewing 1 gallon batches soon so in that case I will just refrigerate the whole batch once it is conditioned.

 

[end]

For sure. I leave my bottled beer at room temp and what I have found is:

Wheat beers will gradually lose their cloudiness and become perfectly clear.

How cloudy are your wheat beers when you start bottle conditioning? I am relatively new to brewing and this is a question I am trying to answer. Do you end up with a bunch of sediment on the bottom of the bottle?

 

[RM-MN]

A wheat beer is supposed to be somewhat cloudy and some recipes call for a tablespoon of flour to be added to the boil to provide starch to ensure this. Most wheat beers will have enough protein to make them cloudy but given enough time that will settle out. It doesn't leave much sediment at all because it takes so little to provide the cloudiness.