Bottling help

[jksports90]

I bottled my beer exactly 9 days ago and want to try one. Good or bad idea? I just put one in the fridge about 5 minutes ago and wondering if I'm being impatient and stupid to think the beer will have carbonation.

 

[TNTgill]

You're being impatient but if you know not to expect it to be fully carbed and for it to be green then go ahead and drink it. I did that a lot when I bottled. It's likely to have little carb but it's still beer and you can see how it evolves.

 

[flars]

If you kept your bottles over 70° there will be some carbonation. Several days in the refrigerator will force some CO2 into solution.
Your going to chill that bottle a little bit and then open. Aren't you? You're being a little impatient, but that can be fun too.
Enjoy.

 

[jksports90]

You're being impatient but if you know not to expect it to be fully carbed and for it to be green then go ahead and drink it. I did that a lot when I bottled. It's likely to have little carb but it's still beer and you can see how it evolves.

What do you mean "green"? How long do I need to wait for it to be drinkable and feel like a good beer?

 

[jksports90]

If you kept your bottles over 70° there will be some carbonation. Several days in the refrigerator will force some CO2 into solution.

Your going to chill that bottle a little bit and then open. Aren't you? You're being a little impatient, but that can be fun too.

Enjoy.

So my house sits around 78 most of the time to be honest. Good or bad? I keep it in my dark closet where it is not bothered at all. I plan on letting the beer chill in the fridge for a couple hours to be hopefully enjoyable if I plan on opening it. I know you guys probably think I'm crazy but I'm overly excited to try my first homebrew. In the meantime I have another one in my carboy fermenting as we speak. "Summer Solstice" if anyone's familiar with that beer. Thanks for the help gentleman.

 

[TNTgill]

Green would mean the beer hasn't conditioned fully. It's gonna get better with a few weeks in the bottle. If it's good now you'll really like it in a few weeks. Most peak after 4-6 weeks in the bottle in my experience. I say go for it with the knowledge it should improve.

 

[jksports90]

Green would mean the beer hasn't conditioned fully. It's gonna get better with a few weeks in the bottle. If it's good now you'll really like it in a few weeks. Most peak after 4-6 weeks in the bottle in my experience. I say go for it with the knowledge it should improve.

Thanks for the knowledge! I am just going to wait until two weeks and experiment then. And so on and so on.

 

[ncbrewer]

I plan on letting the beer chill in the fridge for a couple hours to be hopefully enjoyable if I plan on opening it.

You should also let it stay in the fridge for a couple of days - some say a week, but I don't have room for a week's worth of beer in the fridge. The time in the fridge lets it go into solution.

 

[nzbrew]

Go ahead and try one! If I bottle, I often bottle one weekend, and try one the next. It helps to show you what age does to your beer if nothing else!
And I only leave it in the fridge long enough to get cold, nothing else.

 

[jksports90]

l

 

[jksports90]

Tastes delicious now! Can't wait to see in a week or so. Thanks again guys.

 

[jtratcliff]

There's a general rule of tumb... 3-2-1.


3 weeks in the fermenter, 2 weeks in the bottle at 70F, 1 week in the fridge....

Some also say 3 weeks at 70F.

I taste one every week after bottling just to see how it evolves with time.

 

[jksports90]

There's a general rule of tumb... 3-2-1.


3 weeks in the fermenter, 2 weeks in the bottle at 70F, 1 week in the fridge....

Some also say 3 weeks at 70F.

I taste one every week after bottling just to see how it evolves with time.

Really? 3 weeks in a fermenter?! Never heard of that but interesting

 

[jtratcliff]

Really? 3 weeks in a fermenter?! Never heard of that but interesting

yeah... You'll see it often mentioned on here on HBT.

The idea is to skip secondary altogether and do it all in the primary fermentation vessel. Active fermentation can be done rather quickly (~1 week or so). That's when most of the available sugars are consumed by the yeast. Then the yeast, still hungry, start to work on some of the secondary (less desirable) products of fermentation... "cleaning up after themselves" is the common phrase you'll see.

Then, when those are gone, the yeast drop out of suspension and go dormant... even without a cold crash (albeit slower). It can take a week or more after active primary.... Thus 3 weeks in the fermenter, to be safe.

You can have great beer in less than 3 weeks, especially if you temp control fermentation, cold crash, and force carb in a keg. But letting a beer go longer in primary doesn't hurt and can actually help clean up some potentially off flavors if things weren't 100% ideal in the first few days of fermentation. Especially on bigger beers.

2 weeks to carb in the bottle at 70ish F (some say 3) and 1 week in the fridge to get the C02 fully into solution.

3-2-1

adjust as necessary to fit your process.