Carbonation & Fridge time

[-Liam-]

I brewed Jamil's West Coast Blaster a while ago and after carbonating it for about 2.5 weeks, I decided to try one. It was very harsh, bitter and yeasty. Really just not very good at all. So I put a bottle in the fridge and it has been in there for about 2 weeks or so and I cracked it open about 20 mins ago...I cannot believe the difference! It is so much smoother and more balanced. It is much clearer and I noticed that the yeast at the bottom of the bottle is much more compact and didn't seem to stir up into the rest of the beer when pouring it into a glass. So, I guess my question is this: The rest of the bottles have been sitting in the closet for all this time, will they need to to be in the fridge for two weeks also for them to be like the one I'm drinking now or would one week suffice? (Considering that they have had an extra two weeks before any refrigeration)
This is something I think I'll do with all my beers in future - 3 weeks closet, 2 weeks fridge.

 

[TechyDork]

Sounds like the beer was just very young when you had the first one. There is a big difference between a beet that is 2.5 weeks and 4 weeks in the bottle. I think the two weeks in the fridge helped too.

When i bottled my brews i used to give them 3-4 weeks to carb at room temp. Then would put a couple in the fridge for a few days before trying one. I found that most of my beers, usually IPAs, browns and ambers, were much better by week 5-6 in the bottle.

 

[tootal]

At the colder temps the yeast will settle out. Even those of us who keg our beer will cold crash it and draw off the settled yeast. It will pour clear after just a few beers. So you're doing the same thing in a bottle. By all means, let them clarify in the fridge.:rockin:

 

[thegreatmaibockaddict]

I am baffled at all the bottle carbing issues that you guys are having. I just had a short fill sampler of a Tripel i bottled on this past Saturday and it is fully carbed and awesome. Used LME to bottle prime. Beer was bottled 20 days after brew day, ~8.5% abv or so.

All my beers unless obscenely high in alcohol, usually are fully carbonated within a week or less, and always good to drink as such. (I usually use DME to prime). English ales are particularly fun as after 3 or so days in bottle, they taste like cask ale.

Not sure what you guys are doing, but it can be improved!

 

[RmikeVT]

Sounds like what my first pint from the keg tastes like after everything has settled to the bottom.

Maybe the bottle you opened first was a) infected with something (brett) that as in THAT bottle or b) had a lot of trub in it from the bottom of the bottling bucket c) just needed time to complete the re-fermentation in the bottle and drop out. Yeast go through the same cycle in the bottle as they do when you first pitch, at a much smaller scale or course. So, maybe it needed a few extra to clean up after it self.

I've also found 24-48hrs in fridge is better than a couple hours in fridge for bottle conditioned brews. Just time for the yeast to flocculate and stick to the bottom and the co2 to completely dissolve into solution from the head space.