Cold affects carbing & shaken beer

[kiwicalifornia]

Hi, this might be a bit of a long post but it has 2 questions. On 12/22 we bottled our 1st batch of amber ale (after 3 1/2 weeks fermenting), added 1 cup of bottling sugar as per the recipe. 9 days later we threw a bottle in the fridge purely so we could learn what it tastes like. It tasted good, it has a definite caramel taste to it, but very little carbonation and zero head, but it wasn't flat and I expected the lack or carb.

Fast forward to today (1/12/13) 21 days carbing and we decided to try another bottle, couldn't tell any difference in taste or level of carbonation and still no head on the pour, but it tastes good. The temp where the bottles are is probably in the mid 60s but most likely drops into the 50s at night. So here's the 1st question... Would this temperature be slowing the carbonation process? We just moved the bottles to an upstairs bedroom where the temp will be warmer and will have the benefit of getting warmth from the house heating at night...

2nd question, whilst moving the beer, I dropped a case, no bottles broke or caps came off, but the bottles got a shake and there's foam in the neck from the shake up. I just set them up right and have left them to settle. Will this shake up cause any possible bad effects to the carbing process?

Thanks and sorry again for the long post

 

[daksin]

Yes, that temperature is definitely going to cause carbonation to be slow. I get carbed beer in about a week, and my aparment is usually low to mid 70s during the day. Some people will say it takes 3 weeks at 70F to get fully carbed, but that's not my experience. Anyway, if you're cooler than 70F, carbing will take a lot longer. If you beer is getting down to mid 50s, your yeast may have fallen asleep- they don't like temperature swings especially cooling down. Get them somewhere warm and more constant temperature.