Competition Bottle Storage Question

[treacheroustexan]

So I have quite a few competitions coming up. I was just wondering what I should do. I have a pumpkin ale and a pale ale. The one competition is in September and the other is early November. The november entries I am not dropping off until October 30th or so. The september one I am shipping out later this week. I bottle condition my entries (not fill from my keg). What is the proper storage? Do I keep them in the fridge until I ship them and ship them cold or do I just leave them at room temperature? Does it really matter? The pumpkin ale has been at room temp for a month and the pale ale has been at room temp for 2 weeks.

 

[hanuswalrus]

What temp is room temp? How big of a beer is the pumpkin ale?

If they've been sitting right around 70F, I would let the pale sit for one more week, then let cold condition in the fridge fo at least a week to eliminate chill haze and give the beer a clear appearance. And I would put a few of the pumpkin ales in the fridge now to clear them up as well. I always like to hold onto a couple bottles to see how they age, unless they're extremely hop-forward

 

[treacheroustexan]

Rooms sitting at about 72 ish right now. The pumpkin ale OG about 1.062 ended up at about 7%

 

[hanuswalrus]

I'd just make sure to give them at least a week in the fridge before sending them in. 2 weeks might even be better. My beer's typically drop pretty clear after about 5 days in the fridge, but 7-10 days and they're absolutely crystal

 

[Hello]

I'd just make sure to give them at least a week in the fridge before sending them in. 2 weeks might even be better. My beer's typically drop pretty clear after about 5 days in the fridge, but 7-10 days and they're absolutely crystal

But there is little point because he is shipping them. They will be tossed around quite a bit.

For the NHC I shipped them warm. I made certain I paid for shipping that allowed the beers to make it to the destination without having to sit on a truck over the weekend. I would do that. You can go through the motions of shipping cold, but I've never bothered.

 

[hanuswalrus]

Ahh yes, the shaking would throw the haze back into suspension, wouldn't it. Sorry about that. I don't have any experience shipping my own beer for competition.

Still, though, if the pale ale is hop-forward, I would throw those in the fridge after about another week to keep them fresher longer, for the November competition at least.