Condition bottles (covered) near window?

[nebulabrewing]

I'm a newbie to brewing (but not drinking).

My first brew (IPA extract kit) is bottled in my closet. Tomorrow will be the 21 days since I've bottled. Practically no carbonation.

The weather in northeast Florida has been very sporadic. One day it's 80 and the next its 56. I live on the 11th floor in a high rise apartment. I just checked and the closet my brew is in is apparently only at 67 degrees. I've checked for hot sources to place my brew but have none.

I have a window that faces the south. Would it be a bad idea to place my beer in that room under the window out of direct sunlight? The bottles are currently in boxes, and I planned on covering them with a big, heavy blanket. I have my next brew fermenting away.

Is this a bad idea to see if this will speed up the carbonation process? Worth a shot?

Thanks!

 

[55x11]

I'm a newbie to brewing (but not drinking).

My first brew (IPA extract kit) is bottled in my closet. Tomorrow will be the 21 days since I've bottled. Practically no carbonation.

The weather in northeast Florida has been very sporadic. One day it's 80 and the next its 56. I live on the 11th floor in a high rise apartment. I just checked and the closet my brew is in is apparently only at 67 degrees. I've checked for hot sources to place my brew but have none.

I have a window that faces the south. Would it be a bad idea to place my beer in that room under the window out of direct sunlight? The bottles are currently in boxes, and I planned on covering them with a big, heavy blanket. I have my next brew fermenting away.

Is this a bad idea to see if this will speed up the carbonation process? Worth a shot?

Thanks!

as long as its out of direct light it should be fine. Consider getting electric blanket as another option. Finally, mix up the bottles a bit to rouse the yeast and mix sugar well.

 

[GHBWNY]

Not carbonating after 3 weeks at 67F? Hmm... prior to moving them to a warmer spot, you might want to check your bottle-capping procedure or equipment. I bottle condition at 70F for 3 weeks and carbonation is great. Perhaps you have leaking around the caps? What kind of bottles did you use? Not twist-offs hopefully. Also, how big a batch and how much priming sugar did you use?

Bottle-conditioning is essentially a mini-re-fermentation in the bottle, and 67F should be an adequate temperature at which to condition if priming and capping procedures were correct.

 

[nebulabrewing]

Thanks everyone!

I was putting the little one to bed and forgot to mention. I did open a beer today and it had more carbonation then previous. It had the tiniest head, but it's starting! (Sorry I forgot that detail. Three year olds and bed time are tough business)

I guess I'm more looking forward to "speeding up the process" if I give it some warmth.

Bottles are cap bottles, no twists. Five gallon batch with 4.5oz of priming sugar. Siphoned beer onto the priming mixture and gently stirred. How do I know if I have a leak around the cap? Nothing comes out when I tip it upside down?

I may just be impatient. I think it's doing its thing, but I figured it be more along by now. I'll still give it some time.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[GHBWNY]

How do I know if I have a leak around the cap? Nothing comes out when I tip it upside down?

Generally, you can know this at bottling. As you cap each bottle, give the cap a firm twist. If it moves, re-cap (IMO, another crown is a small investment to make in a 12 oz. homebrew. If a lot of them move easily, then you might have an issue with your capper). If it doesn't move, you're good to go. While it's possible to have leaking seals without the cap moving, it's harder to hunt down the source. Generally speaking, after a few weeks of conditioning, you should get that nice little *pfft* when you pop the cap. If it's weak or you get nothing, and everything else in your process went normally, you might have an issue, again, with your capper or with the crowns themselves. Certain commercial bottles can have issues with new crowns. I've also found that one manufacturer's crowns will sometimes seal better than another's. I've used many different kinds and personally, I prefer those from 'Brewer's Best'.

 

[nebulabrewing]

Generally, you can know this at bottling. As you cap each bottle, give the cap a firm twist. If it moves, re-cap (IMO, another crown is a small investment to make in a 12 oz. homebrew. If a lot of them move easily, then you might have an issue with your capper). If it doesn't move, you're good to go. While it's possible to have leaking seals without the cap moving, it's harder to hunt down the source. Generally speaking, after a few weeks of conditioning, you should get that nice little *pfft* when you pop the cap. If it's weak or you get nothing, and everything else in your process went normally, you might have an issue, again, with your capper or with the crowns themselves. Certain commercial bottles can have issues with new crowns. I've also found that one manufacturer's crowns will sometimes seal better than another's. I've used many different kinds and personally, I prefer those from 'Brewer's Best'.

Thanks! When I bottled I did try to twist them all to make sure none moved or leaked. I'll get a small "psst" when I opened it. I'm using homebrew bottles that came with a kit, so I don't think it's the bottles. I'm also using BB's caps as well. Yesterday the high was near 80, and today the high is 55. I think the inconsistency in weather is playing a part in it. I think patience is just getting the best of me.

I do have two bottles sitting on top of my water heater to near warm pipes. In a couple of weeks, I'll throw them in the fridge for a few days and see if they're any different than the others.

Thanks for the help!

 

[GHBWNY]

Yesterday the high was near 80, and today the high is 55. I think the inconsistency in weather is playing a part in it. I think patience is just getting the best of me.

I do have two bottles sitting on top of my water heater to near warm pipes. In a couple of weeks, I'll throw them in the fridge for a few days and see if they're any different than the others.

Certainly can't hurt to try. Best case scenario for bottle conditioning is as steady a temp as close to room temp as possible. Being a mini-fermentation in itself, conditioning parallels nearly the same conditions as a primary fermentation. Yeast is yeast, and whether in a 5 gal bucket or a 12 oz. bottle, it is going to behave much the same. Which is to say, if you're getting a lot of fluctuation from warm to cool to warm during conditioning, it will eventually finish, but it may take longer. I primary for 3 weeks at whatever temp the yeast demands for the style, which also means I "bottle-ferm" (condition) for 3 weeks (usually at ~68-70F). And just like primary ferm, I cold-crash it for another week in the fridge. While this 4 weeks of post-bottling waiting is a real test of my patience, I've never yet found it to NOT be worth the wait.

Makes me wonder what your temp fluctuation conditions are for fermentation (?) If you are stuck with your temperature fluctuations for an indefinite length of time, you may want to consider (for both ferm and conditioning) using a swamp cooler. Basically, stick either your ferm bucket or bottles in a plastic tub with just the right temp water in it to start, then a couple times a day check it and see if it needs either warm water or cold water (or ice) added to adjust to the right temp. Draping a towel or wet t-shirt over it with the ends in the water to wick it up helps keep whatever you have in there at an even steadier temp. I've used one during the summer months up here with great success, but I'm going to a ferm chamber build soon.

 

[PADave]

My basement is about 60-62 this time of the year and I get carbonation starting within 5 days. By 3 weeks there is plenty of carb. I'd say something else is going on.

 

[Bigfly]

The beer I am drinking now was bottled on 12/18/16 I drank my first one 5 days later. It wasn't fully carbed but it had a slight head. I don't think the bottles ever got over 68 degrees. Onetime I grabbed a bag of malto-dextrin at the LHBS thinking it was the same as corn sugar. After 2 weeks I realized my mistake, opened each bottle, added carb drops and recapped.