Conditioning Beer - Room Temp or Cold?

[MEPNew2Brew]

I find most of my beers are better after a few weeks of conditioning in bottle or keg. Is it better to condition at cellar temp (for me, roughly 68-70 degrees) or condition cold? Does beer condition more quickly at room temp?

Thank you for your input.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

You're likely to get different answers from different brewers.

In my experience, warmer temperatures give faster conditioning, but the most important factor is CONSTANT temperature (the actual temp is not as important). The more constant the temperature, the less stressed the yeast and more clean tasting beer as a result.

 

[kh54s10]

Assuming that you are talking of bottle conditioning. If you bottle condition too cold the yeast will go dormant and the bottles may not carbonate at all. Tor carbonation room temperature, about 70 degrees and 3 weeks should carbonate the beer properly. A complex heavier beer may need more time to reach the optimum flavor profile.

In a keg the yeast are not doing the carbonation so temperature is not critical. I believe most put the keg in the keezer and either burst carbonate or do the set and forget method. In either case the keg is cold.

Time is most critical for optimum taste. If it is a complex heavy beer it might take quite a while for the flavors to mellow and blend.