Frosted Mugs

[BubbaK]

My first batch has been in the bottles for a week. I put on in my soda machine to get it chilled for 24hrs (there is nothing cold like soda machine cold)... I wanted to leave it for 48 hrs, but couldn't wait. I got the smart idea to crash cool it further and put it in the freezer for an hour... Not so smart... I pulled it out, and opened the bottle. Of course, it turned chunky ice beer. Between the ice and only in the bottle for a week, it wasn't very good. Last night, my drinking buddy came over and we were BS'ing and he asked about the beer. I decided to crack open 2 warm beers to give him a taste.. I poured it into frosted mugs, and it tasted great. It was clear and very little sediment left in the bottle or the glass. Still need to carb up a bit longer, but now that I know how easy it was to take a warm beer and pour into a frosted mug, I'm not sure I can resist the warm beers anymore. It was much easier thinking it has to sit in the fridge for a few days...

Anyone else drinking bottled warm HB in frosted mugs without cooling? What effect is it having without chilling first?

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

What style of beer was it?

(I love the beer temp threads)

 

[Baldy_Beer_Brewery]

I'll drink room temperature home brew often and enjoy it. But I'm not a fan of frosted mugs and glasses.

And if your beer isn't carbonated yet, stop putting the bottles in the cooler or freezer. It does no good to rush things. Just hold off until they are ready and enjoy them.

 

[Bolti]

But it can be so hard if you don't have any beer at home

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

But it can be so hard if you don't have any beer at home

Yeah, I noted the part about it being the first batch, and decided to give the old "wait it out" advice a rest for this thread in favour of the "Temperature edumacation" advice that's coming.

 

[BubbaK]

I'll drink room temperature home brew often and enjoy it. But I'm not a fan of frosted mugs and glasses.

And if your beer isn't carbonated yet, stop putting the bottles in the cooler or freezer. It does no good to rush things. Just hold off until they are ready and enjoy them.

I only chilled one bottle, and that was to give it the week one sample. I really expected to not touch the batch for another week.

This batch is a Brewers Best American Ale. Its lived 2 weeks in the primary, 2 weeks in secondary, then into bottles.

The second round of testing last night was because I had no other beer left, and I wanted to give my buddy a taste. I will be stopping at the beer store to stock up so I can leave this batch alone.

 

[menschmaschine]

To get the most out of the beer in terms of flavor, they are usually best drank at "standard" temps for that style, although that can be somewhat relative. Most beer geeks, snobs, and homebrewers scoff at frosted mugs. They're probably best reserved for sarsaparilla and BMC.

However, what you did there by pouring warm beer into a frosted mug wasn't such a bad thing. It probably brought the mug and beer to a decent drinking temperature. But what would suffer is the CO2 that came out of solution when you opened the bottle and when you poured the beer. So, it was less carbonated than it would have been if the beer was chilled to serving temperature for a few days prior to serving.

Beer absorbs more CO2 into solution at colder temps than warmer temps. In the bottle, at warmer temps, more CO2 will be left in the head space and escape when the cap is popped, leaving the beer flatter. Also, in addition to headspace CO2 escaping, if you pour that beer into a frosted mug, the ice crystals on the mug serve as nucleation sites and will take even more CO2 out of solution.

So, bottom line... for best flavor and carbonation, let your beer carbonate for 3 weeks, store at serving temps a few days prior to opening and serve it in a regular glass (you could also chill the glass to serving temps).

 

[BubbaK]

To get the most out of the beer in terms of flavor, they are usually best drank at "standard" temps for that style, although that can be somewhat relative. Most beer geeks, snobs, and homebrewers scoff at frosted mugs. They're probably best reserved for sarsaparilla and BMC.

However, what you did there by pouring warm beer into a frosted mug wasn't such a bad thing. It probably brought the mug and beer to a decent drinking temperature. But what would suffer is the CO2 that came out of solution when you opened the bottle and when you poured the beer. So, it was less carbonated than it would have been if the beer was chilled to serving temperature for a few days prior to serving.

Beer absorbs more CO2 into solution at colder temps than warmer temps. In the bottle, at warmer temps, more CO2 will be left in the head space and escape when the cap is popped, leaving the beer flatter. Also, in addition to headspace CO2 escaping, if you pour that beer into a frosted mug, the ice crystals on the mug serve as nucleation sites and will take even more CO2 out of solution.

So, bottom line... for best flavor and carbonation, let your beer carbonate for 3 weeks, store at serving temps a few days prior to opening and serve it in a regular glass (you could also chill the glass to serving temps).

Thanks for the explanation... I didn't realize how the carbonation really worked.. Now I am getting really excited to wait a few more weeks.. I thought it tasted good now with mild carbonation.. I will put another bottle in the fridge this weekend and see what the difference is..

 

[Baldy_Beer_Brewery]

What is also fun to do with your beer is save one or two back in a cool place. Crack it open in a few months. It is often amazing how much better they can get.

 

[JohnnyO]

What is also fun to do with your beer is save one or two back in a cool place. Crack it open in a few months. It is often amazing how much better they can get.

Sorry to threadjack, but I couldn't resist here...

I brewed my first on 1/10. It is the Hop Head Double IPA from Midwest. It sat in the primary for two weeks, then a week in the secondary.

I bottled 2 1/2 weeks ago. After 1 1/2 weeks in the bottle, I chilled one for 24 hours and tried it to taste the green beer and test the carbonation process.

Based upon the beer's progression at 10 days I posted up on here. The consensus was that it was conditioning rather quickly, and that I should put a six pack in the fridge in case the batch turned into a bunch of bottle-bombs. I did that a week ago, and haven't had any explosions from the ones at room temperature.

My question is about the six chilling in the fridge. I assume that the refridgerator has slowed or even stopped the carbing process, correct? Short of cracking one open, when (if) will these be considered drinkable?

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

You won't have harmed them, but you might want to take them out of the fridge to age some now that you know they are safe. Drink those ones last.

 

[JohnnyO]

You won't have harmed them, but you might want to take them out of the fridge to age some now that you know they are safe. Drink those ones last.

I've always heard/believed that once they were chilled, its not a good idea to allow them to warm again as this would contribute to skunking/off flavors.

 

[menschmaschine]

I've always heard/believed that once they were chilled, its not a good idea to allow them to warm again as this would contribute to skunking/off flavors.

Old wives' tale.

As for skunking specifically... that's from ultraviolet light (e.g. sunlight, fluorescent light) through non-brown bottles.