It's in the bottles ... so then what?

[Trrance]

My first batch of homebrew seems to have survived my newbie mistakes, at least so far.

After 10 days in primary and 7 days in bottles this stuff tastes really really good and is fairly well carbonated; as far as I'm concerned I could drink it right now and be perfectly content with it, although my understanding is that it should go for a couple more weeks in the bottles.

The question is, do I have to do anything else? Do I just leave it at room temperature or do I have to do something like refrigerate it or move it to the cellar to prevent it from turning into bottle bombs?

 

[Walker]

as long as you primed it properly, you don't need to do anything at this point other than drink it.

Leave them at room temp until you 'need' them, then chill in the fridge and enjoy. I would suggest trying to let a couple of bottles sit for 5 weeks or so. This will give you an idea of how the beer changes/improves with time. This is easier said than done, though. My first batch was totally consumed in less than 48 hours. We opened a bottle on a Friday afternoon and found that it was carbonated and tastey. The last bottle was opened Saturday night (well.. technically, it was Sunday morning, but...)

Congratulations on your first batch.

-walker

 

[Trrance]

Thanks, Walker-san.

as long as you primed it properly

Primed with 5 oz of corn sugar boiled in water (for 5 gallon batch). The misadventure came about as I was racking from the primary to the bottling bucket. I had close to a gallon transferred and realized I hadn't put the sugar water in the bucket. I told my bottling assistant to pour it in and SPLOOOOSH, from waist high, in it went.

Just one more excuse to drink it fast, before it oxidizes, huh?