Refrigeration after bottling?

[Dathomebrew]

I made my first homebrew not too long ago (a lager) and and right after bottling I put some of the bottles into my refrigerator (4 degrees Celsius) . I recently heard that this is bad for the beer. What exactly does this do to the beer and can I correct it?

 

[brettg20]

You need to keep the fresh bottles at a higher temp (say than in a fridge) so the yeast can wake up and carbonate the beer in the bottle.

 

[Dathomebrew]

So if I take the bottles out now the yeast will still be able to wake up?

 

[progmac]

So if I take the bottles out now the yeast will still be able to wake up?

yes. it may speed up the process to give them a shake

 

[odawg82]

How long do you have to wait after bottling for the beer to be carbonated?

 

[progmac]

How long do you have to wait after bottling for the beer to be carbonated?

usually about 10-14 days. it depends on alcohol content and the amount of yeast in suspension

 

[Revvy]

The 3 weeks at 70 degrees, that we recommend is the minimum time it takes for average gravity beers to carbonate and condition. Higher grav beers take longer. Beers stored colder than 70, take longer.

Stouts and porters have taken me between 6 and 8 weeks to carb up..I have a 1.090 Belgian strong that took three months to carb up.


Temp and gravity are the two factors that contribute to the time it takes to carb beer. But if a beer's not ready yet, or seems low carbed, and you added the right amount of sugar to it, then it's not stalled, it's just not time yet.

Everything you need to know about carbing and conditioning, can be found here Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. With emphasis on the word, "patience."

Carbing is foolprrof. You ad the right amount of sugar, leave it at the right temp, and it will carb.

If a beer isn't carbed by "x number of weeks" you just have to give them more time. If you added your sugar, then the beer will carb up eventually, it's really a foolroof process. All beers will carb up eventually. A lot of new brewers think they have to "troubleshoot" a bottling issue, when there really is none, the beer knows how to carb itself. In fact if you run beersmiths carbing calculator, some lower grav beers don't even require additional sugar to reach their minimum level of carbonation. Just time.