Should I warm up my beer before bottling?

[Reuben1012]

Hi, getting ready to bottle my first beer. It is a Extra Pale Ale extract kit from Northern Brewer. I used Safale 05 dry yeast. I had it in primary for 2 weeks, then transferred it to secondary for 3 1/2 weeks. I took a gravity reading of 1.012 before I transferred.

Here is my issue: The temperature here has really dropped over the last few weeks. Ambient is now around 55F. Will it carbonate at this temp if i just bottle it and leave it alone?

I have a Rubbermaid full of water and a fish tank heater that works perfect for maintaining a warmer temp. Right now i have another beer finishing up primary in there

I was thinking of putting my bottles in there after I finish bottling and setting it at 68F or so.

Should i warm up the carboy for a few days before i bottle?

Is there a risk of creating bottle bombs if i add priming sugar and then raise the temp after i bottle? Thanks

 

[stevo155]

Raise the temp of the carboy and then bottle. I typically raise the temp toward the end of fermentation anyways to help the yeast clean up a bit. Raising the temp will also wake up the yeast a bit so when you rack on your priming sugar, they are ready to go to work.

 

[Reuben1012]

stevo155 thanks for the help!
I was thinking of raising the carboy to 68F for 3 days and then bottling.... sound good?

 

[audger]

Is there a risk of creating bottle bombs if i add priming sugar and then raise the temp after i bottle?

so long as you are using a normal amount of sugar, not really

3 days is even unnecessary, but wont hurt. raising the temperature while its sitting on the yeast cake will help clean up some off flavors that may be in there, but its not needed to raise the temperature before you add yeast. just bottle it as is, and then put it somewhere around 60-70* to carbonate.

 

[wailingguitar]

When I worked at Bell's in the late 80s, we would crash the beer to fridge temps, bottle cold. The ferm/conditioning room was set to 60F. The beers carbed just fine.

 

[Reuben1012]

Thanks for all the feedback, maybe I will just warm it up for a day or so to clean up some of the flavor and then bottle. I am not in a hurry to finish.

 

[NewDecadeBrewery]

Hi Reuben1012. Pretty new on HBT too, but thought I'd respond since I live in the vicinity and know what you mean about the cooler temps lately.

Have you tasted the gravity sample(s)? You may not need to warm up your beer to clean it up if it tastes fine, which I would suspect it does since it has been in secondary 3.5 weeks and also since it has been 5.5 weeks from pitching. That should be plenty of time for s-05 which is relatively neutral anyway to clean up after itself even at the lower temps. What temps were the primary and 2ndary ferments done at?

Before I built my fermentation chamber I fermented last winter at ambient temps with s-05 in the mid to high 50's with great results. I remember my fermenter stick on thermometer reading 53f about 2-3 days into fermentation and the beer finished fine and didn't stall out. Maybe in the core of the fermenting liquid it was 59f but I doubt it. I think others on HBT have sang the praises of s-05 at cool temps. I know if you search the internet its easy to find folks claiming to ferment with s-05 in the high 40's f. Bottom line this yeast seems to work at the temperatures you are talking about. Based on that it seems almost certain to me that you could carbonate in bottles at 55f with s-05. Might not have to go through the trouble of warming things up.

The other option I can think of is to add a little lager yeast to your bottling bucket. This would add a little extra "insurance" if you're concerned about the ale yeast floccing out at 55f. Plus the lager yeast is a bottom fermenter which might help your sediment in the bottle remain more compact.

Good luck hope your beer turns out well!

 

[Reuben1012]

Hey NewDecadeBrewery , I tasted the gravity samples when I transferred to secondary and it was awesome! I could probably drink the whole batch flat. I have not tasted it since then. Primary and secondary were at around 62F to 65F. If I don't have to go through the trouble of warming them I would rather not. Also Its going to tie up my fish tank heater and I need it to ferment another beer. Thanks for the input....

 

[NewDecadeBrewery]

You're welcome. I would think about trying (tasting) a bottle a week or so after bottling to see where you're at with the carbonation - a little scientific experiment to see if that s-05 is doing its job at 55f. If it's not working try another or two. Wait a day or three and try more. If you're convinced its not doing its thing I would think there is still time to enact a plan b - like moving those bottles to a warmer spot for week or two since the yeast in the bottles should still be quite viable.

I would rather brew more beer too than tie up equipment needlessly.

Cheers - Chris

 

[Reuben1012]

I would rather brew more beer too than tie up equipment needlessly.

Cheers - Chris

Yes me to, also it has warmed up here a few degrees. Ambient is around 60F.
I went ahead an botteld yesterday... I plan on leaving it alone for 3 weeks..... i will post back in here after my first sample. It sure is nice looking at all those filled bottles! I got 47 beers!!

 

[solbes]

I routinely bottle mine cold or semi-cold. If I've been lagering in secondary or cold crash a primary I will go straight to bottling bucket. In fact you usually need less sugar to carbonate due to higher levels of residual carbonation in cold beer (and thermal expansion). Palmer has a good nomograph that shows temp, priming addition, and intended carbonation volumes.

 

[NewDecadeBrewery]

I routinely bottle mine cold or semi-cold. If I've been lagering in secondary or cold crash a primary I will go straight to bottling bucket. In fact you usually need less sugar to carbonate due to higher levels of residual carbonation in cold beer (and thermal expansion). Palmer has a good nomograph that shows temp, priming addition, and intended carbonation volumes.

But then you warm back up to carb up right? Palmer says to "age the capped bottles at room temperature for two weeks, out of the light". (How to Brew pg.114, Palmer) In this discussion what was in question was does he really have to warm back up to room temp to carbonate.

I see the nomograph its on pg 113 of my book (paperback). So, according to that the OP at 55f will add 3oz corn sugar or 2.8oz cane sugar to carbonate to about 2.25-2.27 volumes of CO2 for his PA. All good info and thanks for citing Palmer's nomograph (it gave me something to study this am). This is due to the fact that there is more retained CO2 in 55f fermented wort (beer) that has been allowed to off gas normally (i.e through an air lock) than say a 65f fermented wort under the same conditions. This also assumes that the beer hasn't warmed up ever beyond this temp I would suppose as more CO2 would off gas from the beer and then the amount of sugar would have to be calculated from the maximum temp the fermented wort has ever reached. You mention cold crashing after fermenting. I would think your carbing sugar addition would have to be adjusted up for the maximum temp the beer has ever reached. Since the beer was once at a higher temp it off gassed more CO2 at one time than a fermented wort that never warmed to that higher temp. I don't see the CO2 going back into the beer as it is cold crashed it has already left but I could be missing something here. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/effects-cold-crashing-priming-sugar-needs-134347/

I keg so I don't really deal with this stuff so much anyway - decidedly not a bottling wizard.

 

[iijakii]

I always cold-crashed, bottled cold, and then stored the bottles at room temp for conditioning/carbing. Isn't that standard?

 

[solbes]

But then you warm back up to carb up right? Palmer says to "age the capped bottles at room temperature for two weeks, out of the light". (How to Brew pg.114, Palmer) In this discussion what was in question was does he really have to warm back up to room temp to carbonate.

Yes you absolutely have to get the beer warm after bottling/capping it. 70 F is best (2-3weeks). Most strains will carbonate in the mid to upper 60's, but sometimes they may not carbonate fully at these temps or may take much longer.

I have a keg that was primed with sugar, purged of O2, and put in my "warm room". (Basement bathroom with heated floor)

 

[Yooper]

I always cold-crashed, bottled cold, and then stored the bottles at room temp for conditioning/carbing. Isn't that standard?

That's what I've always done, too.

 

[NewDecadeBrewery]

Yes you absolutely have to get the beer warm after bottling/capping it. 70 F is best (2-3weeks). Most strains will carbonate in the mid to upper 60's, but sometimes they may not carbonate fully at these temps or may take much longer.

I have a keg that was primed with sugar, purged of O2, and put in my "warm room". (Basement bathroom with heated floor)

That's what this thread has been about - whether or not the OP absolutely has to warm up to 70 ish to carb up his bottles. I say no and that s-05 will do it in his garage or wherever he wants it to happen at 55f, and that the bottles will fully carbonate to the proper volume of CO2. Sure it may take longer (maybe not) but it will happen. I am basing this on fermenting in primary with this yeast at 52f (beer temp) not just ambient and attenuating fully. I could be wrong a 5 gal. primary is different than fermenting in a sealed/capped bottle, so perhaps the biophysics are different. My hunch is that this guy is going to have no problem whatsoever bottle conditioning/carbing up at 55f. Others have claimed to ferment in the 40's f with this yeast. If you quickly search the internet you will see the claims and I don't disbelieve it.

The other thing that has come up in this thread is the nomograph and priming sugar amounts for certain temperatures. It seems everyone that has posted is cold crashing before bottling which I understand for clarity/dropping of proteins, etc. I didn't realize that cold crashing was so standard in bottling, or maybe you guys meant that bringing the bottles up to about 70f for 2 to 3 weeks was standard (which it probably is) but like I've said I don't usually bottle so I am no expert at this (I read a lot though). The claim was made that cold crashing lowers the amount of priming sugar needed to carb up to the correct pressure of CO2 for a given style. I believe that if you are cold crashing before bottling you'd better calculate your priming sugar amounts based on the warmest temperature the beer has achieved after fermentation was complete as it would have off gassed CO2 based on that higher temperature. This is assuming that the beer wasn't kept on any pressure of CO2 (such as under a standard airlock). Just saying that you cold crashed implies that the beer was warmer at one point. Basing your priming sugar calcs off of the cold-crash temps in the nomograph will leave you undercarbed (at least to style). If the OP wants to carb at 55f as long as that temp was the highest temp the beer achieved after fermentation was complete then he follows the nomograph forr 55f. If for example, after fermentation was complete the beer he is bottling got up to 65 deg f then he uses the nomograph for 65f to accurately carb his bottles to style. And this (the carbonation) can be done at 55f.

 

[solbes]

You could certainly try carbing an ale yeast in bottles at 55F. I think it'll take a LONG time though, if it ever carbonates fully at all. It's a little different in a bottle since: A) there is a much higher alcohol content present at bottling vs the easy to digest wort with no alcohol and B) The bottles are under pressure which likely affects the rate and ease of sugar conversion.

Your point about the nomograph and temperature is a good one. And I don't have the answer. Palmer doesn't say anything about using the MAX temp the beer ever got to, but I understand your point. I guess I always assumed that this wasn't just about residual carbonation, but also about thermal expansion. I've always used the nomograph as a rough approximation to adding priming sugar. Even though my ales were held between 65 and 70 at the end of fermention, just prior to cold crashing. They usually turn out with plenty of carbonation.

 

[NewDecadeBrewery]

And I definitely see your point about about the alcohol content of the "finished" beer in the bottles and the pressure affecting the carbing phase of things. My garage is still 58f and I have an ESB with WLP002 sitting in secondary. So maybe I'll try and carb a six pack at this temp with carb drops and see what happens. I think WLP002 isn't supposed to tolerate temps as low as S-05.

Plus, I agree that Palmer is vague about the nomograph.

 

[solbes]

My garage is sitting at 25 right now. I have basement rooms that are below 58. This with an extremely mild winter so far.

<--- Officially Jealous of winter weather in Cali

 

[Reuben1012]

Well it has been a little warmer at night here (around62F), and after 3 weeks in the bottle the beer is well carbed and extremely tasty I am glad i did not tie up my fish tank heater with the bottles. I was able to ferment 2 more batches in in those 3 weeks. Its a good thing to because that first batch seems to be disappearing quickly. NFL playoffs this weekend are not going to help either...