Storing bottles during carbonation?

[ATLJack]

I havent actually brewed anything yet. I am doing research and hope to be buying equipment for my first brew in the next week or so. One of the questions I am debating in my head is the age old question of 'bottles vs keg'.

Initially I thought I would dive right in and keg my brew to avoid the hassles of bottling. But, due to the additional cost and the convenience of being able to take 6-pack to the lake I have backtracked and decided to bottle. The one thing I cant figure out, however, is where to keep all those bottles while I am waiting for them to carbonate? The only place that I actually have the space is the garage but it gets too hot in there. Where do you keep your carbonating beer?

 

[ekjohns]

dark closet at room temp

 

[DRoyLenz]

IMO, if your garage spends a significant amount of time above 80F, I wouldn't store them there. I have the luxury of having some floor space in an extra, air-conditioned, bedroom. From the research that I've done, I would think that you should keep your bottles at a steady temperature between 65F and 75F. I say steady, because I want to be able to repeat these conditions with future batches if things go well, or change them predictably if something goes wrong. I think it's also important to minimize the amount of UV light they are exposed to.

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

I have a bunch of milk crates, they hold 35 bottles each, and I stack them about 5 high. I keep them in the corner of my bedroom (coolest room in the house) in the summer, and I have a closet where I store all of my equipment and empties, that's where I keep them in the cooler months. It ain't pretty, but it is out of sight to any guests and is in a low traffic area with minimal light.

In the summer they condition around 74-78°, in the winter between 68-70°.

 

[BADS197]

I put them in the cases they came in and stack them in an unused coat closet. It's the coolest place in the apartment during the hot summer months. I have it stacked neatly about shoulder height. The door closes pretty solid and I open the door slowly in case an earthquak shifts the boxes a little.

sadly at this point only half full... soon to be rectified.

 

[Zenman]

hide them in a closet or under a desk, i keep mine on an empty shelf in the pantry (4 cases) then I can also get about 10 cases under a long custom desk i built in my computer room, when that is full i start staking htem random places around the house, luckily my swmbo likes brewing, so i get away with it. Garage won't work most likely way to hot in summer, since i see your in GA.

 

[MistyMountainHops]

in their cases in a closet.

 

[ATLJack]

I am not sure my SWMBO will let me commandeer a closet - space is tight enough as it is. Has anyone built a temperature controlled carbonating chamber for the garage? I've seen fermenting chambers - it would essentially be the same thing but bigger. But, if I am going to go through that hassle I might as well just go the kegging route with a beergun for the times I want to take beer with me.

 

[s1080]

I have a chest freezer with one of those adapters that turns it on and off to keep a specific temperature. If you want a place to bottle condition and ferment that may work but a little more on the expensive side. you could ferment an ale while bottle conditioning an ale seeing how the both need to be around the same temp. Plus if you arnt bottle conditioning then you could drop the temp and try to make a lager.

I bottle now and I can tell you its a complete pain in the a**. However you get respect for kegging through the pains of bottling and im updating to kegs at the end of the month.

 

[K-Dub]

You can keg the majority and only bottle a few from each batch using carbonation tabs. That way you are taking up a lot less space and you still have the small amount of bottles when needed.

 

[cl00bie]

Where do you keep your carbonating beer?

On the custom made shelves in my grandfather's wine cellar.

 

[borracho_brewer]

A few cases of beer doesn't really take up all that much room, so unless you've got like a really big pipe line going I don't see how using up part of a closet or even a corner of a room is much of a problem.

Granted, I've got several rooms to store beer and equipment (garage, spare bedroom, bedroom closet, hell, I even conditioned my last batch right in my bedroom to keep it out of everyone else's way and it really wasn't that big of a deal). I guess for those of you living in small apartments or more crowded houses this could more of a problem, but it seems to me that a kegging set up would take up just as much room as a few cases of bottles.

 

[hossua]

I have a MIGHTY stack of empties on my kitchen table, against the wall. 5 high and 5 wide... It definitely is a conversation starter for visitors.
As far as bottle conditioning, I do that on the floor or wherever I can get them out of the way and out of the light.