When to refrigerate bottles?

[Bluebane]

I just bottled a batch yesterday and immediately threw six bottles in the fridge to try over the next couple weeks.

I realized later that it's a bad idea to refrigerate your bottles until a couple weeks after they've been bottled so the yeast can properly carbonate.

Is my best move now to pull those bottles out and let them sit at room temperature, or is the damage done and I should just leave them?

 

[BMWillis]

Pull'em out and let them get back to room temp, no damage done.

Once they get back up to room temp I'd think about gently rousing by turning the bottles upside down once or twice, get those sleepy yeast back to work!

 

[Rob2010SS]

Pull'em out and let them get back to room temp, no damage done.

Once they get back up to room temp I'd think about gently rousing by turning the bottles upside down once or twice, get those sleepy yeast back to work!

+1 on BMWillis. Let them sit out for a couple of weeks. I think the rule I kept reading was 3 weeks at 70*.

 

[Gravity]

I just bottled a batch yesterday and immediately threw six bottles in the fridge to try over the next couple weeks.

I realized later that it's a bad idea to refrigerate your bottles until a couple weeks after they've been bottled so the yeast can properly carbonate.

Is my best move now to pull those bottles out and let them sit at room temperature, or is the damage done and I should just leave them?

You can pull them out with no problem, all you've done is slowed down the conditioning process.

Once you take them out, things will pick back up again.

Beers should be 2-3 weeks minimum at room temperature before putting them in the fridge to enjoy.

You can actually leave them out for longer- months- before you put them in the fridge, but who wants to wait that long.

 

[stella_tigre]

We use the soda bottle trick, fill one sanitized plastic soda bottle with primed beer and cap it tightly. We usually squeeze all the air out of head space so there's no problem with oxidation. You can tell how carbed it is by how firm the bottle gets. We have had big beers take much longer to carb, and some ciders etc failed to carb (yeast was kaput.) But you have a clue about what's going on, anyway.

 

[HopGobbler]

I always wait 1.5 - 2 weeks before chilling to ensure that carbonation has been accomplished

 

[dsaavedra]

We use the soda bottle trick, fill one sanitized plastic soda bottle with primed beer and cap it tightly. We usually squeeze all the air out of head space so there's no problem with oxidation. You can tell how carbed it is by how firm the bottle gets. We have had big beers take much longer to carb, and some ciders etc failed to carb (yeast was kaput.) But you have a clue about what's going on, anyway.

When you squeeze all the air out, does the bottle plump back up to normal shape as CO2 is produced?

 

[Lefou]

I've done this "trick" to monitor the carbonation of a S-04 cider using 750ml PET bottles left over from my two year-old Mr. Beer kit.
Yes, they do "plump out". Yes, it was a bottle-conditioned, dry, and petillant cider. As a matter of fact, the cider was still good a year after it was bottled. It was mildly fruity, and had no obvious off-flavors other than a slight taste of diacetyl, sort of like a weak Chardonnay.

 

[stella_tigre]

Yep as Lefou says, they do fill back out. Don't leave too much headspace, sort of like a regular glass bottle. Our Russian Imperial Stout (Tootin' Putin!) at about 10% took quite a bit longer to carb up, but it helped to track its progress without opening a bottle every two weeks....

 

[PADave]

I always wait about 2 weeks before trying a bottle, sometimes only a week. Then once things get drinkable, usually after 3 weeks, I put about a 6 pack in the fridge. The rest stay at room temp and continue maturing. As I drink the beer out of the fridge, they get replaced.

 

[Jtk78]

I always wait about 2 weeks before trying a bottle, sometimes only a week. Then once things get drinkable, usually after 3 weeks, I put about a 6 pack in the fridge. The rest stay at room temp and continue maturing. As I drink the beer out of the fridge, they get replaced.

Exactly this.

 

[RM-MN]

+1 on BMWillis. Let them sit out for a couple of weeks. I think the rule I kept reading was 3 weeks at 70*.

For most beers it won't take that long to carbonate. It usually won't take more than a couple days for carbonation but you still need to let the beer sit long enough for the yeast/hops to settle out or you get gushers. BTDT.

 

[TGFV]

I usually test beers at a set interval (5days, 10days, 14 days) with the beer sitting Inn the fridge for 1-2 days before drinking it.

Whenever they are ready (usually the 14day test but occasionally the 10) I put a few bombers in the fridge and rotate them with my other drinks.