Bottle conditioning temperature

[brewbrew]

I have just bottled 30 liters of Greg Hughes Bohemian Pilsner - looks good.

I'm curious to know what temperatures others use for the in bottle conditioning. GH states 5 deg C in his book. My garage is 6 deg C - so pretty good.

My yeast clearly states a min temp for activity of 9 deg C and I have a room in my house that is currently 12 deg C.

I'm tempted to go for 12 deg C for a few days and then transfer to the garage.

Any views or experience?

Cheers - Brewbrew

[Jocky]

Post bottling I like to consider two phases - bottle carbonation and then conditioning.

For carbonation - i.e. eating up the priming sugar to carbonate the beer, I use 2 weeks in a warm place - generally I try and find somewhere that is over 20c, ideally 23-25c. The spare bedroom my beer conditions in usually is a bit cooler than that - 15/16c at this time of year, and I find that the beer carbonates quite slowly in those conditions.

After carbonation is conditioning. Useful for almost any beer that isn't hugely hoppy. It helps smooth out flavours into something much more drinkable and continues to drop out yeast. That is better at cellar temperatures for most beers, or 5c or less for lagers. I have to use my cool spare room for this, generally due to lack of any other option!

[Wezzel]

After bottling I tend to keep them at room temperature for a couple of weeks to carbonate before storing them in the garage for cold conditioning.


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[Fil]

like Jocky above i suggest you consider the brews time in the bottle as 2 distinct stages

1) conditioning (when the residual yeast add the fizz)
2) Maturing/storage

for the initial conditioning stage the temperature NEEDS to be within the range that the yeast need to thrive, And unlike the Primary fermentation stage there isnt sufficient sugar in the brew to effect any noticable flavour change so you needent be so precouse about the upper limit, Here its any warm nook or cranny not already occupied for a fortnight before getting stashed in the garage/loft/backroom...

Storage temps are best if stable and cool but unless your planning on laying down for a few years like a wine its not worth worrying too much about, just ensure its at a good serving temp when its time to sup..

ONce its in the bottle and had a couple of weeks to condition you can treat it like you would a shop bought

[Kev888]

Unfortunately 'conditioning' means different things to different people, for some it only means carbonation, for others it also includes maturing the beer etc (to bring to drinking condition). Although these can happen in parallel, they often don't and may have different requirements, so it may be best to use distinct terms for them.

There are differences between traditional treatment of ales vs lagers (or lager-like beers). An ale/beer using ale yeast, may be temporarily chilled to help it clear, but would typically be kept within or close to the yeast's working range for priming and also maturation; maybe a little lower for the latter at 'cellar' temperatures which are roughly 12c, give or take. Ale yeast like a degree of warmth and both the priming fermentation and their post-fermentation clear-up stage occur more quickly.

But with lager-like beers using lager yeast then the temperature would usually be dropped just after the fermentation (or towards the end of it) and any diacetyl rest, for the subsequent lagering stage. Some homebrewers will lager in the bottle, either bottling just before FG or letting it reach FG and then priming; lager yeast will continue to work whilst cooler, just very slowly - which is accommodated by the length of the lagering stage. Others will lager in bulk and then bottle afterwards, which also allows for priming after lagering if they wish (or force-carbonating).

Lagering certainly seems to be what GH is advocating, provided you are using an appropriate yeast. But TBH I rarely use lager yeast myself, and force carbonate when I do, so hopefully others can give you some better advice.