Bottle conditioning how long for an OK result and what temp?

[burrowsbrewery]

Q1: How long should I keep my bottles and at what temperature to get a good result in a short amount of time? Whats the standard?

I picked up of the forum the consensus is 2 weeks in the primary fermentor and 1 week minimum in the bottle but there is a lot of information to the contrary flying around internet. I know some people leave it weeks but they likely have rolling batches and good technique. I think need to learn how to make good beer before I start to keep it a long time.

My 2nd brew was not carbonated at 1 week; we could still taste the priming sugar. At 2 weeks it has very little carbonation although I can’t taste the sugar anymore. I have the heating off when I’m out and it is possible I put the wrong amount of sugar in; the measuring spoon I washed was not the size I should have been using.

For my 3rd brew I have kept the bottles in an airing cupboard right above the hot water tank at my mum’s house. I used a clear bottle in the batch. I can see the yeast is at the base at it cleared reasonably well. When I move the bottle 90 degrees I can see a cloud is kicked up at the base.

Q2: Should I try one tonight or give it another week in the cupboard/out of the cupboard?

[clarets7]

I'd take it out of the airing cupboard now, probably way too hot. Chill a bottle down to 13C and try it. Store the rest at the same temperature. Just drinking a bottle now of Adnams Ghost Ship clone, bottled two weeks ago, as far as I am concerned it's perfect, it's down to personal preference I think. 5L of this brew went into a polypin which was drunk last weekend, so only a week's conditioning, that was spot on as well.
What was the recipe for this brew, and how was it primed?

[clarets7]

Should have mentioned this, Ghost Ship clone, 19L primed with 55g of sugar, kept at 19C for a week in bottles (3 days for PP) and then dropped to 13C for a week.

[barry44]

55 for the entire batch? I'm usually twice as much for 23 litres

[clarets7]

I'm not too keen on gassy beer, prefer draught. As long as there are fine bubbles when you tip the glass that's fine by me.

[burrowsbrewery]

The 2nd brew was primed with 1tbsp of sugar in each bottle (i think)

The one in question the 3rd brew, i used the calculator on brewers friend to get 1.7 volumes of co2; 14.3g of table sugar in the bottling bucket. It’s a 1 gallon brew.

Temperature, what’s the procedure? x amount of days warm, x days cold?

[barry44]

For me, 2 warm then in the cold until tanned

[marcarm]

I've been looking for a ghost ship clone recipe, any chance you can post what you've made and how nice it is?

Thanks

[clarets7]

I've been looking for a ghost ship clone recipe, any chance you can post what you've made and how nice it is?

Thanks

This was my second attempt at a GS clone, made at the end of November:

Marris Otter 3.35kg
Caragold 0.18kg
Rye crystal 0.18kg

Chinnok 13g @ 60m
Motueka 25g @10m
Citra 25g @ 0m
Citra 25g dry hop

MM West Coast yeast IBU is too low at 30, colour was right though at 14, bit too strong at 4.8%

It's a very nice pint, but not Ghost Ship, you really need the Adnam's yeast to get near that. My first attempt used Adnam's but I didn't have the right hops, only Apollo and Amarillo, but that was nice as well. In responce to the OP I think this brew tasted better last week after only two weeks in the bottle, which is a shame as this is my Christmas brew, with 5L in a mini-cask. I did tweak this recipe slightly though and remade it the following week, pitching straight on to the dregs in the fermentor. That is only two weeks in the bottle and to my mind is nicer. 5L of that went in a polypin and all went a week ago, rest in bottles.

[burrowsbrewery]

Thank you all for your info.

I opened a bottle of the 3rd brew tonight after a total of 8 days. It produced some bubbles and a very small head. The head went very quickly, seems like not enough co2. The recipe was Jennings Cumberland ale from GW's book but with chocolate malt instead of black patent, OG and FG ended up higher due to me not having the efficiency right at the time. It tasted like reasonable pale ale so I’m happy on that front. It was crisp but ultimately lacking mouth feel I think.

With regards to conditioning i must still be doing something wrong I think.

[clarets7]

If you only primed for 1.7 volumes I think you won't get much more than what you are describing after 8 days. What temperature are you serving at?

[burrowsbrewery]

To be honest I've never measured it, does it make a big difference to the carbonation and head? I have always put my beer in the fridge for a short time so it’s somewhere between fridge temp and room temp like a cellar.

[Matt12398]

Priming using sugar measured on a spoon is pretty unreliable. Your best best it so make a priming solution using the correct amount of sugar and cup full of water and boil for 10 minutes.

Add to bottling bucket, beer on top, bottle. Then you should hoepfully have even distribution of the correct amount of sugar per unit volume.

[davew]

I got a set of measuring spoons from John Lewis for a couple of quid I use them quite a lot and good for crushing Camden tablets with for water treatment.