Conditioning Temperature

[StevieB]

Hi All,

What's the best temp to condition a keg? At the moment I'm doing 3 day secondary fermentation at 22C, 2 week conditioning at 14C and clearing at 7C. Am I doin' it wrong? Is there a better way?

Thanks in advance

Steve.

[JammyBStard]

That looks ideal for ale to me.
A 3 day secondary fermentation seems very short, how long to you primary?

[StevieB]

A 3 day secondary fermentation seems very short, how long to you primary?

I'm a kit brewer so I do what it says on the tin.... typically 6 days.

[JammyBStard]

A 3 day secondary fermentation seems very short, how long to you primary?

I'm a kit brewer so I do what it says on the tin.... typically 6 days.

Fair enough!

[jubby]

I wouldn't bother with the secondary. The yeast supplied with most kits flocculates well (compacts well and not easily disturbed).

I would use this method:

Primary for 10 days then rack into bottles or keg for conditioning at around 11C. If you have the means to control your fermentation temperature, you could drop the primary temperature for the last couple of days to help clear the beer (as long as fermentation has finished) but it's not important if you can't. If the beer looks like pond water after your 10 day primary ferment, you could secondary until it clears, but i would add finings and bottle/keg.

[JammyBStard]

I like to primary for a week or so and then secondry for 2 to 4 weeks then bottle condition for as long as I can keep my hands of it, I do everything at room temperature because thats all i have. i've never used finnings and my beer's always come out fairly clear. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

[EoinMag]

Kit brewer here too, I tend to leave them a month in primary and then bottle. Much better results that following the kit instructions.
I'm doing a Coopers stout at the moment that I've modified by adding 50g of cocoa nibs to the primary and am gonna add another 150g to the secondary, which will be one weekish primary and 3 weeks seconday before bottling for three weeks.
Temperature wise I tend to do the whole lot at room temperature, this might change in the winter when I have the oppurtunity to leave stuff out in a colder shed.

[StevieB]

Thanks Guys,

So basically do it whatever way you like then

[EoinMag]

Thanks Guys,

So basically do it whatever way you like then

Personally I'd say extend your time in the fermenter rather than worrying too much about the temperature parameters, as long as it's not too hot.

[JammyBStard]

Thanks Guys,

So basically do it whatever way you like then

Not exactly, everythings done for a reason; I find timelines are a bit missleading as there's too many outside influences in homebrewing, just understand why you do each stage and what can go wrong. and let that be your guide.

My thinking is:
- Moving from primary to secondary is done to clear the brew by seperating the beer from the trub, so wait for the fomy layer on top of the primary to break down and settle at the bottom of the FV in a nice compact layer; this is the time to do the move.

- Bottling from secondry should be done when the yeast is all but finished, so I wait for the airlock bubbles to stop before bottling. too soon and you'll have your own very own bomb factory! (I wonder how many red llights start flashing at GCHQ when i click submit!)

It just takes as long as it takes for these stages to happen.

[StevieB]

you'll have your own very own bomb factory! (I wonder how many red llights start flashing at GCHQ when i click submit!)

Oh I don't think those lights start flashing unless you use words like Infidel, Jihad, IRA, IED, Semtex and INLA... So I think we're pretty safe.

[StevieB]

Back in a mo, there's someone at the d