Bottle Conditioning

[stumalin]

Hello,

Not sure if this is the right part of the forum but I've got a question about bottling times and temperatures.

I've just finished bottling a Black IPA before noticing that the recipe says to condition for 6 weeks at 12°C.

I haven't necessarily got the equipment to regulate the heat, I generally just condition at room temp for 2 weeks.

How does conditioning temperatures affect the finished brew? Would I still need to condition for as long if I condition at room temp? What have you guys found?

Thanks

[ben034]

You need a couple of weeks at room temperature first to carbonate. After that, ideally you would store at cellar temperatures (approx 12c) as this is a good serving temp for ales, helps the beer clear and prevents over carbonation if stored too warm. If you can't store at cellar temperatures, just store somewhere as cool as possible. I wouldn't worry. I just put them under the sink as don't have any other space. This is great in the winter, less so in summer. I would prefer to store somewhere cooler but have never experienced any significant problems!

[Cobnut]

When bottling, I usually use at least one PET (plastic) bottle. This allows me to judge by "feel" when the beer has reached a reasonable level of carbonation. I find this takes anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks, but usually there's enough "pressure" in the bottle within a week at room temperature (or in my fermentation fridge at 20-23C).

Then the bottles get moved to somewhere cooler to allow them to settle and for the beer to mature a little. Then it's a case of how patient I can be, and what sort of beer I've made.

[wanus]

My method is to leave anything i bottle at room temperature for one week.
After one week i move my bottles to somewhere dark and cooler.This is where ever i have space, be it a kitchen cupboard or a small lean-to shed in the back yard.
Bottled beer is drinkable after two week but improves the longer you leave it.I serve it chilled from an old pub fridge i accquired thats also in the lean-to shed.My missus calls this fridge `the party animal`.

[Kingfisher4]

I only bottle rather than keg for various reasons. I also only currently used dried yeast. I’m in the minority on JBK for both reasons.

I can only store the bottles in the garage after conditioning in the house for 1-2 weeks. I usually have between 100-200 at any time in maturing or ready. Although drinkable after 2 weeks, they improve by a month and some much beyond that. Still learning but I think the ambient garage temperature dramatically alters the carbonation, a few batches have over gassed (50 completed so far). The major factors seem to be the yeast type, attenuation reached after primary finished, storage time and ambient garage temperature. Lots of variables to factor in.

I am getting better at juggling these but any other tips would be gratefully received.

[Meatymc]

I only bottle
I can only store the bottles in the garage after conditioning in the house for 1-2 weeks.
I usually have between 100-200 at any time in maturing or ready.
a few batches have over gassed (50 completed so far).

Very similar situation to me. Now on brew 84 all of which have ended up garage based.

I put 12 bottles away on each brew to build up some stock and every now and then, for no obvious reason, a brew that was fine carbonation wise after a month becomes a gusher 3 months down the line. I do have a fridge/freezer in the garage - freezer primarily for my home grown hops and fridge for cold crashing (plus overflow from the house) but way too cold to store bottles for immediate opening. Even If I pull a bottle of gusher and pour direct from the fridge it still goes mental now and then.