Is two degrees celcius too cold for conditioning?

[sladeywadey]

Guys,

the current temperature in my shed is 2 degrees - was thinking of putting the keg out there to cold condition but am I right in thinking that is too cold?

What is the lowest temp you can get away with for conditioning?

Cheers.

[crafty john]

Guys,

the current temperature in my shed is 2 degrees - was thinking of putting the keg out there to cold condition but am I right in thinking that is too cold?

What is the lowest temp you can get away with for conditioning?

Cheers.

My garage gets really cold and I have never had any problems except a slight haze sometimes when my beer first goes in there but it usually sorts itself out.

[sladeywadey]

thanks for the responses. I will put it out there wrapped up I think.

[KevP]

Mine sit in the shed in all weathers, remember that the huge volume of liquid will react less to temp changes than a smaller amount, so dont worry too much, I have some cheap kids sleeping bags and when its freezing I pop one of over each keg! they are off the ground and toasty and warm inside!

[sladeywadey]

well as an update to this: I ended up putting it in the shed wrapped up in several layers of old towels. I've hooked up a digital temp display with a probe and just checked it about an hour ago - the temp of the keg inside the towels is 11C whereas the shed air temp is 2C. If it stays like that then I'd have thought it is at the right temp..

[Cheshire-cheese]

If it's chill proofing your after, I think you may want it colder. I have a feeling that you can go down to -1C for a week or so to chill proof it.

[sladeywadey]

as an update to this. I started drinking the Wherry last week - even though it was clear, it had some really strong whacky flavours! When I looked at the wherry temp, it was down at 3C! I was then leaving a pint to warm up after being pulled but this was then going flat by the time it had warmed up sufficiently.. Not good.

So, I then brought the keg back into the house into the coldest room and a day later, after being sat in a 15C room, it is perfect. Each pint is lovely with no strong flavours and tastes like it has just been pulled in the pub with a decent head!

Lovely Jubbly.

[EoinMag]

as an update to this. I started drinking the Wherry last week - even though it was clear, it had some really strong whacky flavours! When I looked at the wherry temp, it was down at 3C! I was then leaving a pint to warm up after being pulled but this was then going flat by the time it had warmed up sufficiently.. Not good.

So, I then brought the keg back into the house into the coldest room and a day later, after being sat in a 15C room, it is perfect. Each pint is lovely with no strong flavours and tastes like it has just been pulled in the pub with a decent head!

Lovely Jubbly.

Was it kinda buttery? By raising the temperature, chances are you gave it a diacetyl rest, what you have there is a lager of sorts....

[sladeywadey]

as an update to this. I started drinking the Wherry last week - even though it was clear, it had some really strong whacky flavours! When I looked at the wherry temp, it was down at 3C! I was then leaving a pint to warm up after being pulled but this was then going flat by the time it had warmed up sufficiently.. Not good.

So, I then brought the keg back into the house into the coldest room and a day later, after being sat in a 15C room, it is perfect. Each pint is lovely with no strong flavours and tastes like it has just been pulled in the pub with a decent head!

Lovely Jubbly.

Was it kinda buttery? By raising the temperature, chances are you gave it a diacetyl rest, what you have there is a lager of sorts....

Thanks - I don't think it was buttery. It doesn't taste like lager now and its not fizzy. I've had ales similar to this in the pub in the past. Maybe it was kegged too soon then. My current brew is staying in the FV for a min of 10 days even if fermentation has finished.

[EoinMag]

Lagerung is the German word for storage, it just means a beer that is kept just above freezing temperatures for a period of weeks to cold condition, it normally produces diacetyl which you get rid of by raising the temperature for a day or two before bottling. Some of the best lagers are black lagers by the way, so the colour is no indication of whether or not a beer is a lager. The difference is that lager uses special bottom fermenting yeasts and they work at low temps.