Bottle conditioning - Temp and taste issue

[beerguzzler8518]

Hi all.

I realise that the ideal situation is to store the bottles somewhere warm for 2 weeks (18-25c) then another 2 weeks cool (12-15c), but with the current weather oop north I currently have no rooms that have a temp higher than 16c.

So I guess it's just a case of sitting and waiting a few extra weeks for the beer to be ready?

I have tried a couple after 3 weeks at 16c and it is carbonated to a degree but very bitter. I'm putting this down to the ferment taking place during the mini heatwave we had in May. The stick on thermometer I used varied from 20-24-c during the 2 week ferent. Oh and the fact that I steeped my grains a little high too - got distracted and didn't get the grain bag out at 70, it was closer to 75c. I also dry hopped in a secondary vessel for 9 days. Does that have any baring on conditioning time?

I'm hoping that time is all that's needed and that i'm not going to have to drink 40 pints of rubbish - Think I'd rather drink it and suffer the after taste rather than swill the whole lot down the drain

 

[pittsy]

16c is prob ok but if you go to a budget store and get a 70l storage container ( about £7) then use a fish tan heater and pop your bottles in you can get your 20c temp , and 75c is ok for grains its when its over 80c there would be an issue , i think it just needs longer to condition mainly and btw dont trust those stick on thermometers it often gets a few degrees hotter inside fv thats why getting some cheap fish tan digital thermometers (around £4) and pop the probe in to the fv giving you correct temps (use the 70l storage container fill with water pop in fv use fish tan heater in container allowing you to adjust when needed) and also if we do get hotter weather again (fat chance) you can pop ice in to container instead of heating etc , the fv only drops around 2 to 4c submerged in water without ice . hope it goes well for you , just put brew away for a month or 2 :)

 

[beerguzzler8518]

cheers pittsy

That's that set up now. I'll leave like that for a week before moving back to the cool cupboard.

Guess there's no issue with the bottle being fully submerged as the caps will be air and water tight.