Conditioning bottled beer

[moto748]

I've read pieces about 'cold crashing' with interest. I don't do that (yet), have not seen a serious need. But...

Typically, my brews are in the polythene bucket for maybe five days, then siphoned into demi-johns under a fermentation lock. I usually sit them in the warm living room for a few days until they stop 'plinking', then check the hydrometer reading (and taste!), and bottle them. Normally the beer is pretty clear at this point. Where I used to live when I made beer before, I had a utility room with a concrete floor,which was cool and seemed an ideal place to store the bottled beer. I don't have that now, and the bottles now sit on the tiled floor in a corner of the kitchen (I have about three brews there currently).

So my question is, after I've left the bottles in the kitchen for a while, would I be as well off to bung them outside in the yard, in the rain and the snow, with the idea that the cold will encourage full clarity?

 

[chrisb8]

After bottling my bottles go somewhere warm for 2 weeks and then out in the cold shed until ready to drink. This is obviously less reliable in the summer but the shed is still cooler than elsewhere in the house. Time in a cold place usually clears most of my beers.

As an aside I personally would skip the transfer to demijohns - save yourself the time, hassle and risk of infection/oxidisation.

 

[damienair]

I have only started brewing kits since December. I've done 2 beers and one wine kit so far. I have a warm hot press or airing cupboard upstairs which I use to ferment the beer at a steady 20-22 degrees C. I have done 2 weeks in primary FV and 2 weeks bottle conditioning at the same 20-22 degrees and then I move the beer in boxes down to my garage which is cold at the moment to condition for a further 2 weeks.
A Garden shed would be good if you have one, i would cover the beer and keep it out of direct sunlight. Use a tarpaulin to cover it if you are going to move it outdoors. But I think that would be a lot of hassle. You could just pop it into the fridge a few days before you intend to drink it, 3-4 days in the fridge I'm sure would clear it well after conditioning if it has not already cleared at that stage. But as I said, I am a Newbie and I am sure you'll get much better advice soon.

 

[moto748]

As an aside I personally would skip the transfer to demijohns - save yourself the time, hassle and risk of infection/oxidisation.

Hey, I like the plinking!

 

[iz_g]

If you've got somewhere cold to put the bottles after a week or so of conditioning, it definitely helps the yeast flocculate. When using highly flocculant yeasts, I find after a couple of months in the cold the beer can actually look like it's been filtered!

 

[moto748]

I actually shifted one batch of lager and another of bitter outside into the yard after my OP. The lager is very much a long term project. I don't think my methods suit lager production, and I don't think I will bother with lager again, when so may other beer types are possible. The lager (brewed early Dec) is still cloudy. But putting it outside appeared to make it worse, not better. Same applied to the batch of bitter I put out there. So I fetched them all back inside again, and they look better now.

Just as a post-script on the lager: I just tried a bottle. It's clear, but not crystal clear. Decent lager head and flavour, so broadly a 'success', I suppose. But as I say, I don't think I'll bother again with my lo-tech methods. I daresay if I leave it till the summer it will be crystal clear and a very pleasant drink.

 

[iz_g]

How do you chill your wort? That sounds to me like chill haze

 

[moto748]

I don't do any chilling. Doesn't seem to me to be necessary for the bitters that I mostly aim to produce. As I said, I don't think my basic methods suit lager production much, from what I've read here and elsewhere, and probably won't be repeating it. But nevertheless, i seem to have produced something drinkable,so it's all good.

 

[iz_g]

That's what I thought - I completely agree with you and don't generally chill either, unless it's a very hop forward beer.
The only side effect of not chilling in most beers is that you do get chill haze (Chill Haze), which isn't really a problem anyway. If the beer stays cold, it will clear again. But of course outside the temperature fluctuates so it makes sense that it stayed quite cloudy