Conditioning & Carbonation Temperature?

[matt76]

I tried googling this and searching on the forum but couldn't find a clear answer.....

Roughly following the 2+2+2 rule I'm allowing 3 weeks for fermentation, then (after bottling) 2 weeks for carbonation and a further 2 weeks for conditioning.

- I'm fermenting in the primary FV (pale ales, bitters, IPAs etc.) around 19-21degC.
- Then I'm storing the bottles for 4 weeks at the same temp (so the yeast continues to work on the priming sugar) to allow time for carbonation and conditioning.
- After that I just store the bottles somewhere cool (i.e. the garage) until whenever I'm ready to drink them

Is that right (well, right enough ) or should I be moving the bottles somewhere cool after 2 weeks, i.e. carbonate at room temp, but condition somewhere cool?

Bonus question - while googling I saw some suggestion that I should move the FV somewhere cool a few days before bottling to make more of the yeast etc drop out of suspension. Is this especially worthwhile, does it make much difference to flavour and/or clarity?

Cheers,

Matt

 

[Ciaran12s]

My beers usually spend just shy of 4 weeks in the fv. That's just what works best for me on my work schedule and less time wouldn't do any harm. As its cold outside now i move them outside for a day or two to cold crash. I don't have a fridge and so this doesn't happen in the warmer months. Cold crashing makes a little difference but nothing major if it's been allowed to sit for nearly 4 weeks. This just helps yeast and trub settle out a bit more and it becomes more "sticky". The effect being less sediment carry over when racking and bottling.

I'll usually bottle on a Thursday or Friday night. The bottles get put in a box by the radiator in the bedroom and I'll try one the following weekend. If its good I'll get stuck in to them. If its not quite carbed I'll leave them where they're at for another week and try again. Once they're carbed I'm usually happy to drink them. Some beers benefit from a few weeks or even a few months conditioning. Once the next batch is bottled I'll move the previous to the shed where it'll be subjected to whatever temperatures the weather throws at it.

There's no hard and fast rules. I will keep trying the beer from one week and if I'm happy with it I'll just drink it.

 

[ACBEV]

What your doing is fine. I leave in the FV for 2-3 weeks at my chosen fermenting temp., then bottle and store for a further 2 weeks at 18c, to allow for carbonation. After that I store at 10-12c, which is also a good temp. to drink ales.

It seems a lot of home brewers cold crash before bottling, but I've never felt the urge nor need to, my beers clear without such malarkey...

 

[terrym]

It seems a lot of home brewers cold crash before bottling, but I've never felt the urge nor need to, my beers clear without such malarkey...

I just move my beer into the coldest place I have for the last 2 days before packaging, after the primary has finished and its had a rest. If I brew in mid summer then it might mean the fridge, otherwise it's the cold end of my garage. That takes hardly a lot of effort and what I get is clear or nearly clear beer in the bottles that still carb up, but without a lot of sludge at the bottom of the bottles. But at the end of the day most beers will clear in time.

 

[terrym]

@matt76
You don't need any more than two weeks in a warm place to carb up your beers in my experience. I mostly use PET if I'm bottling and can follow how the bottles carb up. At present I am carbing a beer which at bottling was almost clear (possibly the clearest I have done) and did wonder whether it would carb up, but after 9 days it's nearly there, with just a smidgin of yeast on the bottom which has only just appeared in the last 2/3 days.

 

[matt76]

Thanks for the responses. From what you're saying it sounds like I could probably move the bottles somewhere cooler sooner.....

.....which might prevent SWMBO asking why the living area has been taken over by loads of beer bottles

Might also give this cold crashing malarky a bash especially while the weather is cold.

Cheers all,

Matt

 

[matt76]

Just gonna add this here for the benefit of any other newbies like me...

While searching around this topic I found this old related thread:
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/bottle-conditioning-length-of-time.30454/

Basically it says ideally allow 1 week conditioning for every 10 OG points, so for OG 1.050 you'd condition for 5 weeks.

Not to say we can't get stuck into it sooner, but useful to know in case you want to compare

 

[Harbey]

I have recently started cold crashing for a couple of days before bottling. It's not made a huge difference but certainly gives you slightly clearer beer when bottling and hence results in the beer clearing, following carbination, slightly quicker and with slightly less yeast left at the bottom of the bottle. As with lots of things in brewing (or so I think I'm finding as I get more experience), the increments are only subtle and you can easily get away without bothering. Add up all those little increments, however, and it starts to make a noticeable change.

 

[arcain]

If you cold crash before bottling - (to help with clearing), doesn't this mean the yeast will drop out of solution and therefore there will be less in the bottle to carbonate? Answering my own question, I'm presuming there is always enough yeast left to carbonate - but how much is enough?

 

[MickDundee]

If you cold crash before bottling - (to help with clearing), doesn't this mean the yeast will drop out of solution and therefore there will be less in the bottle to carbonate? Answering my own question, I'm presuming there is always enough yeast left to carbonate - but how much is enough?

Yeast is microscopic and in a 24-48hr cold crash you are highly unlikely (probably impossible) to reduce the yeast so much that the beer won’t carbonate.

I cold crashed for the first time on my last brew - previously I could have a sneaky bottle after a week and it would be ready whereas this batch barely had a tingle on the tongue after a week so I assume the full 2 weeks is needed. I’ll try another 330ml bottle this weekend before reducing to conditioning temperature.

 

[ACBEV]

Horses for courses... I almost always use one of these three yeasts... London Ale III, Nottingham or Belgian Ardennes. With a good brewing process, use kettle finnings such as britewort or protofloc (Irish moss) and a bit of time, my beers almost always drop crystal clear without further mucking about. It does help not to unsettle the trub when transferring beer when bottling. Other yeast may take a longer time to clear and might benefit from cold crashing.