Conditioning temperature. How do you do it and how important is it?

[DaveK]

Last weekend I brewed Greg Hughes' "Spring Beer" and next weekend I'll be bottling it.

Being the observant type (ahem) I've only just noticed that he recommends to condition it for 4 weeks at 12°C. I do have a temp-control fridge (its in there now bubbling away at 19°C), but I'm not too keen on using that as I'd be hoping to do another brew before they would be done.

How important is it to hit that 12°C recommendation, and how do you guys deal with it? 2 fridges, maybe?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Clint]

I too have noticed this advice...only achievable as you say if you have a fridge. Mine get 2 weeks in the kitchen cupboard for carbing then moved to the shed for a few weeks or so. Requirements are then moved to the kitchen fridge for chilling. It seems though my shed floor keeps quite a cool temp...I must measure. ..I would need more than 1 fridge as my current supply is around 200....

 

[foxbat]

If you go straight to 12C after bottling then the yeast won't carbonate the beer and your bottles will be flat.

It needs a week or two at normal fermentation temperature to carbonate, only then do you drop the temperature to cellar levels for maturing and storage.

 

[DaveK]

Thanks for the replies. At the moment, its getting bottled and kept in crates indoors (typically 20°C+) until I shove it in the fridge ready to drink. I don't have anywhere to keep it cooler than that so am wondering whether I need to get a second fridge.

 

[foxy]

Getting a second fridge will lead to a third fridge, 12 degrees will carbonate the beer it just takes longer, I have a shed which is 10 or 12 degrees at the moment and if I run out of room in my fermenting shed the colder shed is where they end up.Which isn't a bad thing as it gives me time to drink the ones out of the fermenting shed before the cold shed ones are ready.:smile:

 

[terrym]

After you have packaged your beer it will need between one to two weeks to fully carb up if stored at about 20*C, longer if the temperature is much less.
Thereafter conditioning and storage at cooler temperatures is desirable but not truly essential imo, except if you are lagering in bottle at low temperatures. I feel sure the benefits are only marginal.
So if you have a cold place like a cellar or better a fridge (or more!) so much the better, but I wouldn't get too concerned if you don't.

 

[DaveK]

That's reassuring - thanks Terry.

 

[nigelnorris]

En Passant; In the DIYDOG pdf that they claim 14C to be the ideal temperature for dry-hopping. Given the cost of hops I have tried to fix at that to get best bang / buck.

 

[BeerCat]

After you have packaged your beer it will need between one to two weeks to fully carb up if stored at about 20*C, longer if the temperature is much less.
Thereafter conditioning and storage at cooler temperatures is desirable but not truly essential imo, except if you are lagering in bottle at low temperatures. I feel sure the benefits are only marginal.
So if you have a cold place like a cellar or better a fridge (or more!) so much the better, but I wouldn't get too concerned if you don't.

Totally agree with that. I drank a lager last night and was one of the best beers i have made. I leave mine indoors until the kitchen is full of crates then leave them in the garage. Time takes care of it.

 

[DaveK]

En Passant; In the DIYDOG pdf that they claim 14C to be the ideal temperature for dry-hopping. Given the cost of hops I have tried to fix at that to get best bang / buck.

How do you do that? Do you have a shed or cellar that cool?

 

[terrym]

Again I wouldn't get too hung up on dry hop temperatures (within reason).
If you can get 14*C, fine, if not, don't be too concerned. On a micro home brew scale of 23 litres or less I feel sure that you would not notice the difference between 14*C and 20*C although below say 10*C might be detectable.
I usually dry hop at anywhere between 15- 20*C according to the time of year and where my beer is and may well add a couple of days in my fridge to drop the yeast and the hops are still present in the brew.
My belief is that the higher the temperature used the quicker will be the extraction of hoppy goodness. The analogy is to making tea.
So 3 days at 10*C will not be as effective as 7 days at 20*C.
And the bottom line is if you are concerned with aroma/flavour uptake simply chuck a few more grammes of hops in, its pence at the end of the day.
-

 

[nigelnorris]

How do you do that? Do you have a shed or cellar that cool?

Fridge - I made room in my kitchen for it. I haven't had it long enough to say that it's made any difference to my beer though, everything I've made in it so far is still conditioning.

 

[sdt7618]

Getting a second fridge will lead to a third fridge, 12 degrees will carbonate the beer it just takes longer, I have a shed which is 10 or 12 degrees at the moment and if I run out of room in my fermenting shed the colder shed is where they end up.Which isn't a bad thing as it gives me time to drink the ones out of the fermenting shed before the cold shed ones are ready.:smile:

yup, now onto two fridges, and a full size larder freezer has just been " found" to be fitted out as a double ferment/carb/lagering chamber!

Its wonder I don't have a drink problem!!

 

[Thumper]

Mine carbed for two weeks in bottles, in a box, in the same spot the fermenter was. Since then (14 days tomorrow!) it's been in the shed, which is still pretty warm during the day but gets cold at night. Hopefully this will be cold enough for the yeast to settle out properly.

Four bottles went in the fridge, and the one I had last night was lovely. They have improved noticeably over the last 12 days (yes, I only got two days into cold conditioning before opening one). Hope the ones in the shed are the same!

 

[LarryF]

2+2+2+4 months, if only I had the patience.

 

[Clint]

That's when working out critical mass becomes daunting....my Mrs said why do you need to have 200 bottles of beer in the shed....well, says I, it takes 2 weeks to brew;2 weeks to carbonate and 2 weeks to however many months to condition. If I drink 10 per week that's approx 40 -50 per month so I have 4 months supply that's IF they're ready to drink. I also added it's a quarter of the price compared to the supermarket and it's only like me having them here instead of there. She looked suitably confused and that was the end of that....

 

[St00]

Hello folks.

I've just got a 45w greenhouse heater for my fridge. I'm going to hook it up to my Inkbird for simple heating control. I'm finding it difficult to find somewhere in my house where it's a steady 18⁰c, so I figure I'll carb them up in the fridge.

Is it better to do 18⁰c for 3-4 weeks? Or 20⁰c for 2 weeks? Is it better to use more sugar over less time at higher temps? or less over longer?

Thanks

 

[terrym]

....so I figure I'll carb them up in the fridge.
Is it better to do 18⁰c for 3-4 weeks? Or 20⁰c for 2 weeks? Is it better to use more sugar over less time at higher temps? or less over longer?

Carbing times are mostly reliant on 3 things. Quantity of priming sugar, quantity of yeast in the beer at packaging time, and carbing temperature. More sugar, less yeast, lower temperature all mean longer carbing times. Less sugar , more yeast, warmer conditions equals shorter time. My rule of thumb is that carbing takes about a week but is definitely done in two, I know this because I use mostly PET bottles and I usually leave the beer alone until it has nearly cleared after the yeast has done its job. As far as priming sugar is concerned as a rule you use the quantity appropriate to the beer style, not to vary the carbing time, so, for example, an English bitter should take less time to carb up than a wheat beer because the CO2 levels for the style (and so priming quantities) are less. More on that here
https://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/

 

[St00]

Carbing times are mostly reliant on 3 things. Quantity of priming sugar, quantity of yeast in the beer at packaging time, and carbing temperature. More sugar, less yeast, lower temperature all mean longer carbing times. Less sugar , more yeast, warmer conditions equals shorter time. My rule of thumb is that carbing takes about a week but is definitely done in two, I know this because I use mostly PET bottles and I usually leave the beer alone until it has nearly cleared after the yeast has done its job. As far as priming sugar is concerned as a rule you use the quantity appropriate to the beer style, not to vary the carbing time, so, for example, an English bitter should take less time to carb up than a wheat beer because the CO2 levels for the style (and so priming quantities) are less. More on that here
https://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/

Thanks TerryM, much appreciated

 

[BridgeBrew]

My routine is 2 weeks in primary, after 7 day's dry hop (if required) Keg with 4-5oz priming sugar, put back in fridge, and monitor keg pressure via schrader valve. Pressure normally starts to build after 3 days. After about six days pressure normally settles at about 10psi, thats when i presume the yeast has eaten the available priming sugar. Cold crash at 12 degrees for 24 hours, add gelatine finings to keg, re carb. Leave for about 7 days, then sample. The beer is drinkable after 7 days, but a little green. If you can leave it for 4 weeks its lovely. Been dry hopping with Citra recently 100g at 7 days, leave in for 7 days. Lovely aroma, and a lovely lace to the bottom of the glass. I am convinced certain hops are better for head retention, Citra seems to be a good un.