couple of general brewing questions

shauno2000 · May 19, 2012

Hello, still fairly new to brewing. Made about 4 kits now, larger and ale. All turned out pretty good so far :)

Just a quick question on the 2nd fermenting process in the bottle.

Is it best to leave the bottled beer in a warm place until you chill it? Or a warm place for a week or 2 and then a cold place until you drink it?

Also some kits say to simmer the contents of a can before adding to the bin, the same kits often say something different in the paper instructions inside, usually just pour the can directly into the bin and add boiling water...Which way around is best???

Thanks

RobWalker · May 19, 2012

correct - warm for about 2-3 weeks, then cool for at least a week until you drink it. Warm creates the pressure, cool absorbs it into the beer resulting in nice fizz.

Fella · May 19, 2012

On a similar note I've had my beers in a warm place for a fortnight now - for a cool place is the fridge too cool?

shauno2000 · May 19, 2012

But is it best to keep warm until your planning on drinking it and then chill?
Or after 2 weeks will it be fine in fridge until you crack it open ?
Cheers

Dieseljockey · May 19, 2012

Right...when your brew is ready for the keg or your going to bottle, think of it as a small fermentation again this builds up the Co2 ready to drink. Now you leave it like this, keg or bottle in a warm place to carb for a couple of weeks, sometimes I'll leave it for 3 weeks. Then that's when you want to put it somewhere cool for a couple of weeks.

for a cool place is the fridge too cool?

a fridge is great as long as you can get away with it... :rofl: Now you can drink your brew whenever, but if it's left for a while it will or should get better.

shauno2000 · May 19, 2012

Thanks, i have a fridge just for beer so all good lol.
What about the other question... simmer in pan or pour into bin along with boiling water?? thanks

Mr BR · May 19, 2012

i have done a few kits a while back that said simmer but i never did, to the best of my knowledge it doesnt add anything to the final product and when i drank it the taste was good ,so its a personal preference and as you said the tin and the paper instructions conflict with each other.