How long does it take for a beer to carb up when bottle conditioning?

[stripeyjoe]

Hi all,
I bottled some semi-carbed beer last Friday (it had been pressure fermented at about 10psi and cold crashed at around 5psi), used a single large carb drop in each 500ml bottle. Bottles now stored in a box under my desk at around 20C or so. I want to enter this into a comp on Thursday, do you think that would have been long enough for the yeast to have gobbled up the sugar and turned it into fizz? Current plan is to put in the fridge on Weds night before taking into the comp on Thursday afternoon. I think the beer gets put into cold storage on Thursday until the tasting over the weekend.

 

[jof]

It sounds like you are taking it to the competition regardless, so it's a bit of a rhetorical question.


I thought we all stuck to the 2+2+2 rule of thumb

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Maybe don’t refrigerate it at all, give it maximum time to carbonate. I don’t think you’ll gain anything by chilling it down.

 

[Donegal john]

It all seems a bit quick for a competition beer. However it all depends on the type of beer you brewed as some have quick turn around and others need time to bottle condition.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Mine normally carb for 2 weeks before I open the first bottle. Sometimes if I'm impatient, I open one after a week and it's probably about 80% carbed. (I also stick them under the desk, about 20°).

Given your time constraints, I would probably consider sticking it somewhere even warmer (airing cupboard, warm spot on the sun) if you can, maybe 25 degrees. This will help it carb faster. Though you will get more esters, which may (fruit/strong/Belgian) or may not (IPA/lager) be a good thing. I know Trappists etc carbonate/condition in warm rooms to get the extra spiciness from their secondary fermentation

 

[The Baron]

You may get away with it but it may not be the clearest beer and maybe not fully carbed as you would like but put it in and see it will give you a base line for next time

 

[Knuckles]

It wont be enough time for it to carbonate/condition so you'd be entering a beer knowing it wasn't ready/at it's best,....... just to be told exactly that by the judges. You could always bang it in and keep schtum to see how good the judges are

 

[Agentgonzo]

You could always bang it in and keep schtum to see how good the judges are

Everyone is susceptible to prejudices. Even scientists at the top of their field have been shown to be prejudiced by information before the fact. That's why lots of experiments are done blind/double-blind etc. If you tell someone "it's only been carbonating for a week", then they will subconsciously search for flaws related to that, rather than judging the beer on its merits alone.

If you're after honest, unbiased feedback (or even if you want to win a comp) then it's best to give the judge as little information as possible. That way, they judge the beer, not the information you've given them.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Good luck @stripeyjoe ! Let us know how you fared after the judging!

 

[stripeyjoe]

Well the bottles feel pretty 'tight' now (they are PET), I might stick one in the fridge and try it later this evening. If it's a fail then I did keg some at the same time so could use that if it's carbed up by now (has been on 30psi for 5 days) and, if that's a fail, have an older brew of the same style but the hop aroma is not as present as it was. Hopefully one of those three options will get me a rosette!

 

[An Ankoù]

Hi all,
I bottled some semi-carbed beer last Friday (it had been pressure fermented at about 10psi and cold crashed at around 5psi), used a single large carb drop in each 500ml bottle. Bottles now stored in a box under my desk at around 20C or so. I want to enter this into a comp on Thursday, do you think that would have been long enough for the yeast to have gobbled up the sugar and turned it into fizz? Current plan is to put in the fridge on Weds night before taking into the comp on Thursday afternoon. I think the beer gets put into cold storage on Thursday until the tasting over the weekend.

To answer the title question, it all depends: on the beer, on the yeast used, in the alcoholic strength, on the temperature. Etc. I've bottled some light beers for quick drinking, a little cloudy, and had them carb up and drop bright in a fortnight. I had a Vienna lager that took over a year to carb up-I let it ferment out completely and it was crystal clear when I bottled it.
Very flocculant yeasts will drop out of suspension and take longer to carb up. With very strong beers, the yeast's pretty much knackered anyway and it might be better to use a bottling yeast.
Bottle some of your beer in 500 ml PETS, then you'll be able to tell, by how hard the bottle becomes, how the carbonation's going.

 

[stripeyjoe]

Bottle some of your beer in 500 ml PETS, then you'll be able to tell, by how hard the bottle becomes, how the carbonation's going.

Thanks @An Ankoù! It's a pretty hoppy IPA so I did bottle these in PETs for that exact reason (plus I was bottling with a carb cap into purged bottles to reduce the chance of oxidation). The bottles already feel pretty taut, I've chucked one in the fridge for sampling later on this evening to see how it's going.

 

[labrewski]

What type of beer is it I definitely think neipa style carb up quicker like within a week

 

[Agentgonzo]

Bottle some of your beer in 500 ml PETS, then you'll be able to tell, by how hard the bottle becomes, how the carbonation's going.

Also, if you use PET bottles you can squeeze all the air out of it completely, thus vastly reducing the risk of oxidation in the bottle.

 

[crescent city Mike]

You can carbonate a beer without it being fully conditioned. The final bit of conditioning is the development of carbonic acid which gives the beer that "bite" and the lasting foam. My beers get there between 2 1/2 and 3 weeks after bottling.

 

[stripeyjoe]

I tried some out of the keg and it was too green still so I entered the last of my previous IPA which had lost a fair bit of its hop aroma. Scored 28 & 26 with the two judges.

 

[sifty]

You can carbonate a beer without it being fully conditioned. The final bit of conditioning is the development of carbonic acid which gives the beer that "bite" and the lasting foam. My beers get there between 2 1/2 and 3 weeks after bottling.

Interesting. I often try them 1 week in as the test PET bottles are firm as, and I'm impatient. But sometimes just get a good hiss on opening and a very sparse head. Another couple of weeks and it's a different story. Hadn't heard of carbonic acid...