ideal conditioning temperatures

[crafty-man]

My Youngs AIPA is in it's last few days in the FV. This has been chugging away at 22c for 14 days, the instructions tell me to transfer the beer to a pressurised barrel in a warm place for two weeks. The FV is already indoors in my dining room and I don't have anything significantly and consistantly warmer - more to the point; how warm does my beer need to 24, 26...30?.and what is the purpose of this increased temperature - I do have a brewbelt BTW.
The instructions then tell me move it to a cooler place for a further 2 weeks - again; what is 'cooler' and what purpose does it serve?

Thanks in advance

 

[Rivvo]

I don't keg my beer but I think 22' is plenty warm enough, the initial two weeks is to get the beer to produce co2 if primed with sugar and then the cooler period is to allow the beer to absorb the co2 and make it fizzy. I didn't realise you had to do this if you were force carbonating the beer, if you're not force carbonating then I guess you prime with sugar and it's done for the same reasons.
I sit my FV on the garage floor which is concrete, and that seems cool enough, so long as you don't have a centrally heated garage I think you'll be ok.

 

[naturals]

I don't keg my beer but I think 22' is plenty warm enough, the initial two weeks is to get the beer to produce co2 if primed with sugar and then the cooler period is to allow the beer to absorb the co2 and make it fizzy. I didn't realise you had to do this if you were force carbonating the beer, if you're not force carbonating then I guess you prime with sugar and it's done for the same reasons.
I sit my FV on the garage floor which is concrete, and that seems cool enough, so long as you don't have a centrally heated garage I think you'll be ok.

I don't have the luxury of a garage or even any outdoor space in my flat. My beers get bottled, left in a corner at around 20c for two weeks then straight in the fridge. I try to fridge them for 2 days before drinking and they're always well carbonated.

Out of interest - for long term aging of beer, what would be the ideal process? I'm currently brewing a few stronger beers for winter. I have the option of storing them long term at my parents house / garage / fridge. What would be best?

 

[ericmark]

I do have a shed but only bottle beers. I find if I want to drink it quickly then temperature is important and I leave in kitchen for a week but where a beer is going to be a couple of months before I drink it then temperature does not seem as important and the beer I took out to the shed at Christmas to make space in the kitchen which was likely sitting at around 5 degrees for first couple of months tastes the same as beer which was conditioned at 20 degrees C.

In fact it seems the longer and the cooler the better within limits. At 16 degrees with yeasts I use the beer does very little at 18 degrees it ferments but slow, at 20 degrees if ferments well and this seems ideal temperature for most the kits I do. Last summer at one point it did climb to 26 degrees and that tasted very bitter but left in shed it did mellow again.

I tried a packet of dried lager yeast with the idea it would run at a lower temperature but found it was no different to the packets supplied with the kit. I am sure wet yeast is different but local supplier does not stock it.

I looked at times in fermentor quickest was 12 days longest 30 days but in the main around 20 days when fermentor is covered with a body warmer so sits at around 20 degrees for first half of fermentation as the activity drops so does the temperature and when ready to bottle sits at 18 degrees C. The 12 day one was last July when kitchen was much warmer.

I have one odd one a lager which to date has been running 99 days I thought Young's lager yeast was a proper lager yeast so the brew sat at around 12 degrees in garage however having used the same yeast with another brew it transpires it is the same as kit yeasts and needs around 18 degrees C it does ferment at 14 degrees I can see bubbles rising but very very slow.

So heat and speed are closely related but too hot and off flavours too cold and it stops but once warmed up again it will re-start so if unsure better too cold than too hot.

I brew 25 litres at a time during the day kitchen is at 20 to 22 degrees but over night central heating turns off so if I look at brew temperature it will sit at 18 degrees day and night as 25 litres takes some heating and cooling. I measure with stick on strip on fermentor I am sure when starting although plastic of fermentor shows 20 degrees the centre of the brew likely hotter if I place a temperature sender inside the body warmer it will show lower than strip at night and higher than strip during the day as measuring air rather than liquid temperature.

 

[Fil]

Warm in this context means warm enough for the yeast to work, so 16-18C is fine.

the amount of sugar being eaten by the conditioning yeast is tiny in comparison to the bulk done in the FV, so any slightly off flavors from a slightly higher conditioning temp will be in virtually homeopathic volumes so wont hurt either, the warmer it is the faster it will condition..

And cool is any temp lower, if u can.. this is to mature the beer and for storage. if storing in a shed or garage an old blanket or 2 covering the crates to keep out draughts and sunlight help maintain a stable temp.

Dont believe the kit when it says ready to drink in X days, it may be drinkable but will still be green, and while many beers taste good green maturing will round off and mellow any harsh flavors you may find in a green beer, so if just ok when u sample dont be put off let it sit a lil longer,

practically however u stack up the beer where u can, crates are a wonderful invention.. get another kit on the go while this one is conditioning and start building up the stocks in a month or 2 when you start sampling they wont last long..