Temperature control once conditioned

[carljbray]

Hi There,

My question is about how important is temperature control once a beer has been conditioned for a few weeks; I know this is key during the fermentation stage and second fermentation, and probably early stages of conditioning, but what about when it is settled down and aging?

I'm working on the basic 2-2-2 schedule, but have found, as everyone says, that they really do improve if they are left for longer than this, and I want to keep them for 3-6 months or more, and see how that effects things.
Previously I kept barrels and bottles in the house, where the temperature is relatively consistent, but if I am keeping beers for an extended period of time, this means I'm going to end up building up much bigger stocks than my brewing cupboard in my home can take, if waiting for 3-6 months before getting stuck into a batch properly.

(unfortunately I doubt the other half will tolerate the place looking like a beer warehouse!).

I have a garage, but with a dark felt roof, this gets quite warm, especially in the summer, but cold at night, especially in the winter.
If I conditioned the batches in the house till past the 2-2-2 stage, and then move into a crate for storage in the garage, for the next few months - is this going to ruin them?
I wonder if perhaps this will be ok in the winter when it is mostly cold - I guess it would be like keeping in a fridge - but not so much in the summer.

Cheers,
Carl

PS: I brew with malt extract kits, in 40 pint batches normally

 

[Clint]

Some beers won't be their best after 6 months...very hoppy styles for instance.

 

[carljbray]

Hi Clive, thanks for that,
is there a generally accepted peak conditioning time for different types of ales? I have heard that some darker or stronger ales it can be 9 month or more before they are at their best.

I didn't know hoppy ones peak earlier, that is interesting - but then very hoppy ales are not really my thing, not the very bitter IPA's anyway.

But my main query was really about whether I can store the beers in a less temperature controlled environment once they are well conditioned (eg after 3 or 4 weeks or so), or if this is just as important as during the fermentation period, to keep the temperature consistent.

cheers,
Carl

 

[HoppingMad]

Hi Clive, thanks for that,
is there a generally accepted peak conditioning time for different types of ales? I have heard that some darker or stronger ales it can be 9 month or more before they are at their best.

I didn't know hoppy ones peak earlier, that is interesting - but then very hoppy ales are not really my thing, not the very bitter IPA's anyway.

But my main query was really about whether I can store the beers in a less temperature controlled environment once they are well conditioned (eg after 3 or 4 weeks or so), or if this is just as important as during the fermentation period, to keep the temperature consistent.

cheers,
Carl

I think the technical answer would be “Yes”, which is why so much money is spent by beer / wine producers on storing their produce.

That said, for 6 months? As long as it’s dark I can’t see that it would make any discernible difference! Hotter would be worse than colder though, so could depend on just how hot?

Go back 10 years and I was brewing pretty much fortnightly. I ended up with several hundred bottles of beer in storage, all of which were in the garage, and I never had a problem, I just had to remember to put them in the fridge earlier if it was the summer!

 

[carljbray]

Cheers hopping mad, sounds like it will be ok then