When to bottle up latest brew?

[CMAC]

Your beers should carbonate in a week or so if kept warm. I leave mine 1 to 2 weeks then put them in the shed.

Thank Clint. So come Monday that will be a week since bottling. I'll maybe let them go to that following Friday then put them on the shed also. Cold enough outside for them. What would be a good duration to leave them after conditioning? Two weeks or more? Thanks again mate

 

[Beermonster66]

Carbonation is just a secondary fermentation in the bottles so it does need to be around the same temp as the main fermentation. The yeast gobbles up the sugar you added and makes CO2 and a wee bit more alcohol then goes back to sleep. Allow 2 weeks for this stage then move the bottles somewhere cold to condition for a couple more weeks before cracking one open. IPAs can be drunk fresh after secondary fermentation has finished but I find they definitely benefit from conditioning for around 4-6 weeks.

 

[CMAC]

Carbonation is just a secondary fermentation in the bottles so it does need to be around the same temp as the main fermentation. The yeast gobbles up the sugar you added and makes CO2 and a wee bit more alcohol then goes back to sleep. Allow 2 weeks for this stage then move the bottles somewhere cold to condition for a couple more weeks before cracking one open. IPAs can be drunk fresh after secondary fermentation has finished but I find they definitely benefit from conditioning for around 4-6 weeks.

Thank you mate. Appreciate the tips. I'll let them sit for over two weeks as I want the beers to be perfect. Then I'll move them outside. I'll just keep patient until before Christmas then crack one. Thanks again.

Cmac

 

[Twostage]

My questions are while conditioning the beers is heat a factor?

Yes. While carbonating they will carbonate faster the warmer it is. As this will be fermentation under pressure you don't have to worry too much about the ambient being higher than the original fermentation temperature.

Conditioning, the received wisdom is do that cool, people aim for around 10c, I think that's because cellars tend to be around this. If you have the occasional sample you should detect it improving.

 

[Beermonster66]

I should also have said, the bottles should be kept in the dark. The only time your beer should see daylight is the brief interval between going into a glass and over yir thrapple.

 

[CMAC]

Thanks folks. So let them carbonate for a week or two then store them in my shed and let them condition. Perfect. Shed is not used this time of year. Could be pretty cold out there tho. Hope that wouldn't affect the beers. I don't think it would.

Now it's the patience game. Waiting to sample. Really looking forward to this.

Cmac

 

[RichardM]

Are the bottles PET or glass? If they are PET you can squeeze them to see if they are carbonated. i.e. they will be hard when done.
Once carbonated you can open one a week to sample for quality control.
If you are in the UK then outside temperatures at the moment are ok for storage, but bring them in an hour or two before sampling to warm up a bit.

 

[CMAC]

Are the bottles PET or glass? If they are PET you can squeeze them to see if they are carbonated. i.e. they will be hard when done.
Once carbonated you can open one a week to sample for quality control.
If you are in the UK then outside temperatures at the moment are ok for storage, but bring them in an hour or two before sampling to warm up a bit.

Thanks Richard!. There's a mix between PET and glass. I've got 500ml PET (x24 bottles) and a number of glass (500ml & 330ml) that I capped as well. I was gonna lose around 3 litres so I took a 2L clear plastic bottle and was able to salvage 2L into that and a quick press on it this morning it's very firm so I assume it's carbonating fine. The room temp then should be helping it along nicely.

 

[matt.]

Thanks Richard!. There's a mix between PET and glass. I've got 500ml PET (x24 bottles) and a number of glass (500ml & 330ml) that I capped as well. I was gonna lose around 3 litres so I took a 2L clear plastic bottle and was able to salvage 2L into that and a quick press on it this morning it's very firm so I assume it's carbonating fine. The room temp then should be helping it along nicely.

Good information here. Much appreciated.
I think it was my second kit brew that I transferred into a cold garage directly after bottling.
The secondary fermentation didn't take place at all.
Until I received advice I couldn't understand what was wrong.
Now I leave the bottles in our house before moving to garage.

 

[CMAC]

Good information here. Much appreciated.
I think it was my second kit brew that I transferred into a cold garage directly after bottling.
The secondary fermentation didn't take place at all.
Until I received advice I couldn't understand what was wrong.
Now I leave the bottles in our house before moving to garage.

Cheers for the info Matt!. Appreciate it

 

[kenstel]

When you bottle, I would suggest that pick a few bottles and change the amount of priming sugar you use in those..

But as a beginner it's good to get a feel for how much to add, if you like your beer really fizzy & lively, or less fizzy like pub cask beer.

That's a good idea jof. It's a good learning opportunity to see how it changes the finished product. No way of learning otherwise.

I'll put that into practice when I bottle this weekend.

 

[CMAC]

Morning folks, hope all is well on this really cold morning. Beers have been bottled up for a number of weeks now (bottled 27th Nov). A few have been in the fridge a week tonight so tonight will be the first taste. Really looking forward to trying. Some friends are coming for dinner so myself and the mate will try a bottle (or two!). Here's hoping it's as tasty as the reviews I've read.

I'll send in some images later tonight when settled after work!.

 

[Beermonster66]

@CMAC How did it go last night?

 

[matt.]

@CMAC How did it go last night?

hangover?