RichardR9 Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Hi There I bottled a Coopers English Ale with 1Kg on BKE2 on 15 October, bottled after 8 days - I have been storing it at room temperature since then, carb levels are good \u2013 but not a great head yet \u2013 no doubt this needs more time to develop! Anyway my question is this \u2013 as I have no cold storage to move the bottles to I am keeping them at room temp and then transferring to the fridge a couple of days before I want to drink it, does the beer cease to age in the fridge? \u2013 I am wondering whether to move all the beers into the fridge, but was worried this may prevent them developing further at such low temps! Any thoughts / advice appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeonardC2 Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 Yes,the fridge is way to cold to age them. The yeast goes dormant & settles out. So keeping them at room temp & out of the light is the best way to condition them. Not to mention giving it more than 8 days in primary. Mine take longer than that to get down to a stable FG. Then 3-5 days more to let it clean up by products of fermentation & settle out more. I get clearer beer into the the bottling bucket that way. Not to mention cleaner flavor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardR9 Posted November 4, 2011 Author Share Posted November 4, 2011 I did think 8 days was quick, however I was fermeting at 24 degrees C, which I know is on the high side, but was the best temp I was able to get with my limited setup. The FG was stable for 3 days, so I went for bottling it anyway. Taste is pretty good so far, will be leaving it for a few more weeks yet though - thanks for the advice about the fridge, I did think it was too cold to age it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeonardC2 Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 24C is a little high,but in summer here I have to use wet tee shirts & a 12" turbo fan to keep it down to 24C! In this cold weather.It's easy to keep it down to 18-22C,whith18-19C being better for the Cooper's ale yeast. Although it can go down to 62F. If you leave it in primary for 3-5 days after FG is reached,the yeast in there will clean it up,then settle out more. The result is not just clearer beer,but cleaner tasting,as it eats it's own by products that give off flavors. You then don't spend so much time aging it in bottles to do the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardR9 Posted November 4, 2011 Author Share Posted November 4, 2011 You then don't spend so much time aging it in bottles to do the same thing. Aha - I didn't think of that!! I think I will leave it at least 10 days for the next brew before taking an FG reading Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeonardC2 Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 Well,the point is,measuring when you reach stable FG,then count 3 to 5 days after that. This is the clean up & settle time I came up with after closely monitoring a few brews to find out how long it really takes, for these 2 things to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weggl Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 Leonard, you suddenly switched from C TO F, it has taken me some 45 years to get the F out of my head, used to know when the temp got to 100F it was bloody hot, but living down under I know now at 40C its bloody hot. Most of the blokes on this site have know idea of F degrees. It is now 40 years later that I am starting to think in metric instead of feet and inches. Its a bit like trying to learn another language. Weggl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 Richard - don't be confused from carbonating your beer to aging your beer. Beer will age at cool temperatures it just won't carbonate at cold temperatures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardR9 Posted November 4, 2011 Author Share Posted November 4, 2011 Thanks Bill - are you suggesting that beers will still develop, even in the fridge, or would that be too cold? I understand that it takes approx 1 week at room temp to carb, from then on the beer ages and develops in the bottle, but without somewhere cooler (10 C) I have to keep mine either at room temperature or pop into the fridge?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 Bottled beer will usually take about 2 weeks to carbonate. Whether you store them in or out of the fridge to mature after they carbonate is irrelevant, they still age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weggl Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 A mate of mine discovered by accident, that if you freeze a beer in PET, let it thore out it gets a great head. Anybody foud this? I have not as yet tried it.[roll] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 I haven't tried it but if you freeze a beer in a PET then I'd leave a bit more head room in the bottle. Sometimes things just want to escape from frozen containers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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