Outward and visible signs of bottle conditioning?

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brewpood

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I bottled my first batch Saturday, and am trying to exercise patience for 3 weeks or more to let the bottles condition, as so many people here have advised. The fermentation process was filled with pleasant sights and sounds signaling happy, active yeast, but my bottled beer just sits there quietly. Should I expect to see anything as it conditions?

Another related question: Somewhere I read that the bottles should be stored at 70 degrees F. It's typically 66 degrees in their box. Do I need to increase the time they spend in the bottle to make up for the temperature difference, or do I need to find a way to warm them? Or does the temperature depend on the yeast, as it did in fermentation? This is Wyeast Trappist 3787, and its temperature range is 64-78 F.

Thanks!
 
Don't expect to see anything.

It will likely take a little longer at 66 vs 70.

Specific temps keep fermenting beer from creating off flavors. Not a concern during conditioning.
 
There aren't really any outward signs of carbonation. Some people like to fill a soda bottle and use its firmness as a gauge of carbonation. I like to keep myself content by taking a couple of bottles out each week and trying them to see if the beer's ready.

There isn't a problem with just letting the beer sit at 66*F. It may take a bit longer, but it's not a huge problem.
 
When I first started out I would get anxious and try to tip them back and forth hoping to see if any bubbles would appear signaling carbonation, but there really is nothing that will give you any indication. Just like most of the other aspects of homebrewing, you just gotta wait. As far as the temps go, the 70/3weeks thing is a guideline, I'm sure yours will carb up fine in the mid 60, might just take a bit longer. I'd still crack one at 3 weeks to see where its at.
 
Congrats on your first batch success! :mug:

You'll see absolutely nothing during bottle conditioning...just bottles of your first brew whispering and trying to coerce you into opening them early. It sucks to have to wait 2-3 weeks, but as it carbonates, start planning your next brew.

As for the 66F, I'd give it two solid weeks. Try a bottle on day 15, and you'll know if it needs more time. To answer your question more directly; the higher the temperature, the quicker it'll carbonate (conditioning takes patience).
 
Thanks so much for your encouragement and advice. I will now turn my attention to planning batch #2, which should keep me preoccupied enough to let those bottles do their thing on their own.

This has been such a helpful forum every step of the way in my first experiments with this new, completely engaging, fun, and addictive enterprise. Salut!
 
If you do see activity in the bottle that's not necessarily a good thing. It means possible bottle bombs/over carbonation/infection. It sounds like you are doing everything right. There are methods to warm up your bottles, such as using a tub with a lid and putting Xmas lights in it.
 
The thing to remember here is that carbonation & conditioning aren't the same thing. Carbonation is getting the yeasts still in suspension to eat the sugar solution to create bubbles in the beer. Conditioning refers more to aging/mellowing the flavors & aromas in the beer into their final form per recipe. Ime,conditioning takes an average of a week more than carbonation.
About the only visible difference may be the beer getting crystal clear in the bottles after a couple days.
 
I've been told that my bottles will wibble wobble around at night while they carbonate, but I have never been able to catch them. I stayed up late and stared at them until I couldn't keep my eyes open any more. Nothing.

I have been woken by a clinking sound in the middle of the night and run in there, but they were all in their box and perfectly still.

I did wake up the other day and find my computer screen showing beer porn though...
 
Update: I chilled some bottles on Saturday after bottle conditioning for 3 weeks in a 68 degree room. I put them in the fridge for probably 2-3 hours. 3 foamed out of the bottles, but the others behaved. The flavor was good, and it had nice clarity, but there was a slight bitterness like a bitter pill, not like hop bitterness. Green? I’m thinking I should hold them for another week or two, as suggested by Butchv12. And how long in the fridge to avoid the foamies, presuming there isn’t an infection that’s the cause of that? Thanks!
 
At least a week fridge time,maybe two to get them settle down. Just need to get a good amount of co2 into solution.
 
bleme said:
I've been told that my bottles will wibble wobble around at night while they carbonate,
Click to expand...

That really sounds like "a truck full of canaries will weigh less if the canaries are flying". I could be wrong but to wobble the bottles must have a force acting on them. Suposedly that force is coming from the CO2 gasses pushing around inside the bottles. But, as the man said as he tried to step out of an untethered rowboat, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. So the CO2 gasses pushing against one wall has to have the same wall absorbing and pushing off the CO2 gasses. A closed bottle is, if you'll pardon the expression, a closed system. Even if you had a CO2 breathing mouse inside the bottle doing power torpedo thrusts, I don't think there'd be any notice of the bottle tipping or moving. Whatever energy put into the mouse slam banging the side of a bottle would be countered be the water absorbing the energy of the mouse developing the momentum of his power kicks.

Of course if the bottle has a leaky seal...

I'm going to try to bio-engineer a CO2 breathing mouse. Then I will put one in every sixth random bottle so drinking my beer would come with a lottery where the winners get free pet mice! I bet that would be a *big* hit! What do you think?
 
Take your homebrew, put it in a box, and put it in the darkest corner of your cellar (yes, over there, by the spiders). Return to your kitchen and plan your next brew. Don't check your bottled homebrew until you put a freshly-bottled box of homebrew next to it.

If you hear this in your cellar when you are upstairs, just get in your car and move to a new state - the poltergeist got into your brews:

http://www.jest.com/video/975/beer-bottle-dominos
 
woozy said:
That really sounds like "a truck full of canaries will weigh less if the canaries are flying". I could be wrong but to wobble the bottles must have a force acting on them. Suposedly that force is coming from the CO2 gasses pushing around inside the bottles. But, as the man said as he tried to step out of an untethered rowboat, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. So the CO2 gasses pushing against one wall has to have the same wall absorbing and pushing off the CO2 gasses. A closed bottle is, if you'll pardon the expression, a closed system. Even if you had a CO2 breathing mouse inside the bottle doing power torpedo thrusts, I don't think there'd be any notice of the bottle tipping or moving. Whatever energy put into the mouse slam banging the side of a bottle would be countered be the water absorbing the energy of the mouse developing the momentum of his power kicks.

Of course if the bottle has a leaky seal...

I'm going to try to bio-engineer a CO2 breathing mouse. Then I will put one in every sixth random bottle so drinking my beer would come with a lottery where the winners get free pet mice! I bet that would be a *big* hit! What do you think?
Click to expand...

It sounds a little like a truck full of canaries, but it also sounds a little like the guy was kidding...

Also, from a physics point of view, as long as you are not observing the bottles (it sounds as if he was not), the bottles are actually both moving and not moving simultaneously. Very similar to a cat in a box with a poison pill being alive and dead at the same time, until an observation actually takes place.

Physics is fun.
 
brewpood said:
Update: I chilled some bottles on Saturday after bottle conditioning for 3 weeks in a 68 degree room. I put them in the fridge for probably 2-3 hours. 3 foamed out of the bottles, but the others behaved. The flavor was good, and it had nice clarity, but there was a slight bitterness like a bitter pill, not like hop bitterness. Green? I’m thinking I should hold them for another week or two, as suggested by Butchv12. And how long in the fridge to avoid the foamies, presuming there isn’t an infection that’s the cause of that? Thanks!
Click to expand...

What style were you making? Might want to look into using something like the link below next time you bottle, though I will say that I add just a little more than what the Northern Brewer calc suggests.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/

Beer that's way over-carbed can take on a slightly bitter taste, or so I'm told.

As for how long to leave in the fridge, it's crazy how big a difference you'll notice between a beer that's been in there a week versus a couple hours.
 
The beer is still green. Give it another week or three.

Waiting for the bottles to carb up is the worst part. Put them somewhere out of sight and work on the next batch.
 
Thunder_Chicken said:
Take your homebrew, put it in a box, and put it in the darkest corner of your cellar (yes, over there, by the spiders). Return to your kitchen and plan your next brew. Don't check your bottled homebrew until you put a freshly-bottled box of homebrew next to it.

If you hear this in your cellar when you are upstairs, just get in your car and move to a new state - the poltergeist got into your brews:

http://www.jest.com/video/975/beer-bottle-dominos
Click to expand...

I like that tip! Of course, it might end up being two batches, depending on how often you brew!

Also, that's bottle abuse! The only reason to line up empty bottles is to either clean them or fill them with your latest brew!
 
I just bottled the other day but I'm worried about my FG. It was a bit high so I am worried I'm currently making bottle bombs in my guest room. The beer sat for 2 weeks fermenting (however it was a little on the cold side) and the air lock stopped bubbling a while ago so I hope it was done but when do you think it'll be safe to assume they arent bombs?
 

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