Week 1 Down, 2 to go...

Until bottling day for my first batch. This first 3 weeks is killer!!!!!

Brew more. Get a pipeline going. It reduces anxiety. I try to brew at least one batch every weekend, so I'm constantly getting new beers and I sometimes forget what I have fermenting. This also helps you get more of a variety too.

hoopdogg315 said:

Until bottling day for my first batch. This first 3 weeks is killer!!!!!

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Haha you know there are another 3-4 weeks after you bottle right?

Be patient, pick up some craft brew to research your next batch.

Channel66 said:

Haha you know there are another 3-4 weeks after you bottle right?

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It doesn't have to take that long unless you're conditioning at really cool temps. I stick a few bottles by my baseboard heat and am drinking fully carbed beer in a week or less.

yeah i know i got another 3-4 after this.

It's true. When you first start the patience thing is very difficult.

Within 6 months or so you'll switch to... "Damn! I have to bottle. AGAIN?" or "Is it already time to move that to secondary?"

TANSTAAFB said:

It doesn't have to take that long unless you're conditioning at really cool temps. I stick a few bottles by my baseboard heat and am drinking fully carbed beer in a week or less.

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Sure, but carbing at 70 won't produce off flavor. Patience goes far.

By that same school of thought. Putting your carboy in front of your heater or ramping a brew belt up to 90 will finish fermentation in 1 week instead of 3.

MuddyCreek said:

It's true. When you first start the patience thing is very difficult.

Within 6 months or so you'll switch to... "Damn! I have to bottle. AGAIN?" or "Is it already time to move that to secondary?"

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With a full pipeline I sometimes feel like this. Especially if it's a recipe I'm not super excited about. If I know it won't hurt, I put stuff off, etc.

Channel66 said:

Sure, but carbing at 70 won't produce off flavor. Patience goes far.

By that same school of thought. Putting your carboy in front of your heater or ramping a brew belt up to 90 will finish fermentation in 1 week instead of 3.

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Bottle conditioning at higher temps will not cause off flavors. Almost every Belgian brewery has a hot room, often at 80° or above, that they bottle condition their premium beers in with no problems. I am a fanatic about temp control during critical stages of the brewing process and I let every batch do its thing for at least three weeks. It just isn't necessary to wait for good bottle conditioned beer. The reason I leave it in the primary so long is so I DON'T have to wait once it's in the bottle! Cheers!

TANSTAAFB said:

Bottle conditioning at higher temps will not cause off flavors. Almost every Belgian brewery has a hot room, often at 80° or above, that they bottle condition their premium beers in with no problems. I am a fanatic about temp control during critical stages of the brewing process and I let every batch do its thing for at least three weeks. It just isn't necessary to wait for good bottle conditioned beer. The reason I leave it in the primary so long is so I DON'T have to wait once it's in the bottle! Cheers!

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While I understand the idea here. You can't really use Belgian beer or breweries as a general example of how to make beer. I guess this is my point more than anything.

Most strains of Belgian yeast have long ago become mutated to be tolerant of higher temperatures both in fermentation and conditioning. It's not uncommon for a saison for example to be fermented at 95 degrees. The characteristic the yeast creates at this temperature is unmistakable and very undesirable in anything but a Belgian beer.

When you are bottle conditioning you are essentially starting a second round of fermentation, it's a small scale operation sure, But still fermenting fresh sugars. So temperatures do matter, yeast doesn't have some timeline of when they ferment comfortably at 65 and then all of a sudden they don't mind fermenting at 90. Drop some us05 in a bottle of malt kept at 65, and one at 90, taste them after a few days and tell me there isn't a difference.

I'm not against bringing a 6er out and putting it at a higher temp to carb faster, but at the same time there is a clear difference between that 6er and the other 42 or so bottles.

Channel66 said:

Sure, but carbing at 70 won't produce off flavor. Patience goes far.

By that same school of thought. Putting your carboy in front of your heater or ramping a brew belt up to 90 will finish fermentation in 1 week instead of 3.

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Keep in mind that if this beer is a week old, that fermentation is more than likely done by now anyway! Any time still in the fermenter after the beer is done fermenting is for clarifying and conditioning.

I never go three weeks in the fermenter (at least, not on purpose!) as my beers tend to be really clear by day 10-14 so I package then.

Yooper said:

Keep in mind that if this beer is a week old, that fermentation is more than likely done by now anyway! Any time still in the fermenter after the beer is done fermenting is for clarifying and conditioning.

I never go three weeks in the fermenter (at least, not on purpose!) as my beers tend to be really clear by day 10-14 so I package then.

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Yes I won't argue that. But when you prime a beer with fresh sugar you are starting fermentation again, so keeping said beer at a higher temp for priming would produce the same (though on a much smaller scale) off flavors of keeping your fermentor at too high a temperature, would it not?

Channel66 said:

Yes I won't argue that. But when you prime a beer with fresh sugar you are starting fermentation again, so keeping said beer at a higher temp for priming would produce the same (though on a much smaller scale) off flavors of keeping your fermentor at too high a temperature, would it not?

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In theory, yes. But it's a very small amount of fermentation, and even if off-flavors were created, I don't know if I'd be able to pick up the flavor.

As an example, I make lagers. I ferment them at 50 degrees, and then usually lager near freezing. But when I bottle them, hold them at room temperature (68 degrees-ish) to carb up. Lagers generally ferment (with lager yeast) at 50 degrees. I haven't noticed any off flavors from doing this, even though it's almost 20 degrees warmer than "optimum fermentation temperature" for that yeast strain. It's possible they are there, but the amount of fermentation happening in the bottle just doesn't seem to be noticeable in the flavor.

That said, I would never keep beer at 75+ degrees, anyway! It would encourage faster staling and could impact the flavor of the beer. Once bottled, I store my beers either at 70ish or in the cellar if I wish to age them.

The only point I was trying to make is that for a new Brewer who is dying to taste his first batch and is being patient enough to wait a few weeks on his primary (you could bottle in 2 weeks no problem BTW) he could speed up the carbonation process on a sixer by keeping them in a reasonably warm place. Congrats on the first brew and I hope it is the best beer to ever pass your lips!

I agree, let most of the batch condition a little slower and definitely store in a cool, dark place. I think Yooper has it right that the small amount of fermentation that takes place in the bottle, even at slightly warmer temps and with any yeast strain, does not contribute to off flavors in the finished beer.

I really wish there was a way to have these civil disagreements in writing without it seeming to get a little testy! No offense to anyone intended and I hope none taken. Cheers!

I used that time to consume 25 bombers for bottling. Enjoy it, you may never visit your liquor store again!

Yooper said:

Keep in mind that if this beer is a week old, that fermentation is more than likely done by now anyway! Any time still in the fermenter after the beer is done fermenting is for clarifying and conditioning.

I never go three weeks in the fermenter (at least, not on purpose!) as my beers tend to be really clear by day 10-14 so I package then.

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Thank you! I don't know why people think an average gravity ale needs a month in primary. I bottle most of mine at the the ten day mark.

Is there any formula for temp and carbonation (forget conditioning; just interested in carbonation) time? Or is it just rule of thumb? Mine seem pretty flat but then my closet might have been as low as the low sixties (basically I assume this is a hobby and I just figure *everything* is "room temperature-- although I think my closet was a steady high sixties but I don't know). Will give 'em more time, but is there a point where I should just say "heck with it, more priming sugar next time"?

hoopdogg315 said:

Until bottling day for my first batch. This first 3 weeks is killer!!!!!

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Can you imagine changing weeks to months? That's what happened with my first brew...started it during tax season when I worked at a CPA firm...ended up being my best brew so far.