Cold bottling

[SouthBay]

I've got a beer ready to bottle tonight, but it's sitting in the fridge, cold crashing. Beersmith calculates the amount of priming sugar to use based on the temperature of the beer.

Ive only ever bottled at room temp though. Other than adjusting the priming sugar, are there any other things ill need to consider if I bottle it cold tonight? Fwiw, the beer is a high gravity imperial sweet stout

Thanks in advance!

 

[eastoak]

i always calculate it by the volume of the beer and the temperature it's going to be during conditioning/carbonation not the temperature the beer is when i add the priming sugar.

 

[scinerd3000]

The colder the beer is the more soluble co2 is in solution. If you have ever tasted small amounts of the finished beer before carbonating, they have a slight fizz which equates to around .4-.5 volumes or ~1g/L...You have to subtract this from the normal amount you would be looking to achieve. For example, if you want 2.4 volumes and there is already .4 in solution since you fermented a bit colder, you don't need as much priming sugar. When they talk about soluble co2, they are referring to the temperature DURING the main part of the fermentation....At least with beer smith I belive this is how they calculate it

 

[Aunt_Ester]

When they talk about soluble co2, they are referring to the temperature DURING the main part of the fermentation....At least with beer smith I belive this is how they calculate it

No. The temperature you should be concerned with is the temp of the beer being stored for natural carbonation.

i always calculate it by the volume of the beer and the temperature it's going to be during conditioning/carbonation not the temperature the beer is when i add the priming sugar. ]i always calculate it by the volume of the beer and the temperature it's going to be during conditioning/carbonation not the temperature the beer is when i add the priming sugar.

Yes.

 

[SouthBay]

Ok thanks for the clarification!

 

[Calder]

NO!

The temperature you use in priming calculators is the MAXIMUM temperature the beer has been at after it has finished fermentation.

The higher the beer temperature the less CO2 it will hold. If you fermented at 65 F, and then cold crashed after fermentation, you should use 65. Once it cools, it does not take up more CO2.

If you fermented at 65 , and then did a diecetyl rest at 70 F, then you should use 70 F.

 

[y6y6y6]

Once it cools, it does not take up more CO2.

Pretty sure physics is going to disagree with you here.....

If you fermented at 65 , and then did a diecetyl rest at 70 F, then you should use 70 F.

How could the beer in the bottle know what the fermentation temp was? I'm not sure why the maximum fermentation temp would have any effect at all on carbing.

 

[By-Tor]

It's like....how does a thermos know weather it should keep stuff hot,or cold?

 

[ChuckO]

As CO2 moves into solution and back out as the temperature changes the calculation is for the serving temperature.

 

[eastoak]

NO!

The temperature you use in priming calculators is the MAXIMUM temperature the beer has been at after it has finished fermentation.

The higher the beer temperature the less CO2 it will hold. If you fermented at 65 F, and then cold crashed after fermentation, you should use 65. Once it cools, it does not take up more CO2.

If you fermented at 65 , and then did a diecetyl rest at 70 F, then you should use 70 F.

i don't think so, this makes no sense to me.

 

[Malticulous]

CO2 does not go back into solution. There is no where near enough pressure or CO2.

I bottle cold most of the time. I use the highest temp the beer stabilized at. It works.

You'll notice a lot of air lock activity when you warm beer up, but very little suck back when you cool it off. The activity is not necessarily fermentation and the suck back is air, not CO2.

 

[Calder]

Pretty sure physics is going to disagree with you here.....

How could the beer in the bottle know what the fermentation temp was? I'm not sure why the maximum fermentation temp would have any effect at all on carbing.

I think physiscs is on my side: Higher temperatures = less CO2 entrained in the beer, cooler temperatures and there is nothing to put it back into solution.

The temperature in the calculators is to figure out how much CO2 is in solution before you add the priming sugar. If you don't account for this you could over-carbonate. All this is before you get it into the bottle.

As CO2 moves into solution and back out as the temperature changes the calculation is for the serving temperature.

Serving temperature has nothing to do with the calculator. Yes; colder and it will have more CO2 dissolved, but that is in the pressurized bottle. The calculator is for before you get it into the bottle. The temperature is to figure out how much CO2 is entrained in the beer before priming so you don't add too much (or too little) sugar.

i don't think so, this makes no sense to me.

Think again!

CO2 does not go back into solution. There is no where near enough pressure or CO2.

I bottle cold most of the time. I use the highest temp the beer stabilized at. It works.

Finally ........ some sanity. Thanks for the support.

 

[tektonjp]

Calder and Malti are right. It is the fermentation temperature or the rest temp, whichever is higher, used for calculation. I cold crash, add sugar based on the above temps when I bottle, and then put the bottles in a 20c place for a week to carbonate. It is all about the residual CO2.

I think physiscs is on my side: Higher temperatures = less CO2 entrained in the beer, cooler temperatures and there is nothing to put it back into solution.

The temperature in the calculators is to figure out how much CO2 is in solution before you add the priming sugar. If you don't account for this you could over-carbonate. All this is before you get it into the bottle.



Serving temperature has nothing to do with the calculator. Yes; colder and it will have more CO2 dissolved, but that is in the pressurized bottle. The calculator is for before you get it into the bottle. The temperature is to figure out how much CO2 is entrained in the beer before priming so you don't add too much (or too little) sugar.



Think again!



Finally ........ some sanity. Thanks for the support.

 

[Malticulous]

There are some charts here.
Brew Your Own: The How-To Homebrew Beer Magazine - Carbonation Priming Chart

 

[Yooper]

No. The temperature you should be concerned with is the temp of the beer being stored for natural carbonation.

I just wanted to say that this is incorrect, although it might work if you fermented the beer at 68 degrees-ish and plan to keep it there.

As was mentioned, those calculators try to guestimate the amount of residual co2 dissolved in the beer. Since co2 is more easily dissolved into colder liquids, a beer that is fermented at 50 degrees will have more bubbles than a beer fermented at 70 degrees. However, since most people even raise their lagers up to the 60s at some point, like in a diacetyl rest, those priming calculators can be quite deceiving.

More co2 isn't created during a cold crash, so you don't want to use that temperature. You want to use the temperature that the beer reached during or after fermentation. In most cases, it doesn't even matter that much as most people will find that it is almost always 64-70 degrees or so.

I typically use 1 ounce of priming sugar per gallon for nearly every style. This works well for me but I don't like undercarbed beer.

 

[y6y6y6]

I stand corrected. Mea culpa.