BeerBorg

Hello everyone!

I recently purchased a Mr. Beer kit for rather cheap. Came with the west coast pale ale kit, not my favorite style as I am a stout and porter guy but it turned out pretty well.

Decided to buy one of their recipe refills, specifically the dark forest stout (chocolate and raspberries sounded good). I finished up the fermentation (two weeks, although I know now that I should probably have waited 3) and bottled. Then I let them sit for two more weeks (yes I know longer is better) and now they are in the fridge at around 38 degrees.

My main two questions have to do with temperature and conditioning. The first batch I had a hard time maintaining a cool enough temp since it was summer, this batch I had a hard enough time keeping it warm enough, the temp was sitting around 64-66 so I moved it onto the radiator in my office and after that it maintained between 68 and 72 depending on whether the heat had kicked on or not.

Basically I am wondering if that fluctuation is going to cause any problems with the final product and what I can do next time to maintain a more constant temperature. I do already have a mini-fridge but I don't think the Mr. Beer keg will fit in it. Also I am not looking to shell out a ton of money either so cheaper easier solutions are welcome.

second is about the conditioning time. I did put one bottle in the fridge after a week and a half of carbonating then let it sit for a few days to try it and see how it was and it was mildly disappointing. Since I did not let them sit too long out of the fridge I was wondering if I took them back out would the yeast kick start again? or would it make sense to leave them in the fridge to cold lager for longer? (I was planning on 4 weeks as it was) Should I wait longer for best results? Should I plan this for 6 or 7 weeks in the fridge and give myself a christmas present? Will it be worth it to wait that long, or did my screwed up process ruin any chances of it being a good batch?

If this ends up not being the best batch I will chalk it up to experience and not make the same mistakes again.

Anyway, thanks in advance for all your help!

First off, welcome to the Borg!

Big temperature fluctuations will stress out the yeast which can lead to off flavors. I think for the temps you had, your beer should be fine. What I recommend is keeping the beer you're not drinking yet in room temperature to allow the yeast suspended in the beer to carbonate the beer, and further condition. You'll find that the beers will taste better the longer they age, especially with malt forward beers. The first batch might not be the best you'll ever have, but it'll be beer YOU made and that's worth cheering for! With more batches under your belt, you'll learn from each brew day and make better beer that you, and maybe your friends/loved ones will enjoy as well!

Congratulations on joining the new obsession. Happy brewing!

So I should be able to take it back out of the fridge for another week or two? then back in?

yeah definitely. in the cold fridge, the yeast will go to sleep and fall out of suspension. bringing them back out to room temp will warm them up and put them back in suspension to further condition the beer. you can put one in the fridge every week to drink after 24 hrs and see how the taste changes with time.

Awesome, What about temp control? Room temp is about 63-65 degrees in our house (cheapskates)

Got a refill of their coffee stout coming in soon that I will try to be more patient with. I am young, us youngsters are used to instant gratification :P

Welcome to da forum!

For most ales, 63-65 will be good. During fermentation, the temperature inside the little brown keg (LBK) will rise several degrees so keeping ambient temperature consistent will keep inside temperature pretty consistent as well. And no worries about the time frame. In the beginning it is difficult to exercise patience to wait for beer to be ready to drink, but you'll brew more batches and start building a pipeline, and it'll be easier to wait while you consume what you've got!

3 weeks fermentation and at least 4 weeks in the bottles at room temp is recommended. Don't put any in the frig that you're not going to drink in 2-3 days, let them continue to age. If you don't drink them for a few weeks, rotate them back out to age some more and put in the more-aged beers.

If you go 2 weeks in the bottle and then the frig you will be disappointed. Phil's suggestion of trying one each week (starting at 4 weeks) after at least 24 hours in the frig (better 48 - 72) is a good one, you'll then be able to see the difference.

D34THSPAWN wrote:Awesome, What about temp control? Room temp is about 63-65 degrees in our house

Welcome to the forum! You can always check the yeast packet to be sure (unless its a Mr Beer gold packet), but 63-65 is generally a fine range to ferment an ale in. My mini-fridge is set to keep my LBKs at 65.

Personally I think 63 to 65 is absolutely perfect for fermentation. However those temperatures will slow the carbonation process after bottling. You really need to put the bottles some place that is at least 68F. Also I bottle or keg every brew I do in 2 weeks. However I ferment at 66 to 68. Your lower temperature will slow the process down somewhat. I highly recommend spending $5 on a hydrometer. Then you can know for absolutely sure. I haven't seen this talked about in a long time. But when I first joined the borg the practice was to get a "satellite bottle" In other words a small bottle that you put your sample in after checking with the hydrometer. Set it next to your LBK with the cap on loosely to allow CO2 to escape. It should ferment at nearly the same rate your LBK does. Then you can keep checking that to see when the readings stop changing so you don't have to keep using up samples from your LBK.

Since switching from plastic to glass bottles my beers normally taste as good at 2 weeks as they do at four (the exception being dark beers like stouts and porters). Plastic bottles always took a lot longer to carbonate. My theory is because in plastic the CO2 has to inflate the bottle to firmness before it gets forced into the beer efficiently. My recommendation to you would be to refridgerate a bottle at 2 weeks and leave it in there. Refridgerate another at 4. Then try them back to back to see the difference for yourself. One more thing. I have pulled bottles out of the fridge before and put them back in later with no ill effects. I think you would have to do that a lot, or let them warm up to over 80 after pulling them out, to really perceive any difference.

Thanks for all the advice guys! I will look into picking up a Hydrometer and since I tried one at 2 weeks I think I will do one more at 3 and one at 4 then decide if I want to leave them longer or guzzle them.

So the next batch I have coming is Mr. Beers Sunday Morning Coming Down. A coffee stout. It calls for adding a shot of espresso to each bottle. But I have heard other recipes recommend adding it to the fermenter either in liquid or bean form. Does anyone here have a recommendation or preference?

So I figured out that if I leave my pc on in my office and close the door and have the thermostat set at 63 it hits 70-72 in the office and stays there. Good to know lol, if I leave it open it will sit around 62-66 depending on the time of day. Good information, at least for winter anyway

Funny. I'm a new brewer and I started back in the heart of the summer. 95 degrees outside and more or less baking in my house while I was at work. So I went to the basement. Not good enough.

Came to the Borg for answers and they set me up with a cooler, some ice blocks/blue ice and a keg in the basement. Problem fixed.

Now, my cooler is sitting on a table upstairs, no ice blocks and it's steady eddy at 65-66. God I'm in heaven. No more beer sitting! Damn thing is on autopilot! lLOL

I am a bit concerned after Gymrats comments on the conditioning though. Need to move those conditioning bottles upstairs. But where? What if they blow up? In the cats face?

Wait, I know! ..a closet. 2nd floor... hold on...

RickBeer wrote: Phil's suggestion of trying one each week (starting at 4 weeks) after at least 24 hours in the frig (better 48 - 72) is a good one, you'll then be able to see the difference.

There is no doubt about it. I only needed to do it once. Now I know there is no reason to waste a good-to-be beer, just let it go. But it sure "learned me".

P.S. Hey Rick after reading your upcoming beer selections I was wondering if you want to start hanging out together somewhere around the 4th of December? Maybe we could watch a football game or something?

Browns go to walmart or big lots or someplace and buy yourself some cheap totes. Keep your conditioning bottles in those. Then if one does blow up it will be contained and easy to clean up.

Gymrat wrote:Browns go to walmart or big lots or someplace and buy yourself some cheap totes. Keep your conditioning bottles in those. Then if one does blow up it will be contained and easy to clean up.

Thank you. Great idea. Appreciate it!