Where to store bottles?

jamesh

Hopefully my first attempt at beer making will be ready for bottling sometime next week. I have read that I need to store the bottles somewhere warm for a week to get things going and then transfer to a cooler place to clear things up.

The question is how cool should the storage place be? Are we talking garage or fridge? If stored in the fridge, will this speed up the clearing and carbonating process or slow it down because it's too cold.

Any advice please?

Also just had to order another hydrometer from you as one of the kids got hold of it and dropped it on the kitchen floor! Grrrrrr

James

HBO_Staff

It's best to store somewhere cooler as you say, as this does help clearing, although a cooler temperature is never specified. One good option is a garage or shed, as it is cooler out there, especially at this time of year. You don't want the beer to freeze though, so just bear that in mind if storing outside! If you can get it to say 12 degrees that would be a good start, and this can often be achieved in cooler rooms in the house. Also if your brew gets very cold (sometimes this happens when cooling in a fridge before drinking) the brew can go cloudy again, which is a haze caused by the temperature, and although it doesn't harm the brew in any way, it just doesn't look very good when drinking or serving. This haze will often disappear once warmed up again.

One advantage of PET plastic bottles, is you can tell if the secondary fermentation has got underway as the bottles go from being soft to hard when squeezed, so can then be moved somewhere cooler. If using a heater tray you can stand the bottles on the tray for a few days to keep them warm if it is cool where you are brewing

jamesh

Thanks for that, I'll avoid the fridge until chilling for drinking.

Thanks again

James